Youngest grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra calls for corporate support to pursue his career

Highlights:

• Abhimanyu Mishra, who became the world’s youngest Grandmaster at 12, says his chess progress has slowed due to lack of sponsorship.
• Born in 2009 in New Jersey, he started chess at 2.5 years and became the youngest International Master at 11.
• His Elo rating has grown by only 100 points in four years, while peers like World Champion D. Gukesh are in the 2700 club.
• Despite challenges, Mishra finished fifth at the FIDE Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan, going unbeaten against higher-rated opponents and achieving a 2828 performance rating.
• His mentors, GMs Arun Prasad Subramanian and Magesh Chandran, continue to guide him as he seeks full-time focus on chess through corporate support.

Indian-American Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra, who at just the age of 12 broke Sergey Karjakin's record to become the youngest grandmaster in the world, has raised very serious issues of not being able to completely focus on chess. After four years of earning the title, he has not made much progress in his chess career because he claims he lacks corporate sponsorship.

Born in 2009 in New Jersey, Mishra was introduced to chess at the tender age of 2.5 years by his father and after rigorous training under the guidance of the experienced mentors, at the age of 11, he was the youngest International Master ever. His parents are originally from India and have been his support system since the beginning.

But lately, his standard Elo rating has only increased by over 100 points in the last four years to reach 2611. By contrast, India's World Champion D. Gukesh, who was also a 2500-plus player four years ago, is in the 2700-club.

"The main delay in the breakthrough was because, unlike all top players, I had to divide my time between both chess and high school," Mishra said in a post on the social media platform X.

He said, "50% of my time was spent studying for many AP Courses that I'd taken. Without corporate involvement (current situation), it's hard to imagine pursuing chess full time". His father, Hemant, said in a recent interview with Rediff that the boy often remarked that the 'next Bobby Fischer' doesn't have a trainer.

Despite all these progress struggles, Mishra recently concluded the FIDE Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan, where he came fifth, just a half a point behind the podium. He went unbeaten in the 11-round classical tournament, one of which was a heavily contested event in the FIDE cycle, famously shocking Gukesh in the 5th round.

All of his opponents were rated higher than him, with eight belonging to the elite 2700-club. Mishra achieved a performance rating of 2828, considered Super GM level. “I’m glad that even with just 50% of my time, I was able to produce such a result,” Mishra posted.

His mentors, Grandmasters Arun Prasad Subramanian and Magesh Chandran, have played a key role in fine-tuning his skills and strategies.

Abhimanyu is known for his determination, passion, and disciplined study routine, often practicing 10–12 hours a day in his early years — a clear reflection of his commitment to chess as both a profession and a sport.