Kenneth Boikhutswane
18 July 2008
The five-man Botswana national team taking part in the zonal team chess championships in Mozambique looks set to finish the tournament high on the medals table.
The tournament, which is being played in Maputo, has Angola, Botswana, Burundi, hosts Mozambique and South Africa (SA) battling it out for the Zone 4.3 championship title.
At the time of going to press, which coincided with the start of the second half of the event, Botswana was placed third with 9.5/16 points. SA is in the lead with 14 points followed by Angola in second with 10. The players doing duty for Botswana are Providence Oatlhotse, on board one, Ignatius Njobvu, on two, FIDE Master Phemelo Khetho, on three, and Tebogo Pitlagano and Barileng Gaealafshwe on boards four and five respectively.
Botswana started on a good note defeating Mozambique by a score of 2.5-1.5. This was followed by a defeat at the hands of the Angolans by 1.5-2.5, the team's points coming from a win by FM Khetho and a draw by Providence Oatlhotse. SA proved too strong for Botswana in round three, winning 4-0 despite the fact that their top player International Master (IM) Watu Kobese is not participating.
The SA IM is resting after his incredible win in last week's SA Open, where he finished one point ahead of the field and pocketed R10, 000. Botswana showed great character by bouncing from the SA setback to inflict a 4-0 thrashing on Burundi. Botswana is scheduled to take on Mozambique, followed by Angola, SA and Burundi in the second half of the event of the tournament. Although there are still four rounds to go, SA looks set to run away with the tournament. Therefore, the battle will be for second place between Botswana and Angola as only half a point separates them. Mozambique and Burundi are the whipping boys of the tournament, and their fight will be to avoid last place.
The Maputo tournament marks the first time the teams are playing under the World Chess Federation (FIDE) amended rules. Team line-ups have been reduced from the traditional six players to five for men teams, while women will have five players instead of the traditional four.
The tournament is being used by Botswana Chess Federation to get the team used to the new condition in preparation for the upcoming World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. The Botswana team is expected home on Sunday where they will find the national team chess championships in full swing. Some of the players will not have time to rest as they are scheduled to help their team gather as many points as possible in the last three rounds of the tournament.
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