<keyword id="19910826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="London" source="keywords">London</keyword>: <keyword id="22709851" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shreyas-Royal" source="keywords">Shreyas Royal</keyword> is a <keyword id="22722922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Indian-chess-prodigy" source="keywords">British Indian chess prodigy</keyword> who, at just 15 years old, is now <keyword id="22722925" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Englands-youngest-grandmaster" source="keywords">England's youngest grandmaster</keyword> (GM) after clocking his latest victory in the <keyword id="22722924" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Chess-Championships" source="keywords">British Chess Championships</keyword>. The London schoolboy crossed the final hurdle to bag the final <keyword id="21663814" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="GM-Norm" source="keywords">GM Norm</keyword> - a performance benchmark accrued over a number of games across tournaments - during the championship in Hull last week. It marked a major milestone for his family, which was granted leave to remain in the UK in recognition of his exceptional chess genius after his IT expert father's work visa had expired in 2018. "It feels great to pay off part of what the country had done for us," said Jitendra Singh, on his son's latest accomplishment. "We're both very delighted to hit the record in the country that has nurtured his chess career," he said. Shreyas beat Grand Master David Howell's record of becoming the youngest back in 2007, aged 16 years old. According to the English Chess Federation (ECF), his notable results in the championship last week included defeating Howell and drawing with the eventual winner Gawain Jones, and top GMs Luke McShane and Michael Adams. "Keep persisting, no matter how tough things may get. There will always be setbacks and failures, but how you overcome them will define your character and will put you on the right path," said Shreyas when asked for his advice for other budding young chess players like him. He and his supportive father now have their eyes set on making it to the national chess team and achieving even greater heights. "It's truly been a remarkable journey, and I cannot thank everyone who has helped me enough," added Shreyas. Shreyas, who was born in India, moved to the UK at the age of three with parents Jitendra and Anju Singh from Bangalore six years ago. Back in 2018, ECF had campaigned for the boy to stay on in the UK and hone his talent. In a joint letter to then home secretary Sajid Javid, Labour MPs Rachel Reeves and Matthew Pennycook - now Cabinet ministers - had said the UK would lose an "exceptional talent" if Shreyas were to leave due to his father's visa running out. "The UK should always encourage the world's brightest, most talented people to work and make their lives here. Shreyas is recognised by the English Chess Federation as the country's greatest chess prospect in a generation," their letter said. The Home Office reconsidered the case to allow an extension to their stay, which has since led to a British citizenship. Last year, Shreyas joined other young chess prodigies at 10 Downing Street as then prime minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a GBP 1 million investment package to support children attending schools in disadvantaged areas across England to learn and play chess, improve visibility and availability of the game and fund elite playing.

Keep persisting: British Indian chess prodigy Shreyas Royal on feat as youngest grandmaster

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An eight-year-old girl has set new chess records at a European tournament.</li><li>Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Croatia.</li></ul>An eight-year-old girl from London has set new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deepmind-founder-demis-hassabis-chess-champion-peter-thiel-funding-2023-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">chess</a> records at a European tournament.Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Zagreb, Croatia, finishing 73rd out of 555 players.Sivanandan arrived late to the event in the Croatian capital after going to the wrong entrance and had to forfeit her first game, losing by default, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/22/chess-bodhana-sivanandan-eight-sets-new-records-with-victory-in-zagreb">The Guardian</a> reported.Nevertheless, the young prodigy won 8.5/13 points against a field that contained some of the best players in the world, including 48 grandmasters — the highest title a chess player can hold.In one game, the eight-year-old defeated the international master and England women's coach Lorin D'Costa.In the final round, she drew with Romanian grandmaster Vladislav Nevednichy, 54, the youngest player ever to avoid defeat to a chess champion of the top rank in a competitive game.Her tournament performance was rated at 2316, the level of a woman grandmaster, per The Guardian.Dominic Lawson, the president of the English Chess Federation, said her performance was "completely remarkable but not that surprising, because she is a phenomenon," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bodhana-sivanandan-chess-master-defeat-match-hcd5j7pmt">The Times</a> reported."It's an extraordin­ary result for an eight-year-old and something we've certainly never seen in this country," Lawson said. "She has a remarkably mature playing style, it's strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game."Many seasoned chess players have also weighed in on Sivanandan's fine display, with <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/IrinaBulmaga/status/1736077518363382168">Irina Bulmaga</a>, a Romanian professional chess player and international master, hailing it as an "unbelievable result.""What a phenomenon she is," she added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LawrenceTrentIM/status/1734976939243208972">Lawrence Trent</a>, another international master wrote in another post: "Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the greatest talents I've witnessed in recent memory. The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it's truly breathtaking. I have no doubt she will be England's greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen."The eight-year-old took up the game during the UK's COVID-19 pandemic and learned quickly, even being invited to play chess with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street, The Times reported.

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Keep persisting: British Indian chess prodigy Shreyas Royal on feat as youngest grandmaster

PTI

8-year-old British schoolgirl amazes chess world with historic European championship victory

Nathan Rennolds