Zambian Simutowe Musatwe over the weekend became the winner of the 2010 Funeral Services Group chess open after finishing on level points with Rodwell Makoto of Zimbabwe.
Musatwe won due to a better tie-break score and because he was in the main section. They both walked away with P 2┬á250. Still in the main section, three of Botswana’s notable players, Oatlhotse Providence, Notha Moakofi and Phemelo Khetho walked away with P920 after accumulating seven and half points each. The best female players of the day emerged to be Tshepiso Lopang and Faith Mbakwa, both of Mobile Chess club in Botswana whilst Best U14 boys went to Notha Luyanda and Chandna Priyav who both walked away with P 750.
Best U14 girls went to Lame Kolaatamo and Under 21 finalists are Gumpo Thabo and Oaitse Kokome who both pocketed P 500. In addition to the local players, the tournament also attracted players from Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Among the notable players were Phemelo Keto, Providence Oatlhotse, Tebogo Pitagano, Barileng Gaealaswe, Boikhutso Mudongo, and Mbakwa. Botswana Chess Federation Secretary General Kenneth Boikhutshwane noted that the tournament started in 2005 in memory of JK Sitale.
“This tournament started in 2005 as a memorial for JK Sitale, the mother of Tshepo Sitale who passed away in 1997 when the young man was playing a Chess Tournament with the Under-21 Team in South Africa,” he said. Funeral Service Group (FSG Limited) sponsored the event for the 4th year consecutively to the tune of P18 000, an increment of P6 00 from last year’s sponsorship.
Boikhutshwane further explained that the tournament was not played as one section. Women were playing men and juniors mixed with adults.
“In the final rankings, winners were separated by the categories that they belonged to. Some players had equal points and therefore shared the prize money,” he said. Further, the tournament managed to attract a lot of chess lovers and fans. The event was staged over the weekend at Boipuso Hall in Gaborone.
