Hello Africa!

Report by GM Dejan Bojkov

Organizing and conducting TRG training seminars is part of my job as a Senior FIDE Trainer. A couple of months ago when someone from the trainers council wrote me about a seminar in Botswana, I did not hesitate at all and applied for the job. This was a great opportunity to visit and see the cradle of humanity – Africa!

Moreover, I already knew a lot about it from my friend Rupert Jones (above), a colorful chap from Leeds, who used to live and develop chess in Botswana. He now represents Papua New Guinea and helps the developing countries play better chess.

The course coincided with the African Zonal tournament for men and women. Botswana has strong players in its disposal, but the tournaments there were dominated by the representatives of Zambia and South Africa.

FM Bwalya Gillian left no chances at all for his opponents. He started with seven straight wins and was 1.5 point ahead of his closest rival before the final round. The overall win of the event granted him a spot for the World Cup and the IM title.

The remaining players fought hard for the titles as well, as the top three players had chances in obtaining it in case that they scored at least six points out of the nine rounds played.

Tie Break1: The greater number of victories
Tie Break2: Direct Encounter (results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break3: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Selection of games

The ladies section saw another foreign triumph. Charlize Van Zyl started with a draw but won the next five games and the tournament. The South Africans did a great job with their junior squad and showed clearly what should be the aim of any country which wants to develop chess. Final ranking after seven rounds:

In Africa I met Peter Leko. Not the Super GM, but probably a future one. One of the strongest female players in Botswana, Tshepiso Lopang, fell in love with the games of the Hungarian GM and decided to name her son after him. Leko would proudly announce his name at the events and stand next to his mom while she played her games.

The logo of the Botswana Chess Federation says “30 Years of making smart moves.” They made one more of them with their decision to host a FIDE training seminar in the capital city of Gaborone from 3-8 May. Many of the participants in the Zonal tournaments took part in the seminar as well, thus improving their knowledge in both the competitive and teaching areas. 

All the participants of the TRG seminar successfully passed the exam and are now ready to be more effective and skilled as chess coaches. They received their certificates at an impressive closing ceremony. Here some pictures from the festivities – quite unlike the ones held in Switzerland or Sibiria:

It was a great experience to see the exuberant natural beauty and diversity that Botswana offers everyone. The variety of animal species, the colorful shops and markets, beautiful gift shops everything was so unusual.

A knick·knack store in the shopping mall

An artisan adorning ostrich eggs

Dejan in Africa – enjoying the exuberant natural beauty and diversity of Botswana

Making friends among the non-chess playing denizens of the country

These guys definitely look like they could learn the moves

A termite hill of epic proportions – did you know that there are tens of
trillions of ants that together weigh more than the entire human population?

When early explorers described these guys in Europe
they were simply laughed out – nobody believed their stories

So rude: beautifully painted horses, who turn their backs on you

"No one ever wants to court a warthog" [listen to this moving Flanders & Swann remix]

How can anyone enjoy venison?

A creature less cute and pettable than the previous

Great Botswanan leaders: Khama III, Sebele I, Bathoen I, Bojkov I

Report and pictures by GM Dejan Bojkov, Bulgaria