Will India's chess triumphs help attract marketing dollars?

RBL Bank lost no time and on Friday released advertisements congratulating its recently recruited brand ambassador D Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title win.

- ALOKANANDA CHAKRABORTY

Almost every big chess player today is backed by corporates. Gukesh is sponsored by WACA (Westbridge Anand Chess Academy); grandmaster Praggnanandhaa is backed by Adani and IOCL; Vidit Gujrathi is backed by Ambit, Persistent and ONGC, while Aravindh Chithambaram and Nihal Sarin are supported by the Murugappa Group and Akshayakalpa respectively.

Yet mainstream endorsement deals have remained elusive. "Apart from Vishy (the first grandmaster from India, Viswanathan Anand, who was the face of NIIT for decades) nobody in chess has come close to getting brand endorsements," rues Ajimon Francis, managing director, Brand Finance India. Praggnanandhaa has been invited to "appear" in a few events but there is no word on whether they were paid appearances.