Twenty-five Junior chess players from Chess Whiz Kids Academy represented Jamaica in the 2022 US National Junior Chess Congress from June 30-July 3 in Orlando, Florida.
The diverse Jamaican team, with participants ranging from ages four to 15 and coached by National Master Ryan Blackwood, entered all six main event sections. The team also contested the “Capture the King, K-8 Under 750 Rated, Blitz” sections and the “Chess puzzles” competition open to U1200 rating and Open groups.
In the Under-6 competition, the team of Rajvir Shergil, Jordan Mantock, Nia Donaldson, and Ross Blackwood captured the overall team award.
In the Under-8 section Sam-Roje Samuels was sixth overall, while in the Under-10 section Ronak Shergil (2nd), Nathaniel Green(5th), Daniel Blair & Liam Logan combined to win the overall team award for the section. In the Under-12 section Victor Okpiavbe (4th), Niara McLeod (5th), Daejon Mattis, and Safiya Henry captured the overall team award for the section.
In the Under-14 section Mabuke Thompson, Joshua Miller & Jaekim Richards captured the overall team award for the section, while Bryan Smart, who contested the Open section, was fourth overall.
In the Blitz competition, Bryan Smart was third in the Open section, while in the U1200 section Victor Opiavbe (2nd), Ronak Shergil (7th), Liam Logan (8th) & Niara McLeod (10th) all had podium finishes.
In the “K-8 Under 750” section, Djimon Riley-Dunn (5th), Jaydion Campbell, Kylie McIndoe, Aundrae Chang Jr, Leah Logan, Amariah Palmer, Tyreke McDonald, and Mattias McLeod was declared the champion team.
In the “Capture the King” competition Djimon Riley-Dunn (5th), Jaydion Campbell (6th), Kylie McIndoe, Aundrae Chang Jr, Leah Logan, Amariah Palmer, Tyreke McDonald & Mattias McLeod was declared the champion team.
Chess Whiz Kids Academy also walked away with the overall top team award, the top sportsmanship award in Kylie McIndoe, top overall coach NM Ryan Blackwood and also the youngest competitor in Ross Blackwood. He was playing in his first International Chess tournament at age four.
The Junior Chess Congress was upgraded this year to National status, formerly called the America Youth Chess Foundation Grand Championship. The addition of the USCF Top 100 Rating List Invitational would have proven that the competition would have been much tougher this year, but CWKA welcomed the challenge. CWKA has garnered several scholarships from this event over the years, with our youngest recipient Jaden Shaw gaining his in 2018 at only ten years old.
Coach Blackwood shared his appreciation for the overall team effort and the support from the parents to afford their chess kids this opportunity to play on the international stage. “While not capturing any individual sections outright, which would have seen them qualifying for scholarships like we have done in previous years, we are still pleased with the overall performance of the team.”
Coaches Crissia Graham and FM Ras Malaku Lorne were also pleased with the team’s performance, though they wanted to top previous years as this was the country’s biggest delegation. “We had a total of 32 chess kids in an intense training program for this event, but in the end, only 25 made the trip.”
Richard Shaw managed the team, who also shared the coaches’ sentiments and noted that “with more experience and exposure, the team will perform better come 2023.”
