Wolmer’s chess genius tops them all

Five males were shortlisted for The 2022 Prime Minister’s National Youth Awards for Excellence in sports. They included sprint sensation Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Kingston College, West Indies cricketer Rovman Powell, national and world Under-20 triple jump champion Jaydon Hibbert, and professional body-builder Daniel Haughton.

But, it was the youngest of them all, fourth former Jaden Shaw, the chess prodigy from Wolmer’s Boys’ School, who went onstage to collect the prestigious award from Prime Minister Andrew Holness on the lawns of Jamaica House recently.

“To receive the award is great, as many people who were nominated didn’t win. So I am grateful. And it was a pleasure to meet and greet so many people”, the St. Andrew Preparatory School past student told The Gleaner, “Allow me to thank my coaches, parents, sponsors, family, friends and my church family for always encouraging me to be the best I can be at whatever I do. Above all, I would like to thank God for blessing me with all my talents. Without Him, who would I be?”

At 14 years old, Shaw is a 2021 Jubilee Chess Classic winner in Grand Cayman, a 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad Candidate Master, a 2022 Jamaica National Master, the 2023 National Under-16 and Under-20 Absolute Champion, a 2022 Central America and the Caribbean Under-16 Absolute Gold Medallist, a 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad Fair Play Award winner, and the 2023 RJR Chess Sportsman of the Year.

He is also a member of Wolmer’s A team that won the 2023 All-Island High School Chess Championships, and the Spirit of Excellence Awardee, when he was in first form, after winning the Corona Virus Online Chess competition from a field of 567 competitors worldwide. His stats: 20 wins, four drawn and one loss. His latest achievement was on Sunday, April 9 when he became Jamaica’s youngest-ever national chess champion.

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Yet, it was by chance that he got interested in chess.“I have been playing since about eight, as I was introduced when I went over a friend’s house to play some video games and he had this fancy chess set. We played and he won, and the interest bloomed from there,” he explained. And the rest is history still in the making.

Along the way, he said, he was guided by National Master Ryan Blackwood, of Chess Whiz Kidz Academy, who “made learning chess fun and easy”. Now, he is coached by International Master Jomo Pitterson, who was Jamaica’s first-ever International Master, which is just below the ultimate chess designation of Grand Master. At Pitterson Chess Institute, where he said there are “many young, talented players”, he and his training partners, John Stephenson and Darren McKennis assist “where the opportunities present themselves”.

And, for those who do not regard chess as a sport or as a minor sport, Shaw has this to say, “To the people who don’t regard chess as a sport, I honestly just ignore because chess is a sport and it is growing more and more, and very soon it should be a consensus that it is one …. Also, for persons to stop referring to chess as a “minor sport”. All sporting disciplines are equally important, more so to the athletes who sacrifice a lot to be excellent ambassadors, locally and internationally, on behalf of their discipline.” His dream is for everyone to accept chess as a sport and for the “competition to grow” and “the community to expand”.

Yet, Shaw is as physical as he is cerebral. He has received a Wolmer’s Blue Report every academic year since 2019. The Blue Report is for those who have an average of 80 per cent and over. He does karate, swims, and is a member of Wolmer’s Under-19 basketball team.

And about his future? “I’m still indecisive right now, but I want to do data analytics, and maybe go professional in chess,” he replied.