What will it take America? Fund GM Abhimanyu Mishra!

What will it take America? What will it take for the wealthy and privileged in the US to recognize that we have one of the top worldwide talents. He is hiding in plain sight and his name is Abhimanyu Mishra. His father and friends call him “Abhi”. He is griding every single day, playing tournament games, reading books, checking engine lines and solving complex studies. But, to become a top level chess player, there is a considerable amount money and family sacrifice that has gone into even reaching the grandmaster level. He needs the next level of support: Corporate and governmental dollars.

But, this can’t happen without media, without these wealthy funders knowing what is hiding in plain sight. So, I want to share a once in a lifetime interview that I was able to get with Abhi’s Dad, Hemant Mishra. Hemant and Abhi traveled over 2,700 miles to play 1000GM Spring Splash even in Los Angeles California. Why would he come? He is on a quest to reach the coveted Super Grandmaster rating of 2700. There are currently only 40 Grandmasters worldwide that hold this sky high rating and only 131 players in all of chess history have done it. Despite only being rated 2548 as of March 2023, Abhi has a high likelihood due to his young age. He just needs the funding and support!

Here is a snippet of our conversation and the incredible accomplishments that Abhi and has family have strived to achieve. The conversation has been edited for brevity; you can watch the full interview HERE!

Coach Q

I'm here with an exceptional parent talent of a talented top junior. Can you please introduce your son?

Hemant Mishra

I'm the father of Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra. He started at the age of two and a half, three. And then from that point onwards, he holds all the national and international records starting with youngest ever expert in US history at the age of seven. Youngest ever master in the US at the age of nine. And then two international records, youngest ever International Master in the world, and youngest ever Grandmaster in the world at the ages of 10 and 12.

Coach Q

You must be proud, as his Dad?

Hemant Mishra

He worked really hard for all this, and I'm really proud about that.

Coach Q

You have been working on this for years then? How long has it taken to get to the grandmaster level?

Hemant Mishra

So he started playing USCF tournaments at the age of five, and then in a span of two years and few months, he got to USCF 2000 rating and he became expert.

And then it has been a constant journey from that point onward… and now he's pushing to become youngest ever Super Grandmaster. Which is top 40 in the world.

Here is the game that Abhi won to get his final GM norm: 

Coach Q:

There’s very few players over 2,700. It takes a lot of training but also high level analysis to meet strongly prepared opponents. Do you guys have a really strong computer that you do these calculations on?

Hemant Mishra:

I got a very strong powerful server configured at home and which is like a 64 core machine and four graphic cards. That all is the need of modern day chess… This is like a $10,000 server, which I configured at home. And every possible engine… And I don't want him to spend time on that aspect because there is so much to explore in chess. So I take that pain...

Coach Q:

Wait, so you're one of his seconds?

Hemant Mishra:

Yeah. For all practical purposes.

Coach Q:

Do you enjoy that, that kind of work?

Hemant Mishra:

Yes, because of his age, He got the good exposure and I believe that with some more support, he can make it to the top… his ultimate goal, is to become a world champion. Tthe kind of progress he showed in the last eight years, seven years is really phenomenal. So another five years if things go as planned, I think we should see him at the top.

Coach Q:

When did you know that was possible?

Hemant Mishra:

It all started when he was like two and a half. I saw many of the kids of that age, they spend a lot of time on iPad, phone, and I never wanted my kids to be involved with that because it's, it's not good for health… And that's why the plan was to develop some parallel hobby…. It took about two years for him to start playing. I used to work with him for one hour or so after coming back from office. And things picked up slowly, but then after he started playing tournaments, things really worked in a big way. And then he got good support from his coaches. So from this very early age, he started working with Grandmaster Arun and Grandmaster Magesh and everything worked from there.

Coach Q:

When was the moment you knew he was going to become Grandmaster and above?

Hemant Mishra:

No, I mean from the very beginning he knew that, I mean, there was an article in US Chess way back when he was seven years old… And there was an interview where he openly mentioned that he wants to become the youngest Grandmaster in the world…

Coach Q:

Did you know how special that was at that time?

Hemant Mishra:

Yes. I mean, it's a great game and being a Grandmaster itself is a big thing, but then if you can become the youngest… There was a reason why this record by Karjakin was there for 19 years. Many, many players attempted that, and Gukesh was very close. He missed it by 15 days. So the kind of chase they were in, they inspired us to try the same thing and things worked out for him. He managed to beat that by two and a half months.

Coach Q:

Wow. Congrats on that. And how does that make you feel as a father?

Hemant Mishra:

It’s great. More than [the] record, somebody else will break that record down the line, but taking that challenge… it was a very difficult time for the family… He became youngest IM at the age of 10 years, nine month, and then he had [a] full 22 months to break that record. And from nowhere, COVID came into [the] picture. And there was no tournament for eight months. So eight full months were wasted. There was no tournament at all… It was painful. And then he was working very hard on his skills. We planned it that way; basically he did two grades in one year, fifth and sixth grade. And then that last year he took complete off from school. Oh. And he was working like 10, 12 hours a day and covering all the grounds.

Coach Q:

So was it a little bit of an opportunity that happened with COVID or was it still just painful?

Hemant Mishra:

No, it was painful because… generally from IM to GM, people take 25, 30 tournaments. And he did not have that luxury. So for seven, eight months, no tournament. And I'm very thankful to Charlotte Chess Center… the conducted those GM norm events… And I used to drive from Jersey to Charlotte, like 600 miles each way because we were avoiding flights. Things were really difficult at the time… And then I told him that anywhere in the world if there is a tournament, we'll go. Luckily Hungary, there were some tournaments. So we planned some events in Hungary and Serbia. And he played non-stop for 77 days... And he got his three norms. He got [one] hundred rating points, and he became the youngest ever Grandmaster.

Coach Q:

But that must take a major sacrifice, especially financially. Can you estimate how much this has cost?

Hemant Mishra:

Yeah, we are heavily invested… it's definitely $300,000 plus. Maybe more, even. For all practical purposes, it's like [a] parallel mortgage going on for the last eight years. Because we never compromised on the training part. Even from when he was six years old, whenever there is an option and if a grand master coaches available, I always went with that…

Coach Q:

But you know how hard it is to become world champion, right?

Hemant Mishra:

Yes. I mean, this is, it's really difficult. And, and it's not just chess… He came up with his own autobiography…

Coach Q:

Wow. That's incredible.

Hemant Mishra:

And in that autobiography, he clearly mentioned about it's not about the talent or everything, it's all about how much effort you put…. There are many players who don't become master, and they, they're stuck at expert level. Yeah. Because the skillset needed is different. So identifying each and every level requirement and working on that and then delivering it.

Coach Q:

Yeah. And you mentioned something [to me earlier] about corporate sponsorship in America?

Hemant Mishra:

Unfortunately, I mean, there is so much, so many companies here and the amount needed to support chess players, I'm sure that it's not that big amount… But for some reason chess is not popular in corporate. I really don't understand why. But many smaller countries are doing much better job than America... If you are a GM by the age of 15, every everything is completely sponsored. But here, that is not the case…

Coach Q:

What are other players in Europe getting as far as corporate sponsorships?

Hemant Mishra:

I mean, recently Arjun Erigaisi, a 19 year old Grand Master, got a $1.5 million deal for five years… $300,000 per year with the requirement is that he work and try to become world champion. It came out that it's open-ended support. They understand that at that level, things are not going to, it cannot be result oriented. It takes its own time…

Coach Q:

So if sponsors are interested in, in a non-profit, like 1000gm [a 501(c)(3)], I mean, what would you say to them to get them to support a student like your son?

Hemant Mishra:

The moment I got to know about 1000gm, I was very excited because I just wish that this kind of organization was there when Abhi was chasing the grandmaster title. But in general, this is a very good sign for us, and I wanted to support that in this whatever small possible I can. We always wanted to come here and play... So I thought, why not come and support that? This will be a game changer for sure. And another five years down the line, I do see another 50 grand masters coming just because of this initiative.

Initiatives like 1000gm, the Charlotte Chess Center, the St. Louis Chess Club and many other wonderful organizations are changing the face of chess across America. And, if you want to donate please go to 1000gm.org. But, this is not a general call for donations – it is a call for government organizations and the wealthiest corporations in the world based right here in the United States to recognize the strong talent in GM Abhi. They need to step up and provide the funding necessary to produce the first American World Champion in over 50 years. Top talent like GM Abhimanyu Mishra are national treasurers. Please don’t squander their talents!

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