Royal’s success

The London Mindsports Centre in Hammersmith opened its doors in 2021, after it was converted from a Salvation Army building. The centre now hosts lectures and tournaments in Chess, Go and Bridge, besides other events. The Mindsports Masters all-play-all events, held earlier this month, were designed with title aspirants in mind. Among them was 13-year-old Shreyas Royal, one of England’s brightest prospects. His international rating has already crossed the 2400 threshold required for an international master title, and at Hammersmith he earned a ‘norm’ – one of three tournament results he will need to qualify for the title. He scored an important win against a grandmaster in the third round. Black has just played 25…Nc5-e6, which prevents White adding further pressure to the g6 pawn with Nd5-f4. But Royal’s next move exposes the flaw.

Shreyas Royal-Alexander Cherniaev

Mindsports Masters GM norm, September 2022

26 h6+! Kxh6 Losing quickly, but 26…Kf8 27 Nxf6 Qd8 28 Nd5 Ke8 was too miserable to bear. 27 Nxf6 Qd8 28 Rh4+ Kg5 29 f4+ Kxh4 30 Qe1 checkmate

Royal lost just one game, against the tournament winner Harry Grieve, who also won the British Championship in Torquay last month.

Harry Grieve-Shreyas Royal

Mindsports Masters GM norm, September 2022

24 Rxg7! A devastating sacrifice, though the magic is in the follow-up. Qxg7 25 Nf6! It was tempting to play 25 Rg3 immediately, since 25...Qh7 26 Nf6 wins easily, or 25...Qf8 26 Nf6 sets up an unstoppable threat of 27 Rg8+ followed by 28 Qxh6+. But after 25 Rg3 Bg4! is a powerful resource. The point is that 26 Rxg4 Rd1+ 27 Kh2 Qe5! pins the White queen, or 26 Nf6 Re6! 27 Nxg4 Rg8 and Black has the better of it. Rd1+ Here, 25...Bg4 simply loses the rook on e8, but otherwise there is no good response to the threat of Rg3. 26 Kh2 Red8 27 Rg3 R1d4 27...Qf8 28 Rg8+ Qxg8 29 Qxh6+ forces mate. 28 Rxg7 Now 28...Rxf4? 29 Rh7 is mate. Kxg7 With the king so exposed, the queen is stronger than a pair of rooks. 29 Qe5 29 Ne4 was more accurate, as the move played allows 29...Rxh4+ 30 Kg3 Rh1! when White has no knockout blow. Kf8 30 Nh7+ Kg8 31 Nf6+ Kf8 32 h5! Now the h6-pawn is a target. Rd2 33 Ne4 Re2 34 f3 Bd5 35 Qh8+ Ke7 36 Qf6+ Kd7 37 Nc3 Rd2 38 Nxd5 cxd5 39 Qxf7+ Kc6 40 Qf6+ 40...Kc7 41 Qc3+ or 40...Kd7 41 Qg7+ Ke8 42 Qxh6 should win comfortably. Black resigns