Shreyas Royal Earns Second GM Norm

Watch out everybody, because IM Shreyas Royal is one step closer to becoming a grandmaster! This ChessKid prodigy recently played at the London Chess Classic, gaining wins against several grandmasters and draws against some massive names, including Indian superstar Gukesh D.

Despite great performances against top-level opposition, Shreyas found himself with a lot of work to do by the end of the tournament. Gaining a GM norm is not an easy task! He needed to score 1.5/2 in the final two rounds against two very tough players: French GM Jules Moussard and English GM Michael Adams.

 Luckily Shreyas had lots of support from his proud dad, Jitendra. Photo: Leon Watson/Chess.com.

It was looking a little scary at first — Shreyas found himself a pawn down in a difficult position against Moussard, a strong and experienced grandmaster... until Moussard suddenly made a single careless move, which Shreyas exploited to maximum effect!

Shreyas's comeback was so impressive that his match was even picked as Chess.com's 'Game of the Day', where GM Rafael Leitao analyzed his play and praised his tactical vision (you can see the annotations by GM Leitao below):

That's one point secured... but next was an equally big challenge: Shreyas would have to play GM Michael Adams, who was undefeated in the tournament and was in fact leading the entire thing! It was a big game between two players who both had a lot on the line: Shreyas needed at least a draw to get his second GM norm, and Adams needed a win to comfortably secure first place.

Shreyas smiling before his game with English chess legend Michael Adams. Photo: Agnieszka Milewska/London Chess Classic.

In the end, a draw between the two players was enough for both of them. Adams went on to win the tournament, and Shreyas got his second norm! Adams, the veteran English grandmaster, praised Shreyas for his performance:

"Of course, he was a promising player, but suddenly he’s just jumped hugely in level. The Grand Swiss and here, he just looks very accomplished, totally happy playing with top players, and it’s just a massive leap forward for him, and it’s great news."

Despite being rated around 200 points below all the other players at the start of the tournament, Shreyas showed that it wouldn't be long before his title and rating caught up to his older competitors.

He finished with a score of 4/9 and an impressive 2600+ performance rating, securing his second grandmaster norm. Shreyas now just needs one more norm (and an Elo rating of 2500) before receiving the most prestigious title in chess!