Panaji: IM Ethan Vaz of Goa was crowned National Junior Champion at the 54th National Junior Chess Championship held at Jamshedpur.
The tournament was organised by the Seraikela-Kharsawan District Chess Association on behalf of the Jharkhand Chess Association and All India Chess Federation.
Top seed Ethan (ELO 2500) dominated the event, defeating second seed IM Md Imran (2473) of Andhra Pradesh in the ninth round and IM Mayank Chakraborty (2465) of Assam in the seventh round. He also won convincingly against FM Vivaan Vishal Shah (2327) of Gujarat and FM Jaiveer Mahendru (2237) of Maharashtra. His only drawn game came against CM Aadik Theophane Lenin of Kerala. Needing only a draw in the final round, Ethan pressed for a win and succeeded despite a slightly inferior middle-game position.
The victory earned him his second GM norm and pushed him past the 2500 ELO mark required for the Grandmaster title. He won Rs. 1 lakh and a trophy. IM Mayank Chakraborty finished second, and Vignesh Vemula of Telangana took third. Another Goan, Sai Prabhakaran R, finish 112th.
