Junior Chess Champion Isaiah Garay and National Champion Alfred Awe
- Belize Chess Federation
- Jan 17
- 2 min read
Updated: 19 hours ago
2026 National Chess Championships Held in Belmopan
The 2026 National Chess Championships were held at the George Price Center in Belmopan on January 17, 2026. Players from across Belize competed in both the Junior and National Championship events.
National Arbiter John Newport served as the Head Arbiter for both the Junior Chess Championship and the National Chess Championship.
The National Chess Championships represent two years of planning and qualification tournaments with over 100 players competing to determine the top players.
Junior Chess Championship
In the Junior Championships, six players qualified for the tournament: Gregory McGibney, Curtis Andrade, Emely Andrade, Isaiah Garay, Liam Aban, and Jaylon Saldano. Jaylon Saldano was unable to attend.
The five players competed in a single round robin tournament.
After all games were played, Isaiah Garay won the Junior National Championship title. Curtis Andrade and Gregory McGibney tied for second place. A tiebreak match was played, and Curtis Andrade won the match to secure second place.
National Chess Championship
In the National Championship, NM Michael Campos won the Challengers Tournament, earning the right to face defending champion NM Alfred Awe. The championship was decided in a best-of-three match.
Michael Campos drew first blood by winning their first game in 15 moves!
In their second game, Alfred Awe gained a winning position but some inaccuracies in time trouble allowed Michael to equalize. The players entered a complicated endgame and after 30 moves played in time trouble, Alfred Awe squeezed the win and bounced back after 102 moves!
In their final game, Alfred Awe showed why he is the defending champion and defeated Michael Campos in 30 moves with a 93.9% accuracy to retain the title of Belize National Chess Champion.
Exhibition Match - National Champion vs Junior Champion
At the end of the event we held a small Exhibition Match between our new Junior Chess Champion Isaiah Garay and National Champion NM Alfred Awe.
Isaiah Showed no fear for the National Champion as he played an amazing knight sacrifice on move 9 Nxg5!! Despite the aggressive play from Isaiah, inaccuracies and a blunder on move 13. h5?? sealed the win for the National Champion.
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