One of Jamaica’s rising chess talents, Jhustice-Dimonte McDonald, won the 2023 Jamaica Open Chess Championship on the weekend of October 28-29, with 5.5 points.

The six-round event saw Jaheim Smart finishing second on 5 points, third went to John Stephenson on tie-break over Aayush Jain, after both players ended on 4.5 points.

The exciting U-1600 Intermediate section was won by Joshua Powell on tiebreak with 5 points. Also, finishing with 5 points was Sajay McIntosh. Third went to Ronak Shergil with 4.5 points, followed by Kaia Gayle, who scored 4 points.

The U-1300 Absolute section played over 5 rounds was won on tiebreak by Rushawn Robinson who scored a perfect 5 points. Liam Logan also scored a perfect 5 points for second place. Jaydar Mitchell came third on tiebreak with 4 points, followed by Maurice Gayle who also accumulated 4 points.

The hotly contested U-1300 Female section was won by Emilia-Rose Leake who won with 4.5 points from 5 games. Second went to Elisha Patel on tiebreak over Abigail Taylor, after both players ended on points. Celine Mohammed finished fourth with 3.5 points.

Jamaica Chess Federation Executive member Richard Shaw commented, “This annual event, the Jamaica Open National Chess Championships, is a prestigious event, where international participation is encouraged to test the skills of local participants. Congratulations to all the participants and special congratulations to all the winners.”

Over 100 chess players participated across four sections, Open, U1600, U1300 Absolute & U1300 Female.

The next event on the Jamaica Chess Federation calendar will be the CM Robert Wheeler Memorial Tournament, to be played November 25 and 26.