MEDELLÍN, Colombia — Jamaica’s junior chess team has produced one of its strongest performances ever at the 2026 Pan American Youth Chess Festival, with outstanding results against the best young players from 30 countries across the Americas.

Competing against almost 1,000 players, Jamaica fielded its largest-ever delegation of 35 competitors, with several producing exceptional performances against significantly higher-rated opponents.

Leading the Jamaican contingent was Rhea Gardener, who finished with an outstanding 6½ points from nine games in the Under-10 Girls section. Rated 1422 entering the tournament, Gardener achieved a performance rating of 1685, while gaining an impressive 128.8 FIDE rating points, recording victories over players from Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela and drawing against Peru. She narrowly missed being Jamaica’s first Pan Am medalist by half a point, tying for fourth place and sixth on tiebreak.

Jamaica also celebrated one player on 5½ points and seven players finishing on 5 points.

Meusem Liao enjoyed an excellent tournament in the Under-10 Open, scoring 5½ points to finish 27th after beginning the tournament seeded 79th — a remarkable climb of more than 50 places. In the Under-8 Girls, Je’Nasiya Mais scored 5/9 to finish 12th, while teammate Rae’lazne Porter also impressed with five points, finishing 14th. Rajvir Shergil produced another outstanding tournament in the Under-12 Open, scoring five points with a performance rating of 1723, and gaining 78.8 FIDE rating points after defeating higher-rated opponents from Colombia and Honduras and drawing against Paraguay.

In the same category Khalel Davy, who shows tremendous promise and was playing up an age group, also scored five points, with a performance rating of 1641. In the Under-12 Girls, Noelle Noble also finished with five points, facing higher-rated opponents in seven rounds and recording wins in five of them. This earned her a performance rating of 1660 and a gain of 49.6 FIDE rating points. Vaishnav Gali also had a respectable finish to the tournament with five points in the highly competitive Under-14 Open division.

Candidate Master Nathaniel Hope, competing in the Under-18 Open, finished with five points, earning a 1994 performance rating while gaining 32.8 FIDE rating points after facing a succession of masters and internationally rated opponents. Hope produced one of Jamaica’s strongest finishes of the tournament, defeating a 2216-rated Columbian FIDE master in the final round.

Among the tournament’s other standout performances was Cameron Coe in the Under-16 Open. Finishing on four points, the 1637-rated Jamaican faced higher-rated opposition in every round, finishing with an excellent 1883 performance rating and gaining 96.8 FIDE rating points. Kayla Moses also enjoyed a memorable tournament in the Under-16 Girls, scoring four points after recovering from two opening-round defeats to finish strongly against quality opposition. Her performance rating of 1645 earned her 58.4 FIDE rating points. Across the tournament, Jamaican players consistently challenged and defeated competitors from traditional chess powerhouses including the United States, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Venezuela, underlining the continued progress being made by Jamaica’s junior chess programme.

While a historic first Pan American medal narrowly remained out of reach this year, Jamaica’s performances demonstrated that the country’s young players are increasingly capable of competing with the very best in the region. With numerous players gaining significant international rating points and exceeding their pre-tournament seedings, the impressive performances across multiple age groups underline the remarkable progress being made in Jamaican junior chess.

Head of delegation, Woman International Master Deborah Richards-Porter said the tournament provided encouraging signs for the continued development of Jamaica’s young players.

“The team competed bravely throughout the tournament, and there were several performances that showed what our players are capable of at this level. Rhea’s sixth-place finish was an excellent achievement,while many of our players performed above their ratings and recorded important results against strong opposition. The experience gained here will be invaluable as we continue their development,” said Richards-Porter.