Kheto prevails over “rusty” Njobvu

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Kheto prevails over “rusty” Njobvu

Botswana's highest rated chess maestro Ignatius Njobvu said he is rusty after suffering two consecutive defeats on Saturday in his Best of the best four games match with national champion, Phemelo Kheto.
"I'm rusty. This year I have not played in serious tournaments, I missed the national championships. Moving to Gumare really killed me because I could not practice as I should. I hope to be better next time", said Njobvu after losing his second game with the black pieces at Yarona Lodge on Saturday.
Njobvu was expected to win with the advantageous white pieces as he started the first move on Saturday morning but the three times national champion gave away a night for a pawn, and then lost his Rook after Kheto pinned it with a Bishop in a discovered check, before Njobvu eventually resigned.
However analysts agree that although the first game went as far as 30 moves, Njobvu's positional play was poor from the start, uncharacteristic of the man who has dominated the local chess scene since his Primary school days.
In his analysis top chess player Barileng Gaealafswe was critical of Njobvu's opening, saying his tempo was too slow for a player of his caliber. Gaealafswe felt that naturally Njobvu should ensure that he plays NF3 early to sharpen his attack, instead of going for Nc2. "In that position Ne2 delays attack, it has no influence in the game. NC2 that Njobvu played would have been fine if he had played pawn g3 earlier".
Gaealafswe was also critical of Kheto's no.5 move, BFe8. "Ignatius could have capitalized on that to Punish Kheto in my view. With that Bishop move, black
had no chances of attack considering that Kheto was opening with Benoni Opening. I would appreciate if he (black) played the Be8 with the King's Indian defense. I have never seen it before. I feel Njobvu should have progressed well from that position, eating a Pawn, and then pushing BFg2, the rest will be history", analysed Gaealasfwe.
Gaealasfwe also felt move no.12 for white, Re1 was further slowing Njobvu's game. "In that position F4 would have been better. Since he played Re1 Njobvu couldn't survive the counter play from black. His (Njobvu) next move (Qc2) was a forced move in reaction to black counter play. The moves that followed for white were completely ill-advised. He still could have rescued the situation but continued to concentrate on the flank where black was strong, instead of taking advantage of central play", Gaealasfwe said.
Woman national team player, Keitumetse Mokgacha also felt that Njobvu, bad as his opening was, could still have pulled a trick or two especially if he played Pawn F4, which he never played through out the opening and in the middle game. "But I would not expect Njobvu to play such an aggressive move. He is not an aggressive player by nature. Usually Njobvu is cautious; he waits for his opponent to initiates things. But I would have played the F4 with confidence.
Another chess player who reviewed the game, Charles Kidega said, "Ignatius played too many passive moves. Kheto was very active. Kheto played a very aggressive opening system. Ignatius should have gone for the centre, but he was just sitting there most of the time. He could not cope with the storm that Kheto unleashed", Kidega told Gazette Sport.
Njobvu acknowledged he was slow. "That is because I'm rusty. When you are rusty, you tend to be cautious to avoid mistakes. I would need four months to be at my best", he said

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