Mdantsane draughts king ready for world
Off to Las Vegas to match skills with all the top players
His love for draughts began in 1985 when a young Luyanda Tete saw his elderly neighbours play the game for the first time.
Fast forward 33 years, he is now off to Las Vegas to face off against the world’s best in the 2018 American Checker Federation 3-Move tournament between Monday and Thursday.
The Mdantsane NU9 resident’s R100,000 trip was sponsored by the Buffalo City Metro.
Tete jets off to the US this weekend to the Plaza Hotel which will be his home away from home for the duration of the tournament. According to Tete, draughts is a strategy game much like chess, where the aim is to outthink and outmanoeuvre your opponents.
Having become an expert of the game by the age of six, Tete said he spent much of his primary and high school years seeking out like-minded players in an effort to find a worthy opponent, until he finally came into contact with the Buffalo City Metro Draughts Association.
There he met fellow players who now practise on a daily basis in Duncan Village or Mdantsane. Draughts became more than a game but a way of life, he said, where the game was not only practised but read up on as well. “Draughts can be likened to chess because in both games a check board is used and both games require one to use their minds to try and outmanoeuvre their opponent,” Tete said.
“I need to anticipate the player’s next move before it even happens. I take stock of the entire board as the game is happening so I know which pieces to use and when so that I can corner that person and they can lose.”
Tete said he was more than ready to take on the international players.
“I’m ready to beat them there. I want to destroy them at this game. I’m good at what I do and I want them to see that,” he said.
Tete is one of around 300 draught players from the province.
Zamile Foca, president of the Buffalo City Metro Draughts Association, said he hoped this opportunity would be available to all players annually.
“There is a common perception in the country that draughts are nothing more than a hobby for old men in the townships and its not the case at all. We liken draughts to a sport and we believe we have players of a very high calibre who can compete against any player from anywhere in the world, if only we had the funds to make this dream a reality. Luyanda has made us so proud,” he said.
Xolani Bishoti, president of the Buffalo City Metro Sports Council, said their aim was to support Tete to ensure he became an ambassador for the city.