Kingston, Jamaica – Top-ranked candidate master, Jaden Shaw, and woman candidate master, Raehanna Brown, have been crowned the Absolute and Female champions of the 2022 National Junior U20 Chess Championships.

At the end of the 8-round tournament, Shaw, from Wolmer’s Boys School, completed the Absolute section with 7.5/8.0 points and Brown, who hails from Campion College, captured the female section with a perfect 8.0/8.0 points.

In a competitive field in the absolute section, Jaden Shaw defeated Jamaica College’s Christopher Lyn, who had 5.5/8.0 points and St Catherine High School’s Shaheem Richards, who finished with 5.0/8.0 points.

Wolmerian John Stephenson was the only opponent to draw with Shaw. However, he ended in fourth place on tie-break with 4.5/8.0 points.

In the female section, Brown dominated this section, followed by national champion, Gabriella Watson of the Immaculate Conception High School. Watson finished with 6.5/8.0 points.

Meanwhile, St Andrew High School’s Kaity Gayle finished third with 5.0/8.0 points, while Arielle Mckoy, also of Campion College, finished fourth on tie-break with 4.5/8.0 points.

Jamaica Chess Federation chair of public relations and two-time national junior U20 chess champion, candidate master Mark Cameron stated that the recently crowned champions continue to display spectacular performances and are outstanding junior talents for the sport.

“Smarting off his recent great performance for Jamaica at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, Jaden Shaw, who became Jamaica’s newest candidate master, continues to show his terrific form,” he said.

“Also, Raehanna Brown has consistently shown her excellent chess ability in having successes in local absolute and female events. They both magnificently represent our current group of outstanding junior chess talent,” he added.

The National Junior Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the Jamaica Chess Federations’ calendar, as it brings together some of the sport’s most promising young players.