Not looking to stop representing the USA, says Abhimanyu Mishra after ‘lack of sponsorship’ claims

In September this year, Mishra had spoken about the difficulty of securing sponsorship, saying his father had approached between 200 and 300 potential backers after he became a Grandmaster.

Updated : Nov 10, 2026 23:16 IST , Budapest - 3 MINS READ

FILE PHOTO: Abhimanyu Mishra has been drawn in Group C of the  Total Chess World Championship Tour in Budapest. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

Abhimanyu Mishra says he has no current plans to stop representing the United States. The American grandmaster described suggestions that he was looking to switch federations as a misunderstanding of his response to a hypothetical question about financial support.

“Actually, this was a huge miscommunication. Essentially, as of now, I don’t want to switch federations at all,” Mishra told Sportstar on the sidelines of the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot in Budapest.

“I was asked a kind of hypothetical question: if I don’t get support for the next X number of years, would I consider it? And my answer was, I might. But the thing is, this does not mean that I’m searching to change federation at all currently.”

In September this year, Mishra had spoken about the difficulty of securing sponsorship, saying his father had approached between 200 and 300 potential backers after he became a Grandmaster. He had also discussed the cost of coaching and the financial demands of pursuing his career.

One way he has helped meet those expenses is by playing simultaneous exhibitions, taking on several opponents at once. Asked about those sessions in Budapest, Mishra said they had brought in some money, although spending hours moving between boards was tiring.

His latest visit to Budapest brings a different opportunity. Drawn in Group C at Total Chess, Mishra will face Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Haik M. Martirosyan and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov twice each in the Fast Classic group stage.

The city was also the setting for his earliest major milestone. On June 30, 2021, Mishra secured his final grandmaster norm at 12 years, four months and 25 days, becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat.

Now, the prospect of playing two games against Carlsen was among the biggest attractions of returning. Mishra described the opportunity as a source of joy and agreed that it would be a learning experience. The strength of the field, he said, had made the invitation difficult to turn down.

ALSO READ | India’s road to 100 Grandmasters: From Viswanathan Anand to Anuj Shrivatri

The 24-player pilot combines blitz, rapid and Fast Classic, with players switching between all three time controls during the knockout matches. Mishra welcomed the experiment and the chance to test himself against established players.

The event also comes as chess players increasingly reach audiences through streaming and online broadcasts. Mishra welcomed the following that streamers had built, but said his immediate attention remained on his own games.

“Honestly, as a professional player, I just focus on my games, and I don’t think too much about, let’s say, the other aspects of those things. Maybe one day I might start streaming, but it’s like, this is, again, in the future, anything could happen,” he said.

( The writer is in Budapest at the invitation of Total Chess)