Funding a Quest!

Chess is one of the sports that is hard to find sponsors for. The game lacks the awareness and treatment that more popular sports receive, such as basketball, soccer, and tennis, even though the effort is no less to achieve mastery. In the US, government grants are not part of the culture. Young and strong emerging players in countries like Russia, India, and China have an advantage, since chess is state supported as well as there is relatively much more corporate sponsorship.  This translates into critical benefits of more training and tournament experience.

Players in United States don’t have such an option.  So where do the young players go to fund their Quest to become outstanding chess players.  

Well, we don’t give up. We lean on our parents. We lean on our well-wishers. We knock on doors, and try to persuade people who can relate to a hard Quest to support it. That’s how we do it. One square at a time.

I’ve demonstrated a strong pace of progress in the last 4 1/2 years, and I intend to work very hard to get to the end. As I embark on the final leg of this Quest, for the first time I’m trying to raise donor funds to help me catapult to the GM title and beyond. With your help I’ll get there even faster. Thanks for your support!

 

I leave you with a quote from Hugarian chess wizard and super GM Peter Leko:

“…even super talented people, like Carlsen, Karjakin, and Nakamura, wouldn’t be where they are now without [sponsorship] help. Only a mixture of super talent and help will bring a very good result, won’t it?”

If someone wishes to discuss about sponsorship opportunities or provide suggestions, please write to me at Akshat (at) QuestToGM (dotcom).

2 thoughts on “Funding a Quest!

  1. hossein

    Dear Akshat,
    I read your interesting article and commentary on the fascinating game you played against GM Mark Paragua. I can’t wait to read on.
    You considered your getting into chess “very late”. What can I say? I started when I was 39, two years ago. To me, chess is like a vortex that sucks me and everything else around me into its center. I regret the time that I have lost. I keep looking back (in anger) at my childhood when my parents strove to make the ends meet. I was fated to strive too and chess had the least amount of chance to be considered as my professional career. It is still the same and few families, including me (I have two sons, Pouria 9 and Zacharia only 2 months), consider chess as their kids future career. There are a lot of reasons which I have to skip for now. What I want to say is that there are a lot of talented boys and girls in Iran, but because of the many known and unknown reasons, they get pulled into other things.

    Reply
    1. Akshat Post author

      Hi Hossein, Thanks for the comment. I’ve played with an Iranian GM – Elshan Moradiabadi. He is quite a strong player and a polite one too. I’ve heard Iranian kids are very strong players. Perhaps the opportunities for them to play tournaments are limited, and that’s why one hears less. I wish your sons, Pouria and Zacharia, the very best!

      Reply

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