After three rounds of the 2026 Barbados Heroes Day chess event being played at the Grande Salle, Central Bank of Barbados they are several surprise leaders in each of the three sections.

The event is being played in three sections; Section A is for players who have a FIDE ELO rating above 1800; Section B is for players whose ELO rating is between 1400 – 1800, while the Section C is for unrated players.

In Section C, three players are in the lead with 3 points after the first 3 matches of the 7-round event. The players are Benjamin Farmer, Zane Ward and Rene Lashley.

In the last round Farmer defeated Liam Byer, Rene Lashley won against William Deer and Ward was able to overcome Paul Thompson. Maximus Gonsalves sits alone in third spot with 2 ½ points. He defeated Keiron Alleyne with the black pieces in round 3 to come within striking distance of the leaders. There are 7 other players on two points who will feel that they are still in with a chance to win the event from the field of just over two dozen players.

In the next round, the featured games will see Ward versus Farmer, while Gonzalves will battle Lashley.

In Section B, two players share the lead in the 30-player field. The are the inform Loki Clarke and the Grenadian female player Rhonda Lambert.

Clarke has continued his recent run of form and in round 3 defeated the stubborn veteran Cyprian LaTouche with some accurate play. Having captured the Section C of the recently held SITTU Barbados Open and played unbeaten at the Secondary School team championship, Clarke will seek to extend his current winning streak of 16 games in recent over-the board tournament play

Rhonda Lashley of Grenada is the other co-leader of this section. She has been the find of the event and has looked impressive in defeating some of Barbados’s more experienced players. In round two, she defeated Barbados national female player Gaybrianna Moore and then in round three she downed the veteran Othneil Harewood . She is also in fine form as she recently won the Grenada Independence female tournament.

There are 4 players who sit in joint third position currently with 2 ½ points. These are Nathan Simmons-Patterson, Janiyah Browne, Charis Stuart and Allan Herbert, while a further 8 has two points and will still favor their chances after these early exchanges.

Featured matches in the next round will see Lambert against Clarke, Simmons-Patterson against Herbert, while Browne plays against Stuart.

In Section A of the event Jamaican Darren McKennis has the sole lead with 3 points followed closely by local youngster Jeremiah Farley on 2 ½ points.

In the last round McKennis defeated Justin Kirton, who would have finished second in the 2025 Barbados National chess championship final. Darren  has looked quite competent and will be a favorite to capture this section.

Farley, however, will be looking to upset the apple cart and steal this event from the small field. He has already claimed a major scalp when he defeated international master Orlando Husbands in the first round. In a game with opposite-colored bishops, where many pundits thought it would have been a draw, Husbands pressed hard for victory, but Farley was the one who played more accurately to claim victory.

Ronaldo Rochester sits in third with 1 ½ points, while Travis Grant and Kirton have one point each. This section is being played as a round-robin.

The chess event concludes this Sunday with games at 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m.