Chess sponsorship market is at its peak in India, says former player Prachura

Chess

Brands are honing their moves as the Global Chess League (GCL), the world's first official franchise-based tournament for the sport, gears up for its India debut.

The growing interest of brands for sponsorship slots in GCL highlights chess' growing commercial appeal, Prachura PP, co-owner of FYERS American Gambits, told Moneycontrol.

The GCL franchise is also co-owned by cricketer R Ashwin.

The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League will be held at Royal Opera House in Mumbai between December 13 and 24. It follows a joint team format, featuring both men and women players with a total of six teams headlined by top players like India's D Gukesh and American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.

Cashing in on Indian chess’ appeal

The sponsorship market is at its peak right now, Prachura told Moneycontrol. "That's why when Global Chess League reached out to me asking where they should hold GCL, I clearly said we should not even think of going anywhere apart from India because Indian chess is at the peak right now," he said.

He pointed to D Gukesh winning the World Chess Championship last year and the Indian men's and women's teams winning the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad the same year. "Our world junior champion is from India. The world women's rapid champion is Koneru Humpy. Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh is again from India. The world under-10 chess champion is also from India," he said.

"India has 6 players in the top 25 in the world, so if GCL doesn't come to India right now, then when? And if people don't sponsor chess now, then when else?"

The league has five to six sponsorship spots on the jersey, with a spot for a central sponsor. Experts note that the size of these sponsorship deals varies between $25,000 and $30,000 and the title sponsor can be in the range of $250,000-$300,000.

"We had four paying sponsors last season and our title sponsor was a company called CircleChess. They are a chess tech company. We had a sponsor from the ITC group, Aashirvaad Salt. Sponsor slots include front of the jersey, on the chest and one on the back of the jersey. There are two slots on the sleeves of the jersey and one slot on the other sleeve of the jersey. One sleeve has two slots," Prachura noted.

The fact that Google was the title sponsor when Gukesh won the world championship shows that chess has grown so much that the top companies of the world are putting money into it.

The former chess player expects to see returns on investments in seven to 10 years. Just like the Indian Premier League (IPL) cemented its place as the biggest cricket league in the world, “I think, Global Chess League is the biggest chess league in the world but it takes time to cement that kind of position. But breaking even can happen even this year", he said.

The league is very close to his heart. "I am very passionate about the league because when I was a player, I was hoping for something like this to be there. Maybe if the Global Chess League existed 15-20 years ago, I would still have been a full-time chess player."

The game is growing

The Global Chess League’s success is a must to foster the talent pool and strengthen the chess ecosystem. "We have seen what leagues like Pro Kabaddi League or Indian Premier League have done for the talent pool of those sports," he said.

He also pointed to the growing player pool in India. "Any day on CircleChess some local event is happening for which you will see not less than 500 participants, out of which 350-400 will be kids below the age of 14 years. That's how much the game is growing."

CircleChess is an AI-powered chess education platform and ecosystem that offers personalised gameplay, skill assessments and customises learning content.

Chess in schools is also becoming a reality, he said. Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya have announced chess in schools. “India is headed down the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics route where Chess is in their syllabus," he said, referring to the erstwhile Soviet Union’s heavy promotion of the sport in schools and elsewhere.

AI making the right moves

On the use of artificial intelligence (AI), Prachura said that during his time, there were only books to refer to. Now, chess engines pick the best possible moves in any given situation.

"AI is calculating 25 moves ahead. It will also start helping in preparing against opponents. AI can now determine the weaknesses and strengths of your opponents. Earlier, we used to have three to four trainers doing all those things. CircleChess has created an AI-based software-training module, which can train a beginner to a grand master. It can become a personal tutor to you," Prachura said.