Bibisara Assaubayeva

Kazakh GM

“People who are not from the chess world think that chess is an inexpensive sport. Our prize funds are not like in tennis, for example, or in golf or boxing, but our expenses are actually quite high.

My personal coach charges one thousand euros per day. I need to have at least six training camps with him for ten days a year — that’s 60,000 euros per year! And that’s not even counting flights, accommodation, and so on… Therefore, I would certainly like better support from the state — so that I can fully concentrate on chess and choose the best coaches.

But now, since I’ve qualified for the Candidates, it’s a much more complex preparation. You have to take into account all sorts of things that might go unnoticed at regular tournaments. And now I have a team of 11 people. That includes sparring partners, opening coaches, endgame coaches, and middlegame coaches — everyone has to contribute. So, the money involved is quite substantial…

Right now, probably the best support is in India, as evidenced by their results: the year before last they won both Olympiads, they got a new world champion, women are winning World Cups, and so on. Good support from the state yields results.”