Want to become a chess grandmaster? 'Keep Rs 70 lakhs ready'

Chess is witnessing a massive rise in India with children all over the country taking up the sport. The game has become so popular that every few months, someone is achieving the grandmaster tag with Aronyak Ghosh becoming the latest to achieve the feat. However, one big misconception about chess as a sport is that it is highly inexpensive.

Unlike sports like cricket or hockey or football, chess does not require any big-money equipment neither does it need the booking of any ground for playing. And yet, the families of the recent grandmasters have revealed that insane amount of money is spent to make their child a GM, which is the highest title a chess player can earn.

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'Be prepared with at least Rs 70 lakhs'

Mrinal Ghosh, the father of India's most recent grandmaster Aronyak, recently revealed that his family had spent about Rs 46 lakh over the past decade and a half to fuel their son's pursuit to becoming a grandmaster. And the suprising fact is that this is really cheap. Usually a lot more money has to be shelled out to achieve the prestigious GM tag.

“Parents should be prepared with at least Rs 70 lakh (from the start of the chess career to becoming a GM) if one plans to get their kid to be a GM,” Monomita Chakraborty, the mother of Mayank Chakraborty, India’s 94th grandmaster, told the Indian Express.

In fact, the report says that the above number is a conservative estimate and one can easily spend a lot more in their quest to chess greatness. And after getting to the GM level, the costs rise even further. However, once one becomes a GM, organisers may be willing to pay for some of the expenses that are till then being incurred by the family.

So, even when no equipment or ground is needed, what costs so much money in chess?

What costs money in chess?

Like other sports, chess players too need coaches to guide them and that could be really expensive. An hour of a GM’s time as a coach can reportedly go anywhere from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

At the same time, these young prodigies want consistently top-level opponents to play against. These opponents, called training partners, also cost large sums of money for an hour of their time. Add to that the cost of seconds, the aides of the player who help in preparation of a tournament with plans and strategies.

Mrinal tells the Indian Express that someone with a rating of over 2600 can spend up to Rs 4-5 per month on chess.

Then comes the most expensive part: travelling to countries like Europe to gain GM norms. European countries have several tournaments where young players can participate to gain rating and GM norms. But these places are also really expensive. Travelling, renting accommodations, food and other stuff all costs money.

The parents of India's latest GMs also voiced their frustration over not getting sponsorships which means all this money has to be spent out of their pockets, making chess a highly expensive affair for players aspiring to reach the top.