Chess
Chess: Ethan Vaz, Harshvardhan GB earn GM titles
While Ethan Vaz earned his final norm in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Harshvardhan GB gained it in Chennai.
Ethan Vaz (Photo credit: TOI)
India added two more chess Grandmasters to its ever growing tally as Ethan Vaz and Harshvardhan G.B. became the country's 96th and 97th GM respectively.
Vaz, who is just 14 years old, achieved the feat late on Saturday night, when he earned his third and final grandmaster norm at a tournament called Chess Summer in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Having started to compete in tournaments abroad just three years back, Vaz earned his first GM norm last year in October.
He earned his second norm in January earlier this year during a tournament in Serbia.
Meanwhile, Harshvardhan, aged 22, attained his third and final norm 2nd Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament in front of his home crowd in Chennai to earn the grandmaster tag.
Harshvardhan finished the tournament with four wins and five draws in nine rounds to earn his final nor,.
He had earned his first norm during the Asian Junior Championships in 2022 before earning his second at the Asian Continental 2025, which had also helped him qualify for the 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa last year.