Shaw, Curwin enjoy success at Cayman Islands Jubilee Chess Classic
JAMAICAN junior Jaden Shaw of Wolmer’s Boys’ School won the Invitational section of the recently concluded Cayman Islands Jubilee Chess Classic 2022, which was a seven-round event played from June 3 to 6 under FIDE regonition.
Shaw, the number three seed in the event, finished with a convincing 6.5/7.0 points followed by Stephen Eisenhauer from the United States who finished on 6.0/7.0 points, and Jamaica’s Woman International Master (WIM) Rachel Miller who finished with 4.5/7 points.
This was another excellent performance for one of Jamaica’s top juniors, who recently finished second in the Jamaica National Chess Championship to FIDE Master (FM) Shreyas Smith.
A hard-fought draw with Eisenhauer was the only blemish to Shaw’s stellar performance.
In the Open section, second-seeded Jamaican Nickaylah Curwin won on tiebreak with 6.0/7.0 points from Cayman Islands’ Gilbert Abalos. Third place went to Daniel Cardenas, who won on tiebreak with 5.0/7.0 points, from Darryl Hill.
Curwin has also been playing well and was runner-up to Gabriella Watson in the Jamaica Women’s National Chess Championship.
Both Shaw and Curwin will represent Jamaica on the Absolute and Women’s Teams, respectively, in the 44th World Chess Olympiad to be held in Chennai, India, from July 28th to August 10th.
Winning Coach IM Jomo Pitterson praised his charges as they executed to near perfection; he also congratulated the Cayman Islands for stepping up and hosting their first international chess tournament since gaining full membership to FIDE in 2021.
The event was open to international players and was played with a time control of game in 90 minutes, plus 30-second increments per move.
Participants from five countries were represented in the competition, including The Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, Kenya and Cayman Islands.