Gomolemo Mokgathi

Botswana

My name is Gomolemo Mokgathi, I’m 21 years old from Botswana. I learned chess at the age of 11 (2012), then I played my first tournament in 2014.

I never achieved much during my youth days, I had no coach so I was doing everything by myself. I was always scoring 5/7 pts which didn’t win me anything. I got my first chess certificate at the age of 14 which gave me the courage to continue playing. In 2019, after finishing school I got FIDE rated (1769) which then later dropped as I played more tournaments. It’s currently around 1664.

In 2021 – my friend invited me to Smiling Pawn Chess, I was happy to join because I had the chance to interact with other youngsters from other countries. Pretty soon I had the opportunity to challenge the champion. I did not manage to defeat him but I learned a lot after watching the streaming video where Coach Goran gave commentary about the games and learned from my mistakes. I’m looking forward to my chess journey with my Smiling Pawn friends.