(MENAFN- The Post) The final six spots in Lesotho's team for the Chess Olympiad Games in Hungary later this year will be decided this weekend.
The Chess Federation of Lesotho (CFL) is hosting a weeklong tournament at Lancers Inn and the finals are set for Sunday where six players that come out on top will book the remaining qualifying tickets.
The CFL are sending 10 players to Budapest, Hungary where approximately 190 countries are expected to compete.
The 45th Chess Olympiad, organised by the International Chess Federation, will take place from September 10 to 23 and four players have already sealed their places.
Two players, Lieketseng Ngatane and Lihloela Motlomelo, qualified in March after beating 18 other hopefuls while Sechaba Khalema and Boitumelo Sethabathaba secured their spots last year.
CFL spokesperson Selatela Khiba said the competition at Lancers Inn to join them is intense because everyone realises what is at stake.
“They are all fighting to go to Budapest to represent the country,” he said.
Khiba added that this year's trip to Hungary is special because the four players that have qualified will be competing at the Chess Olympiad Games for the first time and there is a high probability more new faces will come from this week's play.
“Sending new faces shows that there is high competition in the country,” Khiba said.
“Every player wants international exposure and the experience, and that shows big improvement in the country.”
Khiba said the CFL also hopes the new faces will help Lesotho perform better in Hungary than it did at the 44th Chess Olympiad Games held last year in Chennai, India.
“Although we did not do well in India last year, this year we have bigger hopes because the selection of players was done early and players will have enough time to prepare,” he said.
Khiba added that the CFL are even planning to recruit an international coach to boost the players' preparations by equipping them with new skills and techniques that will help them win.
“We will do whatever it takes to help us come back with good results this year,” he said.
Meanwhile, St Stephens High School from Mohale's Hoek and Mokhotlong's Seeiso High School have been crowned the 2024 National High Schools Chess champions in the Open and Girls sections respectively.
Over 330 students from six districts gathered at Leqele High School last weekend to compete for the right to be called the best chess high schools in the country.
In the Open section, Seeiso High School took home gold, Sofia International School from Butha-Buthe grabbed silver and Lesia High School had to settle for bronze.
In the Girls section, St Stephens ran out winners while Lesia finished second and Masowe took home the bronze medal.
Relebohile Tšepe
MENAFN07052024000229011070ID1108184677
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.