FIRST ONLINE NATIONAL AGE GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

 

PRESS RELEASE – NATIONAL AGE GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 

FIRST ONLINE NATIONAL AGE GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 

Nearly 200 players from no fewer than 50 schools across Jamaica, competed in the first ever Online National Age Group Chess championships finishing July 4! The titles up for grabs, were the National Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 Champions for both boys and girls.  

The event crowned a number of surprise winners and names to look out for; while a few household names retained their titles. The Under 8 section was merged and saw the first time in the history of the event that a girl won the absolute title. Young Emilia-Rose Leake of Creative Kids Learning Academy, finished with a perfect score on the first day and repeated it on the final day to achieve the title of National Under 8 Chess Champion for both absolute and female. Second and third place went to Raheem Gayle on 5pts and Austin Xiang on 4 pts. The female section saw second going to Esther Mullings on 4 pts and third to Dayna-Simone Swasey on 3 pts. 

Ronak Shergil won the Under 10 Absolute section with 4.5 pts, ahead of Tahir Tavares on 3.5 pts and Liam Logan on 3 pts. Victoria Salazar blazed to victory in the Under 10 female section with 4 pts, Second and third went to Meghalaya Haughton-Pathaw and Victoria Aung  on 3 pts each, respectively. 

The Under 12 Absolute section was a tense affair with top seed Najae Powell tying for first with Corbin Harvey, both on 4 pts each. Najae went on to win the blitz playoff for the title of Under 12 Champion. In third position was last year’s Under 12 Champion Jaheim Smart. 

The under 12 Female section saw the return of Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Zaina O’Connor who amassed an unbeatable 4.5 pts. Followed closely in second place was Kaia Gayle on 3.5 pts and Niara McLeod on 3 pts. 

Jaden Shaw of Wolmer’s Boys continued his recent impressive results to win the Under 14 Absolute section on 4.5 pts. Rohit Mahtani was second on 3.5 pts and J-Loy Chin third with 3 pts. 

Gabriella Watson was the only other perfect score result, scoring 6 pts on the first day and 5 pts in the finals to secure the Under 14 female title. Ruthan Collins ended with 3 pts and Suraiya Matandara-Clarke got 2.5 pts to finish third. 

Another truly remarkable result was that of Campion College’s Raehanna Brown. She walked away with the Under 16 Absolute and female titles as both sections were merged. Scoring an unbeatable 4 pts on the final day cemented her as the third female ever in Jamaica, to win an absolute title in the championships. Damari Bryce finished with 3 pts to haul second place, while the top rated Daren McKennis ended with 2.5 pts. 

Raehanna was also crowned Under 16 female champion ahead of Amy Stephenson on 3 pts and Kaity Gayle on 2 pts  

The absolute Under 18 section was hard fought between Shamir Martin of Glenmuir High and Lontae Walker. Both tied on 4 pts and had to go to a playoff. Shamir won the playoff to become the Under 18 Champion. Kamari Stephens was third on 3 pts. 

The Jamaica Chess Federation event was sponsored by Grace Vienna Sausages and took place online for the first time ever. Member of the organizing team Mr. Warren Elliott had this to say, “It is amazing that we could continue this prestigious chess championship online given the various restrictions caused by covid-19. The numbers make this event the largest online event in Jamaica and we are certainly happy to see so many of our youth engaging in this intellectual sport.”  

When asked what’s next for these youngsters, he continued to explain that they will now be the online national representatives and the most immediate tournament is the World Cadets and Youth Championships organized by the World governing body of chess (FIDE). It will also be played online in August, 2021.