AS the curtain came down on the Caribbean and Central American (CAC) Under-20 Chess Championship 2023 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Jamaica’s juniors secured topthree finishes across the Female and Absolute sections.

St Jago alumnus and manytime Jamaica Chess Olympiad representative, Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Adani Clake, secured silver, while her countrywoman Amy Stephenson of Wolmer’s took bronze.

Both competed in a very competitive field of 19 women, which was won by Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Kristel Melissa Diaz Carpenter of Costa Rica. Valeria Viana of Honduras and Jaen Lourdes Lorena Vasquez of Panama rounded out the top five ladies.

In the Absolute section, Candidate Master (CM) Jaden Shaw tied for third place along with FIDE Master (FM) Jose Nahum Espinoza Solano of Nicaragua and (FM) David Alejandro Cabezas Solano of Costa Rica. However, Shaw was relegated to fifth overall based on applied tiebreaks.

The Absolute section was won by newly minted International Master (IM), (FM) Jerzy Jesus Perez Leiva of Cuba, who showed his class and maturity in chess at 19 years of age. Second in the field of 45 young men was another quality Cuban standout (FM) Kemel Antonio Gallo Garcia. John Stephenson (eighth) and Nathan Hare (11th) also competed on Jamaica’s Absolute team.

IM Jomo Pitterson was the Jamaica coach during the championship. Seven Central American teams, Cuba and Jamaica contested in both the Absolute and Female sections over nine rounds