CANDIDATE Master (CM) Jaden Shaw of Wolmer’s Boys’ School was crowned the winner of the Absolute section of the 2023 National Chess Championships on Sunday, making him the youngest winner in the history of the Nationals after scoring an impressive 10 points from 11 games.

Darren McKennis of Campion College finished a half-point short on 9.5 points, with defending champion, FIDE Master (FM) Shreyas Smith rounding out the top three positions with 9 points.

The women’s event produced a perfect score with Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Raehanna Brown of Campion College garnering 7 points from 7 games. In second place was defending champion Gabriella Watson of Immaculate Conception High School who finished with 5 points. Arielle McKoy of Campion College was third with 4 points.

Chess prodigy, 15-year-old Shaw continued his string of excellent performances. In 2022 he attained the Candidate Master chess title at the Chess Olympiad, the Jamaica National Chess Master title, the Under-16 Absolute Gold Medal at the 2022 Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival, and the 2023 National Under-16 and Under-20 Absolute Champion titles. He is also the 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad Fair Play Award winner and the 2023 RJR Chess Male Athlete of the Year.

In a competitive field in the Absolute section, the only blemish during CM Jaden Shaw’s performance was a loss to defending and four-time Absolute Jamaica Chess Champion FM Shreyas Smith. In a combative game Smith was forced to work hard in defeating his worthy adversary.

With smart play Shaw defeated the other FIDE Master in the event, outstanding Fide Master (FM) Raheem Glaves, many-time winner of Jamaica Chess Federation Open monthly tournaments in 2022.

Energetic chess was a constant in the women’s championship this year, with fighting chess being played on most boards.

Brown, another outstanding junior and the reigning Under-18 Absolute & Female champion, was very impressive in turning back the efforts of the defending champion Gabriella Watson in a hard-fought struggle.

The 2023 National Chess Championship took place from March 25 to April 8, 2023 to determine the Absolute and Women’s chess champions of Jamaica. Both events were held concurrently, with the Absolute section involving 12 players over an 11-round tournament and the Women’s section being a 8 players over 7 rounds.