Shreyas — the boy who helped his family avoid deportation and is now UK’s youngest ever chess Grandmaster

Shreyas Royal supports D. Gukesh for World chess championship, aiming to inspire UK chess development and support.

LONDON

Shreyas Royal wants D. Gukesh to win the upcoming World chess championship. If the Chennai teenager does that — he is most people’s favourite at the moment — Shreyas could tell his friends, “You know, I almost beat the World champion in classical chess when I was 14, and drew with him, at any rate.”

That happened at the London Chess Classic last December. It caught the chess world’s attention, of course. The larger world became aware of the Bengaluru-born Shreyas six years earlier, though.

His father Jitendra Singh’s work visa was about to expire, and he was told that it could not be extended if he didn’t earn £120,000. But, Rachel Reeves, now Chancellor of the Exchequer, intervened, arguing that the country would have lost one of its brightest had Shreyas been deported.

The then home secretary Sajid Javid made a personal decision that allowed the family to stay under a new work visa. Shreyas repaid the UK’s faith in him. A couple of months ago, he became the country’s youngest ever Grandmaster, beating David Howell’s record by six months.

Howell is a commentator at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, where Shreyas was a guest and made the inaugural move for one of the matches. “I am glad that such a world-class tournament has come to England, where the game needs much more support than it is getting now,” he told The Hindu.

“I hope this will help chess (which is not considered a sport in the UK) increase its popularity here. And it was a bit surreal to see some of my idols, including Viswanathan Anand at the venue.”