POLOKWANE – Chess teams from the Capricorn District left their mark at the South African Junior Chess Championship 2016 in Boksburg during the festive season after scooping medals in various age groups.
The 12 teams had to play in various local tournaments to qualify for the national tournament.
The local tournaments also served as trials for players to be selected. According to Frans Badenhorst, chess tournaments organiser, all the teams did exceptionally well on the national stage.
“I am very impressed with the way our players performed. We earned medals at the tournament and this shows that Limpopo has got talent when it comes to chess,” he explained.
The u/16 boys A-team scooped gold medals while the u/16 boys B-team claimed bronze medals. According to Badenhorst the u/14 and u/20 girls teams competed against the top players in the country and still managed to win medals. Both teams settled for third positions and came home with bronze medals. The u/20 girls team also scooped bronze medals.
Limpopo was represented by teams from the ages of 10 to 20 years, and all five teams that won medals, were also rewarded with trophies. 15 players earned board prizes by obtaining the highest score on their respective boards.
Badenhorst said he was very proud of each and every one of the players and thanked them for representing the province so well. He said the youth do take part in chess but the provinces lack professional chess coaches and tournament organisers for the sport to grow.
When asked what makes a good chess player, Badenhorst said chess is all about planning and critical thinking, and also helps people enhance their thinking capacity. He further encouraged the youth to take part in the sport of chess to learn new things.
