MARGAO
Goa's Ethan Vaz emerged as third runner-up at FIDE World Cup 2021 (Cadets & Youth, Under-10 Open) organised by International Chess Federation and hosted by Georgian Chess Federation.
The 10-round Swiss tournament was tightly contested by 227 of the best players from 73 countries, including 20 from India, 16 from USA and 11 from Russia, amongst others. Ethan, who was seeded at a modest 48th spot with an Elo rating of 1384 and was ranking 5th amongst his Indian counterparts at the start of the tournament, produced a good performance to finish in the top 10. The result helped Ethan qualify for the World Cup Finals, a knockout tournament that will be played later this month amongst these top 10 players plus an additional 6 of the world's highest rated players in the under-10 category, who get a direct entry into the finals.
Pitted against seven higher rated opponents, Ethan scored an impressive 8 points of possible 10, with 7 wins, 2 draws and a lone loss against the eventual first runner-up Smirnov Mark of Kazakhstan. Along the way, Ethan defeated three players from USA, one Russian, and one player each from Turkey, Vietnam and Canada, and settled for a draw each with the top players from the delegations of Russia and Chile.
