NAGPUR: Young Leon Mendonca is among the chess players who have been hit by the coronavirus lockdown. The 14-year-old from Goa, along with his father, is stranded in Hungary since March 18. Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand too was forced to go into self-isolation after being locked down in Germany last month.The 2452 Elo Leon, who scripted history by becoming Goa’s youngest IM in a mere 17 days last year, is stuck in Budapest , Hungary, as they were not allowed to board their return flight on March 18.Leon, who is World No 4 and second best Indian in the U-14 Open category, played his last game in a Round Robin tournament at Budapest on March 17. The father-son duo was scheduled to fly from Budapest to Delhi via Doha."We were denied boarding by the Qatar airlines crew. We were told that by the time we land in Doha we would have crossed the deadline of 12:00 GMT on March 18 to India and that they would be forced to fly us back to Budapest instead of Delhi," Leon's father Lyndon told TOI.Like many Indian youngsters, Leon too was participating in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia. Later, he was supposed to play in the HD Bank Masters meet in Vietnam but due to the coronavirus threat the event got postponed. Leon then flew to Budapest for the round-robin tourney."We are staying in an apartment in Budapest. I am in constant touch with the Indian Embassy here for updates regarding our repatriation. As of now April 14 is the earliest we can hope for," the senior Mendonca said.Lyndon, who is an engineer, took a break from his job to accompany his son. Leon's mother is currently serving the society as an MD in Microbiology at the Goa Medical College."Honestly, in this difficult time I would have loved to be at home with my wife Sandhya and 17-year-old daughter Beverly. My wife is juggling between her job and family duties. With the new virology lab set up in the GMC, she is extremely busy at work. These are indeed challenging times with restrictions and lockdown in place," said Lyndon.Though the Mendonca family is based in Dona Paula, Goa, Leon studies at Chennai's Velammal Vidyalaya. "With the lockdown in place, it feels like being under house arrest. We are taking the same precautions as everyone is back in India. I pick up groceries once in ten days," Lyndon said.Though Leon is missing his mother and elder sister, he compensates by chatting live as often as possible and is keeping himself busy by playing online chess tournaments. The promising chess player is supported by Geno Pharmaceuticals and Microsense Networks.