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Tshepang Tlale is not your ordinary 21-year-old. She’s been capturing queens, bishops and rooks since she was three, and has made an indelible mark on the South African chess scene.
Having attained the status of woman international master in chess, Tlale’s next goal is to get to the African Individual Chess Championships in Zambia, where she stands a chance of becoming a woman grandmaster.
From the age of three, Tlale has been an active chess player. She takes after her mother and older sister who taught her how to play the sport.
“I learnt chess when I was three years old. I was taught by my sister Seadimo, who taught me when she was six years old, and she was taught chess by my mum the same age as me – when she was three. So we’re like a chess family,” said Tlale.
She made the Under-12 national team and participated in the World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam along with her sister.
“It was a huge moment because we were the first black girls to make it into the chess national team and the bonus was that we were sisters,” she said.
Every year after the championships, Tlale continued to qualify for the national team and travelled to Turkey, Brazil and Greece to compete.
At 13 she broke records when she won the African Juniour Chess Championships, which gave her the title of Woman International Master.
“At the time I was the youngest Woman International Master in South Africa and I was and still am the only black Woman International Master in South Africa,” she said.
Tlale started playing for the Olympiad team when she was 15 – she was the youngest member of the team at the time.
Her participation put her on track to win subsequent titles.
The Woman International Master title qualified her for the African Individual Chess Championships, which she has been invited to participate in this year.
Tlale is eyeing a high title in the sport – the Woman Grandmaster title. She has a chance to compete for this at the Chess World Cup should she be successful at the individual championships.
“My personal goals would be to actually be one of the best chess players in South Africa and in Africa. I actually want to do it not only for myself but also for the young black girls aspiring to be great chess players [because] there’s no gender balance in chess.”
Finances
While she is getting ready for the tournament, Tlale is worried about raising enough funds to compete.
It was not enough to practice for hours a day in preparation for a tournament, she said, because she also needed funds to be able to go far in the sport.
Tlale is selling chessboards for R200 a board to raise funds for her trip to Zambia. She said she needs R30 000 to cover all her expenses, including flights, accommodation, food and the registration fee.
“I think for young black girls or even for young black people trying to play chess it’s not very attractive because of how much money you have to spend,” she said.
