64 Squares, One Nation: JDA Celebrates Jamaica 64 as Draughts Links Generations, Parishes And The World

FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Jamaica’s 64th year of Independence was celebrated in many ways across the island, but in the historic town of Falmouth, the number 64 took on an especially fitting meaning.

There, in the heart of Falmouth Square, the Trelawny Massive Draughts Club, in partnership with the Jamaica Draughts Association (JDA), brought together players, administrators, families, women, juniors/children and supporters for another staging of the JDA Draughts Link-Up Festival — transforming the public space into an open arena of strategy, friendly rivalry, mentorship and national pride.

The symbolism could hardly have been more appropriate: Jamaica at 64, celebrating on 64 squares.

Draughts has long occupied a special place in Jamaican communities. Like its cousin game Chess, several forms of draughts/checkers are played on the familiar 8×8, 64-square board. Jamaica’s traditional Draughts-64, American Pool Checkers, Russian Shashki and Brazilian Draughts may differ in rules and playing styles, but they share that common battlefield.

It is this connection between Jamaica’s traditional game and the wider international draughts family that the JDA has increasingly sought to develop. Rather than abandoning the version Jamaicans have played for generations, the Association is using that foundation to expose players to additional disciplines and create pathways from community competition to international participation.

The Association is also continuing its expansion into International 10×10 Draughts-100, the 10×10, 100-square discipline widely played internationally. Both the traditional Jamaican 8×8 game and International 10×10 Draughts were therefore featured at the Falmouth Link-Up, giving spectators and players an opportunity to see the evolution taking place within the sport.

The event formed part of the JDA’s official programme of activities and received sponsorship support from Karnack Hardware of Runaway Bay, St. Ann. Importantly, however, the day belonged in large measure to the host Trelawny Massive Draughts Club, whose members helped create an atmosphere in which established champions and draughts enthusiasts could sit across the board from developing players and where competition blended naturally with fellowship.

That community-club partnership is becoming an important part of the JDA’s strategy for growing the sport islandwide.

Supporting the host club was a strong representation from the JDA administration, including President Jermaine Delattibudiere, 1st Vice President Mikoyan Robinson, JP, Treasurer and Trelawny Massive Draughts Club President Oraine Thompson, Public Relations Officer Lennox Lewis, and Assistant Public Relations Officer Everette “Donavan” Kavanaugh.

Their presence reflected an administration that has increasingly sought to take the Association beyond simply organising championships, placing greater emphasis on community Link-Ups, youth development, international participation, institutional partnerships and wider public visibility for the sport.

At the centre of that administrative drive is JDA President Jermaine Delattibudiere, whose tenure has coincided with a particularly active period for organised draughts in Jamaica.

JDA President Delattibudiere who won gold medals in the Class 1 Division of the 2025 and 2026 Jamaica Draughts-64 C. O. Championships , also serves as General Secretary of the Pan-American Draughts and Checkers Confederation (PAMDCC), becoming the first Jamaican elected to serve within the continental organisation. That dual role has helped strengthen Jamaica’s connection with the regional and international draughts community at a time when the JDA is deliberately seeking greater opportunities for Jamaican players beyond the country’s shores.

Perhaps the clearest indication of Jamaica’s growing standing is the country’s successful bid to host the 2028 PAMDCC Pan-American Draughts Championships — an undertaking that has the potential to bring leading players, tourists, officials and delegations from across the Americas to Jamaica.

That achievement also places considerable responsibility on the JDA over the next several years. The Association will need to build partnerships, attract sponsorship, strengthen its administrative capacity, develop its players and organise the extensive logistics necessary to successfully stage a continental championship.

The current JDA administration, elected in June, 2025, is due to face its next biennial election in June 2027. With the Pan-American Championships scheduled for the following year, the question of continuity will naturally assume added significance. Delattibudiere has been one of the principal driving forces behind the current programme and the successful 2028 bid, and retaining experienced leadership through the critical preparation period would provide the Association with stability as it moves from winning the hosting rights to delivering the championship itself.

Yet the progress being made is not the work of one individual. The increasingly visible role of the executive, clubs, senior players, sponsors and community partners was evident in the JDA December , ,2025 National Draughts Championships, and throughout the Falmouth event, and the Trelawny Massive Draughts Club demonstrated precisely why strong local clubs will remain essential to the JDA’s national ambitions.

The boards also attracted some of Jamaica’s most accomplished players.

International Grandmaster Wayne “Shine” Reid, Federation Master Jermaine Hutchinson, and Top Master Worth “Black Panther” Foster were among the established competitors who participated. Their presence gave younger and developing players an opportunity not merely to watch elite players, but to sit across the board from them and learn.

One of the day’s particularly meaningful encounters saw Foster engaging in mentorship games with 2025 JDA National Youth Champion Shavier Jaddo. It was a simple scene that captured an important part of the Association’s wider mission: knowledge being transferred from one generation to another.

That emphasis on succession is becoming increasingly important.

Several women, girls and junior players participated in the Link-Up, reflecting the JDA’s deliberate effort to broaden the traditional player base. Increasing the involvement of women and girls, while attracting more children and young people to organised draughts, is now among the Association’s major developmental objectives.

For the JDA, sustainability cannot simply mean producing today’s champions. It must mean creating tomorrow’s players, administrators, coaches and ambassadors.

One young player who gave a powerful indication of that future was 2025 JDA Youth Runner-up Champion Justin Angus.

Angus who is a teenager/junior produced one of the standout performances of the Link-Up when he apprehended/accosted Adrian “Most Wanted” Reid in their draughts match, and defeated him 6-0. During the match Angus dominated Reid. The result was particularly noteworthy given Reid’s years of experience and record as a Class 2 silver medallist at the 2025 Jamaica Draughts-64 Community Outreach Championships before returning to capture gold in 2026.

For a junior player to record such a commanding result against an accomplished Class 2 competitor immediately attracted attention.

Negril Draughts Club President Dennis Brown was among those who praised Angus’ performance, viewing it as an encouraging indication of the talent emerging through Jamaica’s youth ranks.

Yet the Link-Up also demonstrated why young talent must continue to be tested.

Angus later faced Rodane Brown, a JDA member, Trelawny Massive Draughts Club player and 2024 Draughts-64 Community Outreach Championship Class 2 gold medallist. Although their encounter produced no decisive overall result, Brown was the more dominant player during the contest.

For Angus, the experience was arguably as valuable as his earlier victory. It reinforced an important lesson for any developing champion: success confirms potential, but strong opposition exposes the areas that must still be improved.

That combination of competition and mentorship is precisely what the Draughts Link-Up concept is intended to encourage.

Institutional relationships were also strengthened in Falmouth. Mrs Paula Barrett-Reid, Trelawny Parish Manager for the Social Development Commission (SDC), attended and expressed an interest in developing a more formal working relationship between the SDC and JDA to facilitate additional activities within the parish.

Mrs Paula Barrett-Reid, SDC Parish Manager, Miss Dainty Taylor, SDC Local Economic Development Co-ordinator, Miss Tawana Hutton, SDC Community Liaison Officer (Acting),
Amoy Virgo SDC receptionist,* Shanieba Whittaker and other SDC representatives went even further than just observing. They joined the action and started playing friendly matches against Top Master Jermaine Delattibudiere, Master Richardo Roach, 2025 JDA Youth Champion Shavier Jaddo and other JDA members.

Those interactions may ultimately prove as important as some of the results recorded on the boards. For a sport seeking to grow, partnerships with community-development organisations, sponsors, schools, clubs and public institutions can provide the bridge between isolated competitions and a sustainable national programme.

The progress has not gone unnoticed.

Reflecting on the developments, a senior JDA member observed:

“This is what growth looks like. The Jamaica Draughts Association is becoming more established than ever before. We are seeing draughts being taken onto the national stage and receiving more of the recognition it deserves.”

That sentiment captured the wider significance of the Falmouth gathering.

This was not merely a tournament. It was another piece of a much larger effort to reposition Jamaican draughts — preserving the community culture that has sustained the game for generations while developing a structured organisation capable of producing international grandmasters, international masters, internatal competitors, federation masters, attracting new players and hosting major championships.

The next Link-Up is expected to continue that journey at Willow Gate Plaza in Mandeville, Manchester, on Sunday, August 30, 2026, starting at 9:00 am. Mandeville Draughts Club President and JDA Assistant PRO Everette “Donavan” Kavanaugh is slated to take the lead in hosting.

From Falmouth to Mandeville, from community Draughts-64 to Pool Checkers and International Draughts-100, the objective is gradually becoming clearer: connect the clubs, connect the parishes, develop the youth, welcome more women and children, strengthen partnerships and give Jamaican players pathways from the community board to the international stage.

For President Jermaine Delattibudiere and the JDA administration, there is still considerable work ahead. Winning the right to host the 2028 Pan-American Championships was an important milestone; successfully delivering the event and ensuring that Jamaican draughts is stronger after it will be the greater test.

The activity now taking place across the Association, however, suggests that the foundation is being laid.

And perhaps that is what made Falmouth Square such an appropriate setting for Jamaica’s 64th Independence celebration.

When the final games ended late the evening, and the boards were eventually packed away, the 64 squares had represented much more than victory and defeat. They had brought together champions and beginners, seniors and juniors, administrators and community members, women and men, SDC and JDA, local tradition and international ambition.

Sixty-four squares. Fourteen parishes. One Jamaica. One game continuing to bring people together.

And as Jamaica celebrates 64 years of Independence, the Jamaica Draughts Association is looking beyond the next move — towards the next generation, the next parish, and ultimately, Jamaica 2028.

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