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Botswana: Gaealafswe's Sword Kills And Saves Oatlhotse
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Gaborone
When tournament favourite Providence Oatlhotse crashed to Barileng Gaealafshwe in the opening round of this year's Metropolitan Life Botswana Chess Championships, little did he know that the sword that felled him would save him at the end of the battle.
As fate would have it, the first round tormentor became saviour in the last games when he dashed the hopes of another tournament favourite Ignatius Njobvu to hand over the title outright to Oatlhotse. However, the champion deserved credit for showing great character and cool nerves to live up to his tag as pre-tournament favourite. He scored 5.5 out of seven points to lift the title ahead of Njobvu with five points. In third place was John Hutcheson with four points.
The veteran player showed his younger opponents that he still has what it takes to play at this level.
Oatlhotse's win was impressive as he faced a moment of uncertainty by losing his opening game to Gaealafshwe. After the setback, he never looked back amassing five and a half points from his next six games, his only draw coming against his main rival Njobvu in round three. However, it was not easy as the championship proved to be the hardest fought in recent years.
When round four started, Kenneth Boikhutswane was in the lead together with Njobvu and Oatlhotse. But Boikhutswane lost to the duo and his dreams of the top prize went up in smoke. So by the time the last round started, Njobvu and Oatlhotse were joint first with four and a half points each. Njobvu was up against Gaealafshwe, while Oatlhotse was paired with Edwin Kabelo. The Njobvu-Gaealafshwe game hit a deadlock quickly.
The two players closed the position such that further progress was impossible. Oatlhotse in the meantime was an exchange down against Kabelo, but his knight and rook combination threatened to checkmate. This caused Kabelo to use a lot of time. When everyone thought the game would end in a draw, Kabelo got so engrossed in the position that he forgot about the clock and lost on time. With this dramatic win, Oatlhotse became Botswana's champion for the second time, his previous win having been in 2004. Kabelo was unconsolable, while Njobvu was clearly heartbroken. A draw between Oatlhotse and Kabelo could have led to a play-off between Oatlhotse and Njobvu to decide the winner. Oatlhotse told Mmegi Sport that he had prepared hard for the tournament.
"I worked hard and it was important to score fifty percent with the black pieces and win all games with white. I scored a little more with black and this was the decisive factor. It was a tough event and I never thought I would win it. I am happy to have come out tops," said Oatlhotse.
In the women championship, Woman FIDE Master (FM) Boikhutso Mudongo was unstoppable drawing just once from seven games. Defending champion Tshepiso Lopang trailed her in second place with six points. Ontiretse Sabure finished third with five points, all accumulated in the first five rounds.
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Meanwhile, Oatlhotse won P3,500 while Njobvu and Hutcheson received P2,500 and P1,500 respectively. Mudongo went home P2,000 richer with Lopang getting P1,500 and Sabure P1,000.
The women championship, like the open one was also dramatic as it went to the wire. Ontiretse Sabure wasted no time by surging ahead with five straight wins from as many games. While Sabure was winning, the defending champion Lopang drew with Mudongo and Keitumetse Mokgacha. By round six, Sabure was on five points with Mudongo half a point behind and Lopang on four. What made things more interesting was that Sabure was due to play Lopang and then Mudongo in the last two games. Beating one of them was enough to guarantee Sabure the title or at least joint first place should Mudongo win her last two games. The games proved a difficult affair for Sabure as she lost both to her more experienced opponents.
However, she can take consolation from the fact that her games were impressive and with time, Mudongo and Lopang might be no match for her.
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