The Cayman Islands Chess Federation – in conjunction with the Department of Education Services – hosted a record-breaking number of players for the 2026 National Schools Chess Championship on Friday, 6 March.
The event, held in the John Gray High School gymnasium, set a new participation record with 61 school teams and approximately 250 players competing across primary and high school divisions.
Primary school champions
After five rounds of competitive chess, Red Bay Primary School successfully defended its primary school division title, led by reigning National Junior Chess Champion Arty Clark. The school also secured the runner-up spot with its ‘B’ team, while Cayman International School finished in third place.
Continuing its winning streak, Red Bay went on to secure the top female team title, followed by Island Primary in second place and Footsteps School in third.
Individual board prizes for the primary division were awarded to Arty Clark (Board 1), Shreeyansh Bhuyan (Board 2, Cayman International School), Jaden Brown (Board 3, Red Bay Primary School) and Ross Blackwood (Board 4, Red Bay Primary School).
High school dominance
The high school division was dominated by Cayman International School, which achieved a perfect score of five wins from five matches to take first place.
The race for second was determined by a tiebreak after John Gray High School, Cayman Prep and High School, and St. Ignatius Catholic School all finished with four wins out of five matches.
Following the application of a tiebreak system, John Gray was awarded second place, Cayman Prep took third, and St. Ignatius placed fourth.
In the high school female team category, Cayman Prep claimed the championship, with John Gray securing second and Cayman International School taking third.
High School individual board honours went to Julian Rasch (Board 1, CIS), Owen Franklin (Board 2, CIS), Zara Majid (Board 3, CIS) and Daijon Barrett (Board 4, John Gray).
Also securing a victory of the day was Lighthouse School, which was awarded the Harmony and Diversity Award.
Remarkable growth of the event
Shaun Tracey, president of the Cayman Islands Chess Federation, stated,” The [Championship] has grown remarkably year-on-year since it was introduced in 2023, and to see a record-breaking number of teams and players is brilliant.”
He added, “The scale and quality of this event is also a testament to the success of our Chess in Education Programme, which brings the benefits of chess to many government school students. Indeed, I am delighted that the government schools are competing on equal terms with private schools, and at the primary level, they are the dominant force.”
Tracey also remarked that during the past year, Cayman has been represented internationally at the Pan-American Youth Chess Festival, FIDE Youth Chess Olympiad and Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival.
With sights on continued growth of the game locally, Tracey added that the Cayman Islands Chess Federation is proposing to the government that the Chess in Education Programme be expanded to additional government schools in the 2026/27 academic year.
The next major junior chess event on the local calendar is the National Age Group Championships, scheduled for 21-22 March. Registration for the event can be made here.
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