Valuable lessons learned

We learnt valuable lessons – chess captain
MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent

The captain of the men’s chess team, Kenneth Boikhutswane, has said despite failure to bring home a medal, they learnt valuable lessons at the just-ended Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.

Boikhutswane said it was evident that the players need a coach because they failed to make appropriate decisions at crucial stages.

The Botswana men and women teams travelled to the Olympiad without a coach. Boikhutswane explained that in most cases, players use computer chess programmes to guide them during training. He said that locally, there is no coach qualified to handle national teams. But unlike other sport, playing without a coach in chess is normal.

Meanwhile, the women’s team suffered a major setback at the Olympiad when Ontiretse Sabure was sidelined in the last five games due to illness. Boikhutswane believes the women team could have done even better with the services of Sabure. He said it was extremely cold in Russia and players found it difficult to cope.

Boikhutswane said from their experience in Russia, it is imperative to take the team through a rigorous training programme before major competitions.

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