Top 10 Junior Players based on Fide Rating (Active Players)

There are many more outstanding young chess players who are benefitting from this amazing game. 
CM Nathan Smith – born 2005.  After playing in his first chess tournament in March 2013, Nathan went on to place second in the Bahamas Junior Chess Championship in August 2013 and to qualify for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Youth Festival held in San Jose, Costa Rica in December 2013.  There, he won the gold medal in the Under-8 age category, and based on his exceptional performance, was awarded the Candidate Master (CM) title by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) - a first for The Bahamas. In 2014, CM Nathan Smith won Gold Medal  at CARIFTA in Martinique in the Under 10 division and Silver Medal performance in the under 12 division. In 2016, CM Nathan Smith won Gold Medal the Under 12 section of CARIFTA held in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He is the ​Bahamas Overall Scholastic Individual Champion 2017.
Curtis Pride, Jr. - born 2004. Curtis was introduced to Chess at Garvin Tynes Primary School in 2012, in grade 3. However, due to illness he did not start playing competitively until 2016. In 2017 he joined the BGT Chess Club. In August 2019 he represented The Bahamas at the North American Youth Chess Championship in Ontario, Canada. In 2022, Curtis became the Bahamas Junior Chess Champion, and qualified for the Bahamas National Championship. In January 2023, he placed 7th in the Bahamas National Championship. 
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Photo taken by Madelene Belinki
Noah Albury was born in 2005. He has represented The Bahamas internationally at the CARIFTA Junior Chess Championship in Willemstad, Curacao (April 2019) and the North American Youth Chess Championship in Ontario, Canada (August 2019). In April 2022, Noah qualified for the 44th International Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. He is the youngest Bahamian to ever qualify for The Bahamas Open Chess Olympiad Team. As a member of The Bahamas Open Olympiad Team Noah scored the highest win rate on the 2022 Bahamas Olympiad Team. Noah was awarded a conditional Candidate Master title by scoring a total of 4.5. out of 7 at the 44th Chess Olympiad. 

Noah obtained his certification as a FIDE Developmental Instructor in 2019. To date, Noah have taught more than 50 young Bahamians to play chess. 
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In 2022 Noah revived the St. Augustine’s College Chess Club which had been inactive for 6 years. He
currently serves as President of the St. Augustine’s College Chess Club.
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Avian Pride - born 2007. In 2017 Avian was introduced to chess by his older brother. In the same year he joined the BGT Chess Club and started playing competitively. In August 2019 he represented The Bahamas at the North American Youth Chess Championship in Ontario, Canada. In May 2022, Avian became the Scholastic Individual Champion going undefeated throughout the tournament. He then placed 2nd in the Bahamas Junior National Championship and qualified for the National Championship. In January 2023, he placed 4th in the Bahamas National Championship after scoring 5.5 points in the 9 rounds, round robin tournament.  In April 2023 he won the Scholastic Chess Individual Championship and placed 2nd overall in U1700 section of The Orjan Lindroth Memorial tournament.
WCM Daijah Johnson – born 2003.  Since her introduction to Chess in late 2012, Daijah has become a regular player in local tournaments.  Her passion and commitment to the game has been extraordinary.  Daijah competed in the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Youth Festival held in San Jose, Costa Rica in December 2013, where she placed 5th in the Under-10 Female section.  In 2015, Daijah was awarded the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title for placing 3rd in Under-12 Female section at the CAC Youth Festival in Port of Spain, Trinidad. 
Chika Pride - born 2010. Chika was inspired to learn chess after watching her brothers play. In 2019, she joined the BGT Chess Club, participated in a chess summer camp and played in her first tournament a few months later, where she secured an impressive 2nd place in her section and won her first medal.

She continued to compete in numerous tournaments every year and won several prizes. In 2022, Chika placed 4th in the Scholastic Individual Chess Championship. She became the youngest player to ever qualify for and represent the Bahamas at the Chess Olympiad. She travelled to India in July 2022 as a member of the Female Olympiad Team where she played 7 games and scored 2 points. In April 2023, she placed 3rd in the Scholastic Individual Chess Championship and 7th in the U1700 section of The Orjan Lindroth Chess Championship.

​Chika has assisted BCF several times  with teaching other kids her age and older, learn chess.