Shreyas Royal (born 9 January 2009) is an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became a grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 7 months, making him the youngest British player to achieve the title.

Early life and education

Shreyas was born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India and moved to

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, South East London at the age of 3 when his father Jitendra Singh was offered a job as an IT project manager. Singh's visa was due to expire in September 2018, but he was granted a new work visa one month prior, allowing the family to stay and Royal to continue playing chess in England. On a scholarship, Royal attended the Pointer School in Blackheath.

Career

He won the European Youth U8 Chess Championship in 2017. In 2021 Royal became England's youngest International Master. In November 2022, he scored his first GM norm at the Bavarian Open in

Tegernsee Tegernsee () is a Town#Germany, town in the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the banks of Tegernsee (lake), Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) AMSL, above sea level. A spa town, it is su ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In doing so, he broke the record for being the youngest English player to earn a GM norm. Royal competed in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023. At the event, he won the first round against the higher-rated Jaime Santos Latasa, who was rated 2650 (whereas Royal was rated 2407). Shreyas also defeated Vahap Şanal in Round 7, rated 2603 at the time of the game. Royal finished with 4.5/11 points in the tournament, with a performance rating of 2574. In December 2023, Royal played in the

London Chess Classic The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cove ...

, scoring 4/9 points and obtaining his second GM norm. Royal achieved his third and final GM norm at the age of 15 in August 2024, after finishing in sixth place at the

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it ha ...

. With this, Royal became the youngest British grandmaster in history, beating David Howell's record by 6 months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Shreyas Living people 2009 births English chess players Indian chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess players from London People from Woolwich Sportspeople from Bengaluru Sportspeople from the Royal Borough of Greenwich