PANAJI: Goan chess prodigy AIM Ethan Vaz clinched silver medal at the Super Final of FIDE Online Cadets and Youth Rapid World Championship series. Over 3000 participants from 160 national chess federations took part in the World Championship series, which had started with the World Cup in August, followed by the Grand Prix in November, and finally culminated in the grand Super Final this month, informs a press communique.
Ethan ended the world championship on an impressive note, by winning the final game against the World No. 1 Under-10 player CM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey (Elo 2276). Moving into the final day of the 10-game round-robin tournament, Ethan (who was on 6 points) needed to score at least 1.5 points from the 2 games against the Turk (who was on 7 points) in order to be crowned the World Champion. Ethan played commendable chess, but suffered his first and only loss of the tournament in a hard-fought rook-pawn end game in the 9th round. In the final round, CM Yagiz Kaan offered Ethan a draw, but Ethan declined the offer and went on to register what would be remembered as one of the most memorable wins of his chess career as he defeated the top seed who was rated a mammoth 892 Elo points above him.
Earning 7 points out of possible 10, with 5 wins and 4 draws, Ethan finished one point behind CM Yagiz Kaan who scored 8 points. In the other notable games, Ethan (Elo 1384) caused the upset of second-seed CM Schnaider Ilan of Argentina (Elo 2106) with a score of 1.5-0.5. Ethan, who was seeded 5th amongst the 6 players, played top-notch chess and also held Dau Khuong Duy (Elo 1754) of Vietnam to a 1-1 draw, while defeating Sathvik Adiga (Elo 1374) of India 1.5-0.5 and Nguyen Quang Minh (Elo 1423) of Vietnam 2-0.
The world championship series was organised online by Georgian Chess Federation on behalf of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The new world champions will be declared after the Fair Play checks, and will be announced during the closing ceremony scheduled to be held on December 26.
Expressing joy on the accomplishment, president of Goa Chess Association and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar said: “We congratulate Ethan on this stellar achievement at the top-most level of world youth chess! It’s a great moment for Goan chess, and we are extremely thrilled!”
“Winning medals at State, National, Western Asia, Asian Schools, and World Chess Championships, and then finally topping it off with a podium finish at the Super Final, is an amazing feat! Ethan is a role model for young chess players, and we are so proud of him,” said Sharendra Naik, the secretary of Goa Chess Association.
Ethan is a Class 5 student of The King’s School, Sao Jose de Areal, and is being coached by Prakash Vikram Singh of Chess Guru Goa Academy, Margao.
