Barbados toasted several new champions recently as the 2026 National  Youth Chess championships were completed at the St. Michael School.

The championships are played from ages 8 to 18 with each category being played in the even-years. Also, they are distinct prizes given out for the female prizes separate from the males.
All age categories were played as combined groups due to a limited number of female players.

In the Under 8 Open section, Raef Clarke was the winner with 6 points from his 6 games, followed by Giovannia Jacobs on 5 and Kai Hargesheimer with four points, respectively. The Under 8 female champion was Ava Griffith , followed by Naariah Thornhill in second and Anaya Lakhani, in third.

In the Under 10 Open seton, Lukas Coppin was the champion with 5 points, followed by  A’dyn Gittens on four ahead of Liam Martin in third also on four, via the tie-break. The Under 10 female champion was Nia Inniss with 5 points, ahead of Nia-Snow Clarke in second with four points and Daesha-Rose Parris with 3 ½ in third position.

In the Under 12 Open section, Dominic Cadogan was the winner with an impressive 5 ½ points from his 6 games. Zane Ward was second on 4 ½ points, while Aidan Goodard was third with four. Janiyah Browne won the Under 12 female section with 5 points, followed by Sameera Jaikaran with 3 ½ in second and Naja Howard in third with three points.

Charis Stuart put in an excellent performance to win the under 14 Open section with a clear 6 points. He was followed in second by Aidan Singh and Jonathan Griffith in 2nd and 3rd respectively with 4 ½ points. Singh, taking the higher position due to a better tie-break. Jaeda Herbert captured the female Under 14, ahead of Rebekah Lashley in second and Najara gamble in third.

While Aaron Jaikaran captured third place in the Under 16 Open with 4 points, the championship will be decided by a playoff at a later date between Savion Litte and Mileke Sinckler after both players finished the event with 5 points. Alternatively, Kayla Culpepper would have captured the Female Under 16 title, ahead of Naomi Lewis in second place.

The Under 18 female section had a small turnout which  saw Woman Fide Master Hannah Wilson capture the female title, while Noah Clarke won the Under 18 Open ahead of Eden Gibson.