Makoto for zone 4.3 chess tournament in Eswatini

Mandla Ncube, Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Chess Federation is eyeing the Zone 4.3 Chess tournament to be held in Eswatini on 20 February as the first real acid test to one of the cornerstone members of the Zimbabwe Chess Olympiad squad.

Having announced the Olympiad squad last week, the federation has now shifted its focus to the Zone 4.3 games set for Eswatini in less than a fortnight. 

With a handful of international chess tournaments set to take place this calendar year, however, in this particular assignment the federation, because of the geographical proximity to the Eswatini Kingdom will deploy seasoned Rodwell Makoto to represent Zimbabwe.

“The Eswatini tournament is an individual championship which means that it’s not everyone who will participate but only one or two people will be nominated to go,” Zimbabwe Chess Federation communications director, Thabo Elisha said. 

Makoto is keen to utilise the tournament with the hope of positioning himself favourable for the 2021 World Cup in Belarus.

“The Eswatini tournament is Zone 4.3, it’s one of many important on the Southern African chess calendar, I’m preparing not only for this but also for future tournaments. It is going to be tough as last time I came second and if I come second again this time around it will ruin my qualification chances,” said Makoto. 

A five-time national champion, Makoto, who also boasts the tag of being the 2012 Sportsman of the year sees the tournament in Eswatini as a big stepping stone towards conditioning himself for the Olympiad but remain wary of loss of form.

“It’s going to be good preparation towards the Olympiad but you can easily get out of form because there are  five months until the Olympiad, so I’m planning to add few tournaments after the Eswatini tournament to keep the momentum going,” said Makoto.

As the second highest rated Zimbabwean chess player, Makoto is banking on his vast experience on the international arena. – @MaroezayMvp