Vedant Shetty tops at Chess Tournament

VEDANT SHETTY LEFT the UWI Global Campus last Sunday, January 18, 2026, with two trophies weighing down his slender hands, after he was crowned overall champion of the Open category of the Tyrone Jack Memorial Chess Tournament.

An event to pay continued homage to the late Tyrone Jack, who was one of the live wires that kept Chess going here in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Shetty outwitted all comers to cop the winner’s trophy, a cash prize, and the privilege of having custody of the challenge trophy for one year.

But it was more than titles for the 10-year-old, who was deemed too “good” for his peers, hence had to play with the “big men”, the Chess Federation stated in a release.

Coming of age, the twoday tournament, which got going on Saturday, January 17, saw for the first time different categories of competition.

In the Junior Male segment, the winner was Nathaniel Lawrence; with Le’ Mar Abbott and Lucas Huggins, third.

Stacy Baptiste- King was crowned Junior Female champion, with Arianna Balcombe the runner up.

Meanwhile, in the Senior Female grouping, the winner was Ronnia Durham-Balcombe,

ahead of Molissa Ashton and Kazene Pierre, in that order.

The Federation said Chess players have another opportunity to compete for honours in the Tyrone Jack Memorial Tournament as another tournament will be held later this year.

Last weekend’s tournament was initially set for December, 2025 but was deferred because of clashes with other national events.