It was a case of many firsts!
- At the first ever international chess tournament organized by Goa Chess Association,
- Which also happened to be the first ever international tournament he participated in,
- Ethan won his first ever International level chess award!
The 1st Goa International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament, organized by Goa Chess Association under the aegis of All India Chess Federation, was hosted at the prestigious Shyam Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Statium at Bambolim, Tiswadi, Goa, from 17th to 20th Oct, 2018.
Ethan participated in the Category C tournament which was for players having a FIDE rating of less than 1600 Elo points.
In 9 rounds of the tournament played over 4 days, Ethan, who was a FIDE Unrated player, was pitted against 9 rated players. He displayed exemplary skills, defeating 3 of the rated players (Elo 1140, 1202 and 1238), securing a draw with 3 other rated players (Elo 1542, 1191 and 1297).
Ethan finished with 5.5 points and secured the 2nd place in the International Under-7 category, rising above 137 FIDE rated players across all ages as well as all players in the All-Goa Under-7 category, setting a new benchmark of sorts for himself.
His excellent performance rating of 1312 at this FIDE rating tournament now stands to fetch him his initial FIDE International Rating when FIDE updates the international ratings at the end of the month.
Update [01/11/2018]: Ethan achieved an initial FIDE International Rating of 1170 Elo points, making him the #1 ranked chess player of Goa in the Under-7 category.