ARPORA, Nov. 6 -- Team Herald [emailprotected]

At just sixteen, Oscar Quinn has already journeyed farther in the world of chess than most achieve in a lifetime. Ranked among New Zealand's top 20 players, the young Candidate Master arrived in Goa not merely to compete, but to embrace the challenge of facing the world's best at the FIDE World Cup. For Quinn, the experience was unlike anything he had known back home, where international chess opportunities are few and far between. "The standard is really high-something I haven't personally experienced before," he admitted, speaking softly yet with unmistakable determination. The playing hall in Goa was charged with quiet tension. Grandmasters from across the globe - figures he had only read...