IM Ethan Vaz, WFM Shubhi Gupta win at National Junior Chess Championship

2 hours ago 4

ARTICLE AD BOX

(left) IM Ethan Vaz (Goa) won the national title with a rating of 2500, finishing with 10.5 points; (right) WFM Shubhi Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) claimed the championship with 9.5 points and a rating of 2259 (Picture Credit: Instagram)

IM Ethan Vaz of Goa and WFM Shubhi Gupta of Uttar Pradesh emerged champions in the boys’ and girls’ categories respectively at the National Junior Chess Championship 2025, which concluded on Tuesday at Wave International, Jamshedpur.

In the boys’ category, IM Ethan Vaz (Goa) won the national title with a rating of 2500, finishing with 10.5 points. IM Mayank Chakravarty of Assam secured the first runner-up position with 9 points and a rating of 2465. Vignesh Advaith Vemula of Telangana finished third with 8.5 points and a rating of 2428.

Earlier this year, Vaz was part of the Checkmate: USA vs India event, which had pit two of the strongest nations in the sport against each other. The event saw four of the top five players in the world at the time — Hikaru Nakamura, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruana — playing for their countries. Also featured were Divya Deshmukh, who would go on to win the Women’s Chess World Cup just a couple of months later

In the girls’ category, WFM Shubhi Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) claimed the championship with 9.5 points and a rating of 2259. WFM Nivedita V.C. of Tamil Nadu finished as the first runner-up with 9 points (rating 2003), while WCM Pratiti Bordoloi of Karnataka took third place with 8.5 points and a rating of 2043.

Jharkhand CM at prize distribution ceremony

The closing and prize distribution ceremony was attended by former Jharkhand Chief Minister and former Union Minister Arjun Munda, who was the chief guest. Jharkhand Defence Minister Sanjay Seth and senior leader and former Jharkhand Cabinet Minister Saryu Rai were also present.

Addressing the gathering, Arjun Munda underlined the significance of chess as both a sport and a mental discipline. “Chess originated in India and is not merely a game of patience. It represents precise strategy, deep concentration, foresight and mental balance,” he said. He added that competitions of this nature help strengthen discipline and decision-making abilities among young players, and noted that the games played at the championship reflected the promise of future international-level chess players.

Sanjay Seth said that intellectual sports such as chess offer young people an opportunity to gain recognition at the global level. “If such large-scale tournaments continue to be organised in the coming years, the Government of India will extend all possible support,” he said, adding that Jharkhand has the potential to emerge as an important destination for national-level sporting events.

Read Entire Article