Taking on the champ
A lack of funds has not dampened the spirits of Port Elizabeth draughts whiz Lubabalo Kondlo as he attempts to dethrone world champion Michele Borghetti in a showdown on foreign soil next week.
Kondlo, who hails from New Brighton, left for the United States on Thursday to take on Borghetti of Italy in a quest for the world title.
Kondlo, a member of the Nelson Mandela Bay and Eastern Cape draughts associations, said he was ready for whatever Borghetti brought to the board.
“I have been working hard in trying to get in as much practice in as I can,” Kondlo said.
“I’ve been working out the various patterns of play.
“Borghetti is the champion for a reason, so I will need to bring my A-game.”
The two will play 24 games over six match days from September 8 to 14.
They will have four games a day and Kondlo will need to win at least three games a day to win the match.
“I have been focusing on my training more seriously since March,” he said.
“He will be a tough opponent but I am confident.
“I just need to be calm when I sit down and use the new patterns of play to my advantage.”
Kondlo earned his opportunity to challenge Borghetti after being placed first at a world qualifying tournament in Mississippi in August last year.
Once the world title match is over, he will travel to Las Vegas for the 2018 ACF National Three-Move Championship next weekend, before jetting off to Barbados for the 2018 WCDF World Qualifier and Woman/Youth Three-Move Championship on October 1-5.
If he wins in Barbados, he will earn a chance to face another world champion, Sergio Capetta.
“This trip will cost me about R 30,000 and it could rise to R40,000 if we take into account that I have two more events to attend once the world title match is completed.
“In the world title match against Borghetti, prize-money will be split 60-40 for the winner, so I asked that my prize money be used to purchase an air tickets for my trips to the US and also Barbados, because it’s not about the money.
“My dream is to win the world title,” Kondlo, Africa’s only draughts grandmaster, said.
Kondlo said people tended to look down on the game, but it was not that different from chess.
He hopes that by competing at this level, and through his development work, he will help encourage the discipline to grow.
“There is not much difference between chess and draughts – they are both played on a 64-square board, but because draughts is played in the townships it is looked down on,” he said.
“If I become world champion, I would look to change this.
Kondlo held a farewell tournament in New Brighton featuring Jarvis Gqamlana and Kama primary schools, the two schools to which he donated the draughts boards he bought on his last trip to the US.
“This is a sport that can bring the youth together but for it to work, it needs the authorities to sit up and take it seriously,” he said.