Jamaican juniors Shreyas Smith, Alistair Walker and Abigail Wong all recorded credible performances in the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Chess Championships.

The tournament for Under-20 players was held in El Salvador, August 8-15. Among the other participating countries were Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

The Jamaican contingent started with a handicap as a late arrival saw them missing three rounds. They were given half-point byes.

Shreyas Smith, the CARIFTA Under-20 Champion, went on to score five points from the remaining six rounds to finish on 5.5 points and 13th position.

National Junior Champion Alistair Walker finished on 4.5 points, while CARIFTA Under-20 Champion Abigail Wong finished on three points.

The coach for the Jamaican contingent, Mikhail Solomon, was very pleased with his charges. “Overall, the experience has been tremendous and Jamaican Chess can only benefit from this exposure. They managed to finish ahead of many Masters,” he said.