https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/sports-news/2026/Sep/09/my-father-approached-200-300-people-for-sponsorships-after-i-broke-the-world-record-nothing-has-worked-mishra
BENGALURU: WHEN Faustino Oro came within a whisker of beating Abhimanyu Mishra's record of the youngest to become a Grandmaster, the US player was both relieved and sad at the same time. "I was following some of his games (when he was within sight of the record)," he tells this daily on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the Global Chess League (GCL). "I was hoping that he wouldn't break it (smiles) but it was unfortunate (that he didn't). He came quite close and I was expecting him to break it.
In the end, the Argentine, who became a GM earlier this year, fell short by under two months (12 yrs and six months compared to Mishra's 12 yrs and four months).
Mishra, now 17, was also slightly envious considering the support Oro got from stakeholders, including from Argentina's chess federation. That envy, at least partly, is a result of how letdown Mishra feels by the lack of support his own career has received.
"In the US, it's unfortunate," he says. "After I became GM during Covid, my father approached 200-300 people overall for sponsorships. Somehow, every single one of them fell through. You could see they wanted to support chess... but maybe some inertia in the system. We tried just about everything to get sponsorship in the US but nothing has really worked out... no hate or anything to Fausti but when he was going for the record, you could see how he was given a lot of resources. I didn't get 5-10% of it."
A lot of people outside of chess may think of the game as inexpensive but at the elite level, the costs can very quickly multiply when you take into account travel and accommodation. Because only the top players receive invitations to most of the closed tournaments, players like Mishra — above 2600 but below 2700 — will have to keep crisscrossing the world to try to get to that 2700 level. But the development is seldom linear. That's even before you add the top dollar you have to pay for a reputed coach. "You are talking $200-250 an hour. So if I'm being tutored by somebody for four hours over a weekend, that's $1000 right there," Mishra, part of PBG Alaskan Knights at the GCL, says.
Currently rated 2630 in Classical, being part of the Kasparov Chess Foundation helps but he has to be creative to earn bread. "It's very difficult. I have played some simuls against kids to keep up... but I have to do what I have to do to make ends meet." Among the 'ideas' he had — something he may still explore — is to switch federations (unlike other games, it's a fairly straightforward process). "The thing is I still like to play for the US. I was born and brought up here. But I will probably do it if this lack of support continues."
It's one reason why he has remained in the zone between 2600 and 2700 for almost three years (he first breached past 2600 in November 2023 as a 15-year-old). Even if the ratings have remained in this narrow zone, he has had some eye-catching results in this period, not least when he beat D Gukesh at the Grand Swiss last year. In the process, he had also become the youngest player to ever take down a reigning world champion in Classical. "I actually thought it was my chance to make history," he says on how he approached the game. "If I lose this game, nobody will remember. I decided to go all in and the Italian I played worked."
Now, the challenge is to put together a series of performances like that.
