Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Chess Federation of Lesotho (CFL) is optimistic that team Lesotho will give an outstanding performance at the 2020 Zone 4.5 Individual Chess Championships to
be hosted by Lesotho in February 9-16. According to CFL Public Relations Officer, Selatela Khiba, there has been a significant growth in the sport in recent years, and his federation is expecting a good performance from team
Lesotho despite the challenges they are faced with. “Looking at the previous National Chess Championships and the overall performance in recent times, our players
have improved a lot – we are hopeful that those who will be representing us at the Zone 4.5 Individual Chess Championships will do well,” said Khiba in an
exclusive interview with Informative Sport. “In spite of having very limited resources after we did not receive subvention from government last year, our
players have improved significantly. [p1] “They are so good that our main challenge now is acquiring services of a coach with sharper skills, especially
a foreign coach. All local coaches are on the same level with our players here. ” According to Khiba, in 2016 at the World Chess Olympiad in Baku, team Lesotho was briefly mentored by Ukrainian
coach, Andrei Maksimenko, and the results were impressive. “He was with the team for only 14 days, but the outcome was amazing,” said Khiba who also indicated that they are
hoping to recruit a coach before the Russia World Chess Olympiad slated for August 2020. He further said that only the winners (first prize) of the previously held National Chess Championships have already
qualified to play at the 2020 Zone 4.5 Individuals Chess Championships and the 2020 World Chess Olympiad in Moscow, Russia. The National Chess Championship finals,
which were initially scheduled for December 23-24, took place on the weekend of December 28-29, 2019. Tšephe Lebajoa and ‘Malehloa Likhomo won in the Open and
Ladies’ section respectively. They each won a trophy, gold medal and a computer tablet. Lebajoa pocketed M1, 500 while ‘Malehloa took home M630. Second prize (Silver) in the Open
section was scooped by Tokelo Klass while Theko Khanyapa won the third price. They each pocketed M1, 500. In the Ladies category, second and third prizes of
M630, smart watch, wireless headsets and MP3 player went to Naleli McPherson and Ntsielo Bonolo respectively. Khiba revealed that the National Chess Championships tournament was used as an opportunity for the players to
generate points to stand a chance to qualify for the Zone 4.5 Individual Chess Championships. “Top performers, excluding first prize winners, will take part in a final competition called ‘Lesotho Closed’ to
be hosted in early February,” said Khiba. “This is where we will pick those who finish with higher points to represent Lesotho at the Zone 4.5 Individual Championships. ” [p1]quote
