Editor’s Observe: We current On The Strikes, a brand new weekly column which is able to seem each Tuesday from Amit Kamath on chess the place he’ll take a look at all the pieces that occurs on the battlefield of the 64 squares and away from it.
Hikaru Nakamura couldn’t disguise his envy as he spoke about what he referred to as the ‘Huge 3’ of Indian chess — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi.
The rationale for this envy was not the tempo at which their careers had taken off. No, the World No.3 was envious about all three gamers discovering sponsors early on of their careers, which he linked to the trio “staying hungry”.
“Once I got here up within the USA, even as soon as I had crossed the 2700 score, I by no means had any type of sponsorship that was on the extent of what Arjun, Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa are getting proper now. The purpose for me was to keep up my rating and simply ensuring I made an earnings. These three gamers can simply play chess versus having to fret about making a dwelling,” Nakamura instructed The Indian Specific through the World Chess League.
Over the previous month, the highlight has been firmly on how grandmasters make a dwelling, particularly after experiences that on the age of 18, new world champion Gukesh had made $15,77,842 (roughly Rs 13.6 crore) from prize cash alone in 2024. (For these questioning, the opposite two members of the ‘Huge 3’ hit pay dust as properly: Praggnanandhaa’s prize cash earnings had been $2,02,136 or approx Rs 1.7 crore whereas Erigaisi raked up $1,19,767 or Rs 1.3 crore in 2024.)
These are eye-watering — and eye-opening — quantities. Particularly contemplating that these three gamers have additionally been rewarded by state governments for his or her achievements and have profitable sponsorship offers (Arjun’s deal, for instance, is value Rs.12.4 crore over 5 years).
However past these staggering numbers lies the stark actuality: barring a handful of super-elite grandmasters, sponsorship in chess is difficult to come back by. For each Arjun, there’s a Koneru Humpy and a Leon Luke Mendonca, each of whom at the moment don’t have any non-public sponsors.
For chess gamers, match earnings are additionally not astronomical to start with — a degree that was on the centre of the latest public bickering between Nakamura and FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky.
Sutovsky claimed that “FIDE does present loads of earnings for prime gamers”. Nakamura referred to as this “full horses**t”. He identified that gamers largely made cash in privately-organised occasions just like the Grand Chess Tour, the German Bundesliga or the World Chess League.
Not sufficient cash
A take a look at the prize cash construction of elite FIDE occasions explains why Nakamura has a degree. Whereas Gukesh did make round Rs 11 crore for profitable the World Championship, there’s a steep drop-off at different FIDE occasions. The World Fast and World Blitz champions in December 2024, for instance, made roughly Rs 77 lakh. For context, a first-round loser at tennis’ US Open would make roughly Rs 84 lakh with the champion pocketing Rs 31 crore.
Anybody ending between the thirty first and fortieth spots within the World Blitz Championship — the final spots within the standings to be assured of prize cash — earned roughly Rs 1.3 lakh. This prize cash must be seen in context of the truth that the occasion was held in New York through the Christmas-New Yr interval when lodge tariffs are at their peak, and laws for the occasion stating that solely gamers rated 2750 in FIDE score lists in 2024 had been entitled to lodging. So even ending within the prime 30 spots might have meant {that a} participant misplaced cash to compete.
The fact of different FIDE chess occasions is equally grim. Magnus Carlsen earned roughly Rs 94 lakh for profitable final yr’s FIDE World Cup, probably the most prestigious classical occasions organised by the worldwide governing physique of the game. However gamers who misplaced within the first spherical took residence about Rs 2.5 lakh. FIDE laws for the occasion said that each one gamers paid their very own price of journey, lodging and meals at some stage in their keep for the World Cup. The identical laws existed on the FIDE Grand Swiss occasion.
Away from FIDE occasions, being a grandmaster additionally means consistently travelling all over the world to compete in open tournaments or invitational occasions. In each these classes, the organisers could choose to sweeten the pot and provide to deal with lodging — and on uncommon events, even compensate for airfares. However most of the time, it’s the gamers who bear these bills.
In fact, there are actually loads of on-line occasions that provide prize cash with no need to depart the consolation of residence. However for a grandmaster, bodily occasions are nonetheless bread and butter. The lure of those occasions is that one will get to play sturdy gamers spherical after spherical. A superb efficiency at one occasion will result in a spike in rankings, which might possibly translate into an invite to play at one of many super-elite occasions. Or on the very least, it might result in extra beneficial phrases, like an organiser sponsoring lodging.
By invitation solely
Invites for large occasions like Norway Chess are like gold mud. All by way of 2024, Erigaisi barely received any invites for elite occasions, with organisers preferring Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa. That’s modified in 2025 with Arjun breaking into the 2800 membership, however it would imply another person loses out on invites since one can solely have so many Indian gamers within the discipline. Not simply Erigaisi, Vantika Agrawal, regardless of being probably the most thrilling stars on the circuit, talks of getting to play in open tournaments as a result of she wasn’t receiving too many invites.
“Most elite tournaments occur in Europe. So you find yourself spending round Rs two lakh on lodging for only one occasion. Then, journey to the town of the occasion is about the identical price. For those who play in closed tournaments, you additionally must pay a hefty entry charge,” mentioned Vantika.
Vantika added that she spent round Rs 1.5 lakh to compete on the President’s Cup in Uzbekistan, the place she pulled out after an arbiter erroneously recorded her draw as a defeat. That stand truly price her cash as she couldn’t make up the quantity spent on flight and lodging.
An Indian grandmaster’s father not too long ago instructed The Indian Specific that it price them an annual common of round Rs 10-15 lakh to maintain the profession. With there being no sponsors for the GM over the previous few years, the daddy mentioned “all our financial savings have been drained on this journey”.
In fact, match journey is just a part of what grandmasters spend on.
Vantika instructed The Indian Specific {that a} “sturdy grandmaster” will cost round Rs 10,000 per hour on common for teaching. One other mum or dad had disclosed final yr that some elite worldwide trainers charged as a lot as $500 per hour for his or her providers.
All of this highlights the purpose that away from the world of the Indian Huge 3, there lies a world the place even prime grandmasters lose cash competing in tournaments, wrestle to draw sponsors or invites, and typically fear about making a dwelling.
