For the 6th year running, Metropolitan Botswana has once again sponsored the very successful Metropolitan Chess Championship in partnership with the Botswana Chess Federation. The Chess Championship kickstarted with qualifiers on the 9th of February and culminated on the 1st of April where the overall winners were announced. Ignatious Njodvo and Boikhutso Mudongo walked away with the top honours for the male and female categories respectively.
Said Metropolitan Botswana HR Manager, Ms. Opelo Kwelagobe, “Our longstanding relationship with the Botswana Chess Federation has spanned a period of 6 years. Though not immediately obvious, chess and insurance are very similar; both require solid strategy and forward thinking. Sport is one of our focus areas of our CSI strategy and the nature of this particular sport made this partnership a perfect fit.”
The Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) is a registered society whose primary mandate is to promote the sport of chess across the nation. The Federation, comprised of six permanent members, encourages players of all ages and from varying backgrounds to work to develop the game of chess and promote the development of players to an international standard.
The 2013 Metropolitan Championships have unearthed great talents such as Thabo Olebile who went on to win most of his games against Botswana’s top players. Interest in the sport across all ages has piqued during the tournament. Metropolitan Botswana’s sponsorship of P80 000 to the Federation has paved the way for more funding for BCF; they have also received the highest grant to date from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for the country’s national team.
Botswana Chess Federation President Mr Tshepo Sitale added, “We are very humbled by Metropolitan’s donation and are very pleased with how the tournament panned out. We look forward to strengthening this relationship and growing the sport from strength to strength, and are grateful that corporates such as Metropolitan take the time out to help support such a powerful and yet oft neglected sport.”
