There are plenty of examples where a player’s sports skills enabled him or her to earn a good living and lifted their family out of poverty. But an unusual case has now emerged in which a young boy’s skill at chess saved his family from being deported.
The boy’s name is Shreyas Royal. He was born in Bengaluru but at the age of three he moved with his parents to Woolwich in south east London. While studying in school, he began to excel at the game of chess and in a short span of time he became a well known expert at the game.
But when he was 9 years old, there came an unusual twist in his life. His father Jitendra’s work visa had almost expired. He was informed by the government that he would be deported back to India along with his family. The notice made the entire family dejected because all their plans of living and settling in the UK would be nullified.
An unexpected development
That was when an unexpected development took place. When the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid came to know about it, he made an important decision and ruled that the family should be allowed to stay in the UK. Only because Shreyas was turning out to be a chess playing prodigy and if the family returned to India, then Britain would lose an extraordinarily gifted chess player.
According to a BBC report, the Home Secretary explained: “After carefully reviewing the evidence, I have taken the personal decision to allow Shreyas and his family to stay in the UK. Ours is a country that fosters world class talent and Shreyas is one of the most gifted chess players in his generation. We have always welcomed talented individuals from across the globe.”
Thus, a big burden was lifted from the sagging shoulders of Shreyas’s father. The family had almost given up hope when the unexpected notification reached their home. According to the report, Shreyas was so overjoyed that he began jumping on the sofa.
Leon Watson, secretary of Battersea Chess Club, where Shreyas is a player, said the news was an “enormous relief” and that in 10 years’ time, Shreyas could be England’s first world champion in chess.”
After that incident Shreyas fully justified the faith that the UK government had reposed in him. In 2017 he won the European Under 18 championship and in 2021 he became England’s youngest International Master. In 2022, he earned his first Grandmaster norm at the Bavarian Open in Germany.
How he attained Grandmaster title
In 2023, Shreyas played in the London Chess Classic in which he obtained his second GM norm. And finally in August 2024, Shreyas achieved his third and final GM norm after finishing in sixth place at the British Chess Championship. With this result, Shreyas, at the age of 15 years and 7 months, became the youngest British grandmaster in history, beating the earlier record held by a player named David Howell.
Britain is grooming several young players now with the objective of producing a world champion in the future. One amongst them is Shreyas. He has the required talent and with the right training he could be a future champion.
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