On the small coffee table in the family living room, in Pau, sits a chessboard.

"There are almost in every room," smiles the father, Franck.

With a first world title won at eight years old, without any defeat against "small foreign champions trained by the best players", "a bright future" is emerging for Marc, believes his coach.

Becoming an international grandmaster or GMI: this Grail governed by the Elo ranking, a chess evaluation system, requires a minimum of 2,500 points.

With 1,800 points, the young Marc, admiring the illustrious Garry Kasparov or the reigning world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, will have to "work hard because the road is long", according to his mentor.

Marc Llari, barely 9 years old, world chess champion, plays a game with his father Franck, in Pau, on January 9, 2023 in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques © GAIZKA IROZ / AFP

To achieve this, he will also have to perform in tournaments, against other grand masters.

France currently has 48 of them.

"Absolutely outstanding"

The young Pau, licensed Exchequer Henri IV, made a strong impression from the start.

He was then only 5 years old but was already "absolutely exceptional", enthuses Laurent Bruneau, trainer of the local club, who then insists on training this very young player.

"He told us that he would take him to the French and then the world championships, but I thought he was saying nonsense," recalls Christelle, Marc's mother, still incredulous.

Departmental, regional, national, European and world championships: Marc has already experienced them all.

In April 2022, he joined the France team.

Marc Llari, barely 9 years old, world chess champion, shows his trophies, at his home, in Pau, on January 9, 2023 in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques © GAIZKA IROZ / AFP

Becoming a grandmaster before the age of 14 is "an extremely ambitious goal" but "within his ropes because he is progressing at a phenomenal speed", judges Laurent Bruneau.

He could then dethrone the Corsican Marc'Andria Maurizzi, who became international grand master in May 2021 at this age, or even Abhimanyu Mishra, American of Indian origin, who reached this rank at 12 years old.

Pawn in hand, Marc explains his openings, shows moves, at full speed.

"I love to play fast, he smiles. My thing is the attack".

A "very alert", "vivacious" child, who needs to be "constantly stimulated" according to those close to him, Marc has already skipped three classes and also plays the piano, the guitar, does cesta punta (Basque pelota with a wicker glove) or table tennis.

Device in schools

But it is the failures that occupy his mind.

"When I'm not playing, I visualize games all the time, I play in my head, I also dream about it," he says enthusiastically.

Since the end of 2022, the French Chess Federation, with around 50,000 licensees, has initiated a new program called "Class'Echecs", in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

Marc Llari, barely 9 years old, world chess champion, plays a game at home, in Pau, on January 9, 2023 in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques © GAIZKA IROZ / AFP

It aims to equip 15% of schools in the territory with chessboards within three years, to initiate 250,000 primary school students.

"Chess has a significant benefit on logic, on learning mathematics or concentration", explains Alexandre Borreilh for the Federation.

Around 1,500 schools have already implemented the system.

"We had a lot of requests. For three years, chess has clearly gained in popularity and we have reached a record number of licensees", adds Mr. Borreilh.

© 2023 AFP