Team Herald
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PANJIM: IM Ethan Vaz of Goa was crowned the undisputed national junior champion at the 54th National Junior Chess Championship held at Wave International Hotel, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. The tournament, held from December 16 to 24, was organised by the Seraikela-Kharsawan District Chess Association on behalf of the Jharkhand Chess Association and the All India Chess Federation.
Top seed Ethan (ELO 2500) dominated the field, defeating second seed IM Md Imran (2473) of Andhra Pradesh in the ninth round and IM Mayank Chakraboty (2465) of Assam in the seventh round. He also secured emphatic wins over FM Vivaan Vishal Shah (2327) of Gujarat in the 10th round and FM Jaiveer Mahendru (2237) of Maharashtra in the final round. Despite requiring only a draw in the last round, Ethan pressed for a win even from a slightly inferior middle-game position. His only drawn game came against CM Aadik Theophane Lenin of Kerala in the fourth round.
This year, IM Ethan Vaz earned his second GM norm and surpassed the ELO 2500 threshold required for the Grandmaster title. He won a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a trophy. The second prize went to IM Mayank Chakraboty (2465) of Assam, while Vignesh Vemula of Telangana claimed third place. Another Goan player, Sai Prabhakaran R, finished 112th with 5.5 points.
The 39th National Junior Girls Championship, held concurrently at the venue, was won by WFM Shubhi Gupta of Uttar Pradesh. Nivedita VC of Tamil Nadu finished second, and Pratitee Bordoloi of Karnataka took third place.
President of the Goa Chess Association, Mahesh Candolkar, congratulated IM Ethan Vaz on his ‘stupendous performance’. Ashesh Keni, Secretary of the Goa Chess Association and President of the Salcete Taluka Chess Association, noted that this is Goa’s second gold medal at the Nationals this year, following Evan Telles’ U7 title. He highlighted that this is the first time Goa has won the U19 National Junior Championship title, previously claimed in the girls’ section by IM Bhakti Kulkarni.
