Abhimanyu Mishra says Global Chess League 'gives chess a new life' after Bengaluru appearance

Abhimanyu Mishra told The Hindu in Bengaluru on September 19, 2026 that he finds the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League entertaining and that it "actually gives chess a new life." He made the remarks while playing for PBG Alaskan Knights in the tournament.

Mishra became the world’s youngest Grandmaster at the age of 12 in 2021 and still holds that record; he is also the youngest player to defeat a reigning World champion. A congratulatory post included in the interview noted he earned his final norm "at the tender age of 12 years, 4 months and 25 days."

Recalling the run to his title, Mishra said achieving the Grandmaster norms during the pandemic was a calculated risk: he went "eight months without playing any tournament" and travelled with his father to a different country despite the health risks. He said he began with a rating "of about 2410 and no Grandmaster norms," scored norms in two of the first three events, then hit a dry spell, needed to reach a rating of "2500" and secured the final norm by beating Leon Mendonca with the black pieces in the last tournament.

On the GCL game with Mendonca, Mishra described an incident where a promoted queen was placed on the wrong square, Leon claimed it was an illegal move, the arbiter agreed and Mishra "had to replay the move in one second, which was humanly impossible. And you lost on time..." He added: "We would have needed an F1 driver to make a move so fast. But I am okay with the claim made by Leon. It is what you do, especially in a team event, where every point matters. I would have done the same. I would do a lot worse actually."

On his maiden GCL, Mishra said he had wanted to play the previous year but had "some school obligations and some other stuff," and was determined to take part this season. He called the event "a very strong event. We have the world’s best players," said it was "exciting" for spectators and repeated that "it actually gives chess a new life." He praised his PBG Alaskan Knights teammates, mentioning "[Viswanathan] Anand," and offered a detailed appraisal of Arjun Erigaisi: "Arjun Erigaisi, who is very creative and an absolute madman. I love his creativity, and the way he can transform any game into a very sharp, complicated minefield. Arjun also has the ability to take risks, and that is very important. He doesn’t mind being in a minus position, according to the computer, but as long as he is comfortable, he would go for anything." He also named Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus as "very, very strong."

Asked about other Indian prodigies, Mishra said: "Gukesh has this ability to bounce back from very tough situations. Yes, his recent form hasn’t been good, but it happens sometimes. I am sure he will be back to his best. Pragg has had a phenomenal run of late, and he is mentally strong, like we saw recently in the Grand Chess Tour final against Fabiano Caruana. He was down by six points at one stage, but came back and won the match. Nihal is very tricky and does well in time scrambles. I have played with him a lot online and he is very, very strong in bullet chess."

On his win over Gukesh at the Grand Swiss, Mishra said he chose the sharpest line in his repertoire ("Bg5 in the Italian Game") to create a chance rather than play solidly, and that he sacrificed a piece as part of that plan. He described his state of mind during the event: "During the Grand Swiss, I felt like I was sort of untouchable. I was in a very good state of mind, and it was like I would play my best chess." He added of Gukesh: "he has this hunger even after becoming World champion... he still wants to kill everybody. This is both a positive and negative trait, but I believe if you want to reach the very top, you need to be like this. You will lose games, but you will win more."

Addressing support for chess in the United States, Mishra said: "Yes, it is quite difficult to be a full-time chess player in the USA. I don’t really have sponsors, but I am a very positive person. I hope things can still work. And yes, the Kasparov Chess Foundation has been supporting me."

A promotional post included with the interview invited viewers to "Watch the #GlobalChessLeague FINALS tomorrow, LIVE on the @OfficialGCL YT channel."