Jamaica’s Under-20 junior champions Jaden Shaw and Amy Stephenson gave solid performances at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Junior Chess Championships in Mexico City from September 21 to October 1.

In a very strong event, 16-year-old Marc’Andria Maurizzi of France and 17-year-old Candela Francisco of Argentina won the Open and Female titles, respectively, on tie-break, with scores of 8.5 points.

They were both unbeaten in the world-class event and became the youngest winners in the history of the tournament.

With two rounds to go, the 17-year-old Stephenson was on 2.5 points from 9 rounds, but battled back with two impressive wins to finish with a credible 4.5 points.

The 16-year-old newly crowned FIDE Master (FM) Shaw was in the mix throughout the event, playing strong FMs and International Masters (IMs) to finish with 5.5 points. His best performance was a hard-fought draw versus highly rated FM Gabriele Lumachi from Italy.

National Coach IM Jomo Pitterson travelled with the players and provided needed support during this long and gruelling tournament which saw 150 Absolute participants from 53 countries and 85 females from 42 countries competing for the FIDE World Juniors (U20) chess titles and prize monies on offer.

Jamaica Chess Federation chair of strategic planning, Candidate Master Mark Cameron, was pleased the young players got to compete at that level.

“In this tournament our players can really learn to play high-level chess and to understand the rigours and commitment of top-level competition. This invaluable experience has helped to create numerous strong players over the years, and I am confident that both Amy and Jaden will learn and become even more accomplished players,” Cameron said.

The World Junior Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious events on FIDE’s calendar and Jamaica has had good performances over the years. In 1976, National Master (NM) Sheldon Wong won the brilliancy prize at the World Junior Chess Championship in Groningen, Netherlands, for his win against Israeli Junior Champion Nir Grinberg.

After winning his first three games, Wong was co-lead of the tournament, before eventually finishing with 5.5 points. In 1990 in Chile, IM Jomo Pitterson performed creditably in the event, gathering 5.0 points.