Eight-year-old Adithya Pramod Paleri is on his way (15 October) to the Black Sea resort of Batumi, Georgia, to represent England in his first international chess tournament.

Adithya, who attends Nascot Wood School, earned the right to compete in the European Youth Championships through winning the British under-9 title at Aberystwyth in July.

There are no direct flights from London to Batumi so Adithya starts with a long journey, including an overnight stop in Istanbul. Once arrived, he will meet 988 other competitors, of whom 193 will join him in the under-10 section where he will play against opponents up to a year older than himself.

Each section – there are six in total – comprises a nine-round tournament between 19 and 28 October, including one rest day. The England team will be accompanied by at least one coach, international grandmaster Glenn Flear. Watford Chess Club will be reporting his progress at watfordchessclub.org (Story is a lightly-edited version of that appearing on the club's website).

Based on information supplied by Roger Lancaster.