How UK’s youngest GM is taking lessons from India

The 15-year-old Shreyas Royal wants to understand how much he needs to level up to compete with the fiery band of young Indian Super GMs on the loose

Bengaluru: When Shreyas Royal was getting antsy about his final GM norm, he knew whom to turn to. The 15-year-old from Woolwich, southeast London, who became the UK’s youngest Grandmaster in August, had Indian coach Swayams Mishra serving up gleanings from his experience of waiting nearly three and a half years for his final GM norm.

Shreyas Royal (left) during his training camp with coach Swayams Mishra in Bhubaneswar. (HT)

Shreyas, accompanied by his parents Jitendra and Anju, is on visit to the country of his birth— India — for an in-person three-day training camp with Swayams in Bhubaneswar, along with some sightseeing and Diwali celebrations with his extended family. “We’ve mainly had online sessions since we began working together last year so wanted to have at least one over the board training camp,” says Swayams, India’s 62nd GM, “There’s so much you can tell as a coach from just the body language of a student sitting across you.”

Shreyas is still giddy from his experience of having played and taken half a point off Viswanathan Anand at the WR Masters in London earlier this month. The first classical game between them ended in a draw after Anand blew a winning advantage. The five-time world champion won the match after he took the second game.

“It’s tough going up against someone like Anand who plays so quickly and accurately and it was tricky with no increment. Before the second game I told myself ‘Anand is after all human, isn’t he’ and decided to take my chances. I ended up getting overambitious.”

Shreyas didn’t mind losing to Anand, what he did find a touch disheartening was missing out on a post-game chat with the legend. “Though he won the match he seemed annoyed with how he’d played and sort of stormed off. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to chat with someone I look up to, but I suppose it’s understandable.”

What Shreyas did get though was a close look at how much he needs to level up to compete with the fiery band of young Indian Super GMs on the loose.

“I’m quite careless, even a bit lazy at times. I can sometimes assume something in a position, and it can be quite random. These mistakes don’t happen when I’m playing well. This was already at the back of my mind but Swayams spotting it and getting me to work on it is good,” says Shreyas, “When I look at the Indian guys, they’re so incredibly dedicated, focused and hardworking. Certainly, more than I am. I wish I could take some it. There’s also funding, support, recognition and parents who’re invested.”

There’s a fair bit of curiosity and interest in India’s secret sauce in chess. It’s perhaps what got Shreyas’s mother, who is also from Odisha, to get in touch with Swayams. Coach of the Indian women’s team that won gold at the recent Olympiad, Swayams was certain that he would be able to bring a fundamentally different approach to the table. “Shreyas has mainly worked with European trainers so far and their style differs from that of Indian trainers. Most European trainers work on the lessons they’re supposed to in class and that’s pretty much it. Indian coaches have a more long-term approach. I suppose that makes a difference.”

Swayams, 32, who transitioned to coaching early after it became tough to financially sustain a playing career, describes Shreyas as a “solid, calculative” player who he imagined becoming GM sooner than it happened. Psychologically, he says, there was work to be done “Swayams has been of huge psychological help, especially when it comes to me having the right mindset. He’s also opened my eyes to opening preparation. It’s fair to say he’s not just a trainer, he’s a mentor.” A couple of days ago, Shreyas played an exhibition match against five-time national champion, IM Padmini Rout in Bhubaneswar. They each won a 10 min + 5 sec game for matters to head to blitz which Shreyas ended up winning 3-0.

Currently rated 2519, Shreyas wants to be able to break into 2600 by early next year and make the national team for the European Championships. He reckons that had his family stayed put in India (he was born in Bengaluru), things might have been different for him. “I think I’d still be successful as a player. Hard to say to what degree.” Shreyas will spend the rest of his India trip at his maternal home in Kansbahal, Rourkela. Right now, the teen is just happy to gaze at the open fields and make plans with his cousins to kick around a ball and swing a bat.