CHENNAI: And, just like that, one of the most promising youngsters has been eliminated in the second round of the World Cup. A few days after revealing to a few national media that he wasn't satisfied with his progress, Abhimanyu Mishra, the world's youngest Grandmaster ever, has been shown the door in the second round by AR Saleh Salem.
In a rook-bishop endgame, Salem, playing with Black, was not only up a pawn but his pieces were very active, in sync and controlling both flanks. In the end, Mishra resigned with the engine predicting a mate for Black down the line.
Mishra, who had checked into Goa a day before the second round began (he had received a bye in the first round), had said: "There are many people online and so on who say that in the last four years, my rating should be a lot higher. Frankly, I agree with them. I believe I should be much higher than what I am currently sitting at."
While it may be hard to understand this from an Indian perspective, the reason why Mishra's career is at a crossroads is because of a severe lack of corporate or government funding. The elite of Indian chess — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi to name three — have one or both but it's a far cry for US GMs.
"I have a feeling it’s going to get very difficult soon," he had said, perhaps prophesied even. "To reach the top, I need resources that I don’t currently have. My family has already spent tons of their own resources. It’s a bit weird in America. There, somehow it feels like chess isn’t considered as much of a sport. We have the St Louis Chess Club (which helps players by organising elite tournaments), and that’s great. But other than that, there’s not that much support in general.
“The main issue, in the last couple of years, is the lack of corporate sponsorship for me. I have been studying eight to 10 hours a day as well (at an online school in the USA). I’ve been living in this way for years. It’s painful, but it’s needed. I spend eight hours a day on chess and slightly more on schoolwork. I am equally good at that as well. In fact, I’m taking advanced courses. I am a straight A student. You look at other players that are there, even at a younger age than me, even from smaller countries… they are all fully funded. And they spend 24×7 on chess. And here I am having to balance both of these things. That’s why my rating has been stagnating. I have been stagnating for a while.”
From a rating perspective, it's fairly clear to see why he thinks this way. After breaching past a number of age-related records, his Elo has seemingly hit a roadblock in the 2640 range. Even as others in his age group have zoomed past that, the US GM with Indian roots has hit a rut of sorts.
It was in this context that he said he 'would look into it (shifting base to India or another country while continuing to play under the US flag) if things get worse'. But his worry is that even if he breaches past 2700 over the next 4-5 years, making a viable living just playing chess while staying in the US may not be all that. He also plans to further his academies as he plans to do something in fintech.
But the talent is obviously there. At the Grand Swiss, he became the youngest player to take down the reigning world champion in an over-the-board Classical game.
Nepomniachtchi stunned
Ian Nepomniachtchi, two-time World Championship runners-up, was dumped out of the tournament by India's Diptayan Ghosh. Ghosh, playing with Black, was not only up a pawn (4-3) in a rook endgame but his pawns were in sync so the Russian resigned after 46 moves.
In another upset, Wesley So also lost 1.5-0.5 to Lithuania's Titas Stremavicius. In a remarkable endgame both players traded mistakes but So resigned when the position itself was drawn at best.
Meanwhile, there were wins for Gukesh and Erigaisi but Praggnanandhaa will play tie-breaks against Temur Kuybokarov.
Select results (Rd 2, game 2)
D Gukesh 1.5-0.5 Kazybek Nogerbek, Arjun Erigaisi 2-0 Martin Petrov, R Praggnanandhaa 1-1 Temur Kuybokarov, Anish Giri 1.5-0.5 Bojan Maksimovic, Wei Yi 1.5-0.5 Kacper Piorun.
