During school lunchtimes, when he should be in bed asleep and any spare minute he can find, teenager Jaden Jermy is practicing chess.
And the 13-year-old’s hard work and determination has seen him climb up the chess ranks.
Talented Jaden, from Thetford, is now ranked 12th in the country for under 13s and lower. He is 3rd in the country for his age at rapid play chess (one hour game) and 5th for the standard game.
Having started playing chess at seven, the Thetford Grammar School pupil was at grade 90 at nine years of age.
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His coach Mike Harris, who donates his time to helping Jaden, said a rule of thumb for juniors is to progress by 10 points each year.
Currently graded at 158, over the past two years the youngster has improved by 35 points each year.
Mr Harris said if he continues his progress he could be ranked one of the top rated chess players in Norfolk and Suffolk next year.
Jaden said: “By July I would like to get to a grade of 175 and a grade of 190 by the end of the year. I want to win the British Championships this year too.
“Within the next five or six years I want to reach Grandmaster [one of the highest titles achievable in the game].”
The youngster, who wants to have a career in chess, won the Chess Challenge under-12 Northern Giga final last year.
And in October he will play in a five-day tournament in Germany with the England under-18s squad.
Due to his success, Jaden has also been invited to join the English Chess Federation Academy where can develop his skills by taking part in competitions and receiving international coaching.
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However, his mother Michelle Jermy said while they can pay the £500 needed to be part of the academy, it would cost around £2,500 to take part in the tournaments with travel and accommodation costs.
The 38-year-old said: “When you get to this level a lot of the competitors have private coaching or the parents are coaches or grandmasters. We are getting him to everywhere we can now but we need the money to push on.”
She added: “In the mornings he has a couple of games on his iPad and sometimes at lunchtime at school. If he’s not playing chess he’s watching it.”
To sponsor Jaden or to follow his progress, visit JJ’s Chess Journey on Facebook.
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