Jeremiah Farley leads Bajan chess players at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Championships

Jeremiah Farley was the stand-out performer for the Barbados chess team at the recently completed 2026 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Youth chess championship that was played in Costa Rica over the last week.

The CAC Youth championships are played in the categories of Under 8 – 18, in the even years of Under 8, 10, 12 up to 18 with an open section and a female section. In addition to the standard long-time control, a separate rapid and blitz event was held. These are events where the games are played at a faster time control.

Jeremiah played very well throughout the overall event and was able to capture three medals in the three events. He copped silver medals in the standard and rapid events as well as a bronze medal in the blitz event. He participated in the Under 12 Open section.

In the Under 12 Open Standard event, Jeremiah finished with 7 points out of his 9 matches. He won 6 games, drew two, with his only loss being to the eventual winner of the event, Ty Humphrey of Trinidad and Tobago. Antonio Issac Cotom Leiva of Costa Rica finished in third place with 6 ½ points.
In the Under 12 Open Rapid event, Jeremiah again finished in second position. He had an excellent event, winning 7 games and drawing three. However, his performance was over-shadowed by Alberto Tabasco Garcia of Cuba who scored a tremendous 8 ½ points from his 9 games. Juan Diego Calderon Merida of Guatemala finished in third place on 6 ½ points in the 50-player field from a dozen countries.
In the Under 12 Open Blitz event, Jeremiah finished in third place on the tie-break after finishing with 7 points from 9 games. He finished on the same points as Lucas Giachino of Costa Rica on the tie-break. Rajvir Shergil of Jamaica won the event scoring an impressive 8 ½ points from his 9 matches.

Of the other roughly 30 Barbadian players at the event, only two others were able to claim medals. They were Woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson who claimed a bronze medal in the Under 18 Female standard event. She finished with 6 ½ points from her 9 games. The winner was Dennys Naranjo Ferrer from Cuba, while Alexandra Ashley Beitia Castillo of Panama was second with both players gaining 7 ½ points. Raef Clarke was able to clinch a silver medal in Under 8 Open Blitz event. He finished with 6 ½ points from a possible 9. This was a point behind the eventual winner Jenasiya Mais with 8 points from her 9 games. Raef could feel proud being that player who had defeated Mais.

There were 421 participants from 19 countries participating in the event with host Costa Rica taking the majority of the prizes.