Why Abhimanyu Mishra, the world’s youngest grandmaster, feels his career has stagnated

Abhimanyu Misra

Indian-origin American grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra says having to balance academics and chess, which struggles for sponsorships in USA, is coming in the way

The boy facing questions from the media believes his career is stagnating. At the age of 16. It’s an age where athletes in other sports are still taking their first decisive steps. But such is the nature of chess these days, and such is the rapid pace at which things have happened for Abhimanyu Mishra, that a slowdown for him feels like stagnation.

If his career had continued in the fast lane, Abhimanyu Mishra estimates that he would have been rated around 2,730 by now. The Indian-origin American Grandmaster at seven, became the youngest person in the US to hit 2,000 ELO rating, then crossed 2,200 by the age of nine before becoming the youngest international master at 10 and then the youngest grandmaster in the world at 12. Recently, at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament, he also became the youngest player to defeat a reigning world chess champion in classical chess when he took down D Gukesh . But after the fast rise, came the plateau.

Currently, the 16-year-old’s rating is moored at 2642, almost a 100 rating points below where he should have been at by his own estimation.