US grandmaster Fabiano Caruana hails chess talent of nine-year-old south London boy

Britain's newest chess star has been hailed as “a talent for sure” after playing in London against the American grandmaster who narrowly missed becoming world champion.

Fabiano Caruana, who lost to defending champion Magnus Carlsen in a tie-break after a three-week world title match in Holborn last month, said nine-year-old Shreyas Royal from south London was a fine player after a game with him at the London Chess Classic.

The centrepiece of the event, which starts today at Google’s headquarters at King’s Cross before shifting to Olympia, is a £230,000 contest between Caruana and three other top players.

But it also involves masterclasses for talented children and a “Pro-Biz” cup in which Caruana, former world champion Garry Kasparov, and other stars have been playing against opponents from the world of business as well as Indian-born Shreyas — who recently won the right to stay in the UK in recognition of his outstanding talent.

Speaking as the event began, Caruana, the world’s No2, said that he was delighted to be back in London so soon after his world championship and hoped that his presence, and that of other leading figures, would help encourage young players.

He paid tribute to Shreyas’s potential after drawing a paired game against a team made up of the nine-year-old and the English international master Ali Mortazavi.

“He’s a talent for sure. The game was equal material but it was very complicated,” said Caruana. Shreyas, who has lived in London since he was three, said he had enjoyed playing Caruana, adding: “It was very exciting. It’s a great experience playing here.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid allowed Shreyas and his family to remain in the UK, rather than being forced to return to India when his father’s five-year visa for an IT job expired, in recognition of the boy being “one of the most gifted chess players in his generation”.

The London Chess Classic is being hosted by artificial intelligence company DeepMind, which has unveiled a new chess super computer.