“NOW IT’S ME AND MY TIME, IT’S JUST ME IN MY PRIME.”
~Onika Tanya Maraj
An on-form and marauding CM Thuso Mosutha was on the loose during the Botswana Metropolitan National Chess Championship held at the Botswana National Stadium between 18-21 July 2020. Seeded seventh at the beginning of the Tournament, Mosutha wrestled for the title and wrested it from his competitor’s hands.
This ensured that he was crowned National champion with an unbeaten 7.5 points, ahead of some seasoned campaigners. Chasing the champ, in second and third place was Oratile Kgotlane and Machobane Moemedi both on 6 points.
Thuso Mosutha is a 27 year old young man from Lepashe village in the northern part of Botswana, of the Kalanga tribe. He started playing chess in form 1, back in 2008, and went on to play during his senior school years. He had no success during these period of play, but he would not give up. His first set of good results came while playing in the University in 2014, when he qualified for the 2014 CUCCSA games in Zambia. Some of his chess accolades include:
2015 Africa amateur winner: Gold
2016 Eswatini open winner: Gold
2016 participated in the Olympiad where he got his CM title
2018 Lesotho open winner: Gold
2020 Botswana National Champion
The OTB (Over The Board) Tournament was a successful event at the back of a difficult worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, where OTB chess has been replaced by online impersonal chess. All Health and Safety Protocols were duly observed with:
- Spacing of tables set at a minimum of 1.5m.
- The wearing of a mask that covered both mouth and nose was compulsory.
- Players having to register their Names, Identities and Residence for tracing purposes.
- Temperature being taken before entry into the venue.
- Random and regular testing of temperature and sanitizing of player and officials.
- Play in the confined interior not allowed to go beyond 2hours at a time.
The nine round event was a tense scuffle with the seventh seeded Mosutha increasingly putting up a dominant display. He was clearly enjoying himself, and by the last round the title was all but in the bag.
In the last round he faced off against title defender FM Phemelo Khetho and had to prove why he is deserving of the title. The game, a Vienna opening, was typical of Mosutha’s hungry aggressive style, and he counts it as his most memorable from the tournament.
“He outplayed me and played very well.”
FM Phemelo Khetho
WFM Besa Masaiti took the female section with 7.5 points and was crowned the Botswana’s 2020 Female National Champion. She was followed by WIM Francis Onkemetse with 6.5 points in second place and defending champion WCM Refilwe Gabatshwarwe in third with 6 points.
Hello Mobile has come forth to sponsor the national championship victors with two tablets, one for the gold medalist in the open section and one for the gold medalist in the ladies section. This is in order to aid them to continue to play chess online as we mostly do these days. BCF offers a big thank you to Hello Mobile for constantly supporting chess. 
@hellomobilebotswana
FM Phemelo Khetho graciously congratulated the incoming Champion Mosutha and had this to say:
“Congratulations to CM Thuso Mosutha – Botswana’s 2020 National Champion. Victory does not come easy, especially at that level but nonetheless Thuso proved himself to be an ace above the rest that’s why he’s our National Champion. I wish him well and trust that he will continue to build on top of his current form and reach new heights. Now the next frontier is the international stage where he will be representing Botswana and I sincerely trust that he will represent us well and bring in more victories.”
