Battle Royale persists between England and India on the fate of young chess prodigy Shreyas Royal

England is home to the revered Kohinoor diamond. This originally belongs to India. But there doesn’t seem to be much interest in extending talks to have it back. Who cares if Kohinoor were to be returned back by the Buckingham Palace- is the general notion. But that was then- in the past, at least 6-7 decades back.

What about now? It seems, there’s another diamond that England has. One with an Indian touch to it. The name is Shreyas Royal. At just 9, an age where kids his age are struggling to spell Scooby Dooby Doo, the bespectacled kid is a chess prodigy. But there’s fresh worry regarding the fate of Shreyas Royal. Will he continue to stay in England. Will he return to India, from where he hails? It’s a matter lingering in doubt.

Where current talks are to be believed, Shreyas Royal’s family is fighting hard to stay back in England. So what is stopping them? Here’s the concern. Back in India, few know him and perhaps not many to the count of fingers in our hands. But here in England- there’s a lot of interest about the fate of Shreyas Royal’s residency. He could actually go on to become the country’s ever Chess champion. And it’s not a common citation. He could actually become the country’s first world champion.

But there’s this major concern. The moment Shreyas Royal’s father’s visa expires, he could be sent back to India. Interestingly, the chess master-talent has only been playing the sport in the past 4 years. But in these memorable years, he’s been consistently beating players that are at least a decade older to him, if not more. Shreyas Royal’s father- Jitendra Singh’s work-visa is set to expire in the month of September. Whatever happens next is purely destiny’s call.

But, it can be said for certain that, the family of this 9-year old wonder talent wishes to stay back in England. Logically speaking, nine in ten people, given the grand stakes involved in becoming the champion, would want to follow suit. Consider the polarised situations. On the one hand- you have a common kid, who few would know about had it not been for his wonderful and god-gifted talent at chess. Sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. On the other hand- you have a life of relative obscurity, provided Shreyas Royal moves back to native India.

Now, how Shreyas Royal’s family are fighting for the case to stay back in England unfolds like this. It all depends on whether Shreyas’s father- Jitendra Singh- is allowed up to several months’ stretch an indefinite leave by his current employer- Tata motors, where he works in the capacity of an IT manager. At present, Mr. Singh has applied for an indefinite leave to stay footed in England. This, without saying, is due to the fact that there’s realisation that young Shreyas is a national treasure. The kid’s family have high hopes and naturally so from the English Chess Federation, that’s been backing them thus far along with a gentleman by the name of Julian Simpole.

Mr. Simpole- a famous chess trainer- has been in constant touch with the potential world champion from England and insists, “This kid is like no one that I’ve ever seen.” Many voices have joined in chorus for backing the youngster who they believe is a genuine contender for the prestigious world champion tag in a game where succeeding is extremely competitive, given the dominance of so many other countries- including Russia.

When contacted about his life and interest in Chess, Shreyas shared that he likes to travel around Britain during the weekends and is a regular at practicing the game which he admires for it requires him to use his mental faculties instead of physical aggressiveness. At present, the youngster attends the popular Popular School in Blackheath on full scholarship and it is where he learned to pick the game when his mother involved him in an after-school’s program and activity. Incredible then that it’s led the softly speaking talent such a long way.