JAMAICA’S Reggae Chess Kidz beat the USA, Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad and Ecuador to place first and second in the recently concluded annual Miami Junior Orange Bowl International Scholastic Chess Championships in Miami, Florida.

The Jamaican chess players won 12 trophies — three team and nine individual — and a host of other prizes in the three-day event which ended on December 29.

The 22-member Reggae Jamaica Chess Team sponsored by Chess Enterprise (CE), Wechess, and Chess Whiz Kids competed with 100 players from countries including the USA, Trinidad, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Jamaican individual players and teams competed in the Under-6, Under-9, Under-12, and Under-15 categories. Both A and B teams for Under-9 walked away with first and second place, respectively. The Under-9 A team comprised of Ethan Chan, Leighton Barrett, Nathan Chin, and Nathan Walsh and the Under-9 B team consisted of Brandon Daley, Michael Lowe, Zara Ranglin, and Che Hutchinson Serju.

The Under-12 A team of Elias Issa, Rachel Miller, Lawrence Foreman, and Sheanel Gardner copped the second place trophy. The corresponding B team with Justin Lowe, Jorie Japp, and Kevin Coward-Robinson earned fifth place.

Jonathan Orgill collected the third place prize for the Under-15 age group individual trophy, and Jason Lawson secured the sixth place prize for the same division. Joshua Orgill, Jordan Lowe, and Lyle Forbes walked away with 12th, 14th, and 15th places, respectively.

The young chess players were coached by Adrian Palmer, NM Ryan Blackwood, FM Warren Elliot and Margo Williams. According to chess instructor and Chess Enterprise President Adrian Palmer, Jamaica has been building a very impressive track record at the annual tournament. He said: “The Jamaicans made their presence felt.” The coaches are proud of the performance of the Jamaicans and plan to continue competing internationally to develop the local chess talent.

The Junior Orange Bowl International Scholastic Chess Championships is part of the Junior Orange Bowl Youth Festival which started in 1948 and billed as “the largest International Youth Sports and Arts Festival”. In 1998, the Festival introduced its inaugural International Scholastic Chess Tournament, which hosts some of the world’s best young chess minds.