How 200 families came together to raise Rs. 2.3 crore for 20 chess prodigies

by Rasika Ratnaparkhi - 17/04/2026

A dream costs nothing to have; but everything to chase! For so many young chess players in India, financial struggle has been the only thing standing between them and their dreams. In 2022, Viswanathan Anand and Satya Prabhakar decided to do something about it. They created Group e4 and till today, they have raised over Rs. 2.3 crore, supporting 20 young players. They contacted their friends and families, and that is how the funds started coming in. We spoke with Satya Prabhakar about the journey, the achievements, and the road ahead. Read the article to know Group e4's story.

The cost of a dream...

India has a good talent pool. We have so many young players who are brilliant, hard-working and full of potential. And yet, so many of them were struggling because of a lack of resources. Promising players, often from modest backgrounds, have had to navigate the demanding journey of professional chess without access to consistent coaching, international exposure, or even basic tools required for training. It was this reality that came up in a conversation in 2022 between Viswanathan Anand and Satya Prabhakar.

Satya Prabhakar reached out to a group of his friends and colleagues across different cities and countries. He shared his idea of raising funds for chess players with them. The responses started coming in within hours. People were immediately willing to help and they started sending amounts. That is how Group e4 began.

The forces behind Group e4 - Aruna Anand, Vishy Anand, Sangeeta Kshettry and Satya Prabhakar

Very soon, Aarthie Ramaswamy (above) and R.B. Ramesh joined in, who are helping with the young talents being identified for support to be given.

Players are selected by five people: Viswanathan Anand, Aruna Anand, Satya Prabhakar, GM R.B. Ramesh, and WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy. They evaluate each player based on a few clear factors: current rating, progress made in the last year, long-term potential, and financial need. Every rupee donated goes to the players and their parents. Administrative costs, like the expenses for any felicitation function, are never taken from the fund. There is no minimum donation amount, and what any individual gives is not shared with others. All donors, whether they give a little or a lot, are equal!

To understand the story behind these numbers and the road ahead, we spoke with Satya Prabhakar.

Q: For readers who may be hearing about it for the first time, could you explain what Group e4 is and how the initiative began? What inspired you to start it?

A: Group e4 started in 2022. This happened when I reached out to GM Viswanathan Anand to congratulate him on being invited as an advisor to the Tamil Nadu board of education. In that conversation, GM Anand mentioned that there are so many brilliant young players from modest family backgrounds, struggling financially to improve their chess rankings, getting qualified coaching, traveling to chess tournaments, and for laptops to train. I suggested we raise some funds to support a select set of players and GM Anand was so readily in support of the idea. This is how it all started.

Q: Group e4 has grown into a unique support system for young Indian chess talents. Could you share what the initiative achieved in 2025?

A: It is actually quite astonishing. Thanks, in part, to our support of 20 selected chess players for roughly Rs. 2.1 crores so far from 200+ families and 15+ firms, they have made India a global chess powerhouse and achieved numerous fantastic distinctions.

Q: Approximately how much funding has Group e4 raised so far, and how has that money been utilized to support the players?

A: We have so far raised about Rs. 2.3 crores and distributed Rs. 2.1 crores. These funds, given to the families, are used for travel to participate in tournaments and for coaching.

Families and organizations supporting the Group e4 initiative (1)

Families and organizations supporting the Group e4 initiative (2).

Q: How many young players are currently supported by Group e4, and could you share a few examples of talents whose journeys have been positively impacted by this initiative?

A: We have supported a total of 20 chess prodigies so far. Many of them have received support from other firms and we are delighted to have lent a helping hand too.

Group e4: Collective achievements

- World Chess Champion (GM Gukesh)

- Gold, Tata Steel Masters (GM Praggnanandhaa)

- World Junior Champion (GM Pranav Venkatesh)

- FIDE Womens Candidates 2026 winner (GM Vaishali)

- 10 Grandmasters

- 85+ Global Tournament Championship Medals.

- Winner of Grand Chess Tour

- Multiple Candidates Tournament qualifiers

- Olympiad team and individual gold medalists

Two-time Candidates qualifier Praggnanandhaa has been supported by Group e4.

FIDE Women's Candidates 2026 winner, Vaishali, also received support from Group e4.

Players supported by Group e4.

Q: A key aspect of Group e4 is the involvement of legendary players and coaches. Could you describe the role played by Viswanathan Anand and Aruna Anand in the initiative?

A: GM Anand is a global legend in the world of chess, a 5-time world champion and a true class act, soft-spoken, modest, relentlessly encouraging everybody. Indian chess is the formidable power it is today purely because of GM Anand. And Aruna is the force that powered GM Anand, the legend. Aruna herself invests so much of her time in advising and encouraging chess players from all across India. Group e4 wouldn't have succeeded without the involvement of GM Anand and Aruna. They gave confidence to donors that their gifts would be effectively put to use. They inspired unimaginable enthusiasm among the select players by their sheer presence and periodic mentorship.

Q: R. B. Ramesh and Aarthie Ramaswamy are also closely associated with Group e4. How do they help in identifying and guiding the players who receive support?

A: GM Ramesh and WGM Aarthie are icons of Indian chess not only for their amazing individual achievements as grand masters of chess but also in their leadership as founders of Chess Gurukul that has produced an astonishing number of international masters, woman grandmasters, and grandmasters. GM Ramesh was also the coach of the Indian chess team that won the Chess Olympiad. They play the primary role in selecting the chess players for Group e4 to support from across India based on their assessed potential, actual performance, and financial need. They both help in guiding and mentoring the players, as needed.

WGM Aarthie invests a lot of time in managing the accounts of Group e4 and coordinating with donors. As a group, we discuss and decide on the amount to give to each of the players based on three factors: performance, potential, and need. Many of the players have risen to great heights and are now sponsored by governments and firms.

Q: How does Group e4 decide which players should receive funding? What qualities or criteria are you looking for when selecting talent? How can someone apply to be supported by Group e4.

A: We are constrained in the number of prodigies we are able to support based on the amount we have raised. So, the criteria we have developed are assessment of potential, recent performance, and the financial need. And we continue to support the players as they scale greater heights and receive state or corporate sponsorship support. Anyone can apply by sending me an email at satyaprabhakar@gmail.com or a WhatsApp at 99400-38462.

Q: The initiative is powered by a community of supporters and donors. Could you tell us more about the people behind Group e4 and how this ecosystem has developed over time?

A: We now have 15+ firms and 200+ families from 45 cities around the world that have contributed Rs. 2.3+ crores to support Indian chess. We started out by inviting families and firms we know by saying that we have selected brilliant players from modest backgrounds with the potential to become world-class grandmasters and they need financial support. We further said three things: one, 100% of their contribution will go the player families to support their chess aspirations; two, there is no minimum amount and the individual tax-deductible donation amounts are not disclosed to other donors or players; three, their gifts will be routed through Chess Gurukul, an audited charitable trust that is approved by the Government of India.

Satya Prabhakar talks about how he managed to make this initiative happen. | Video: ChessBase India

Q: Looking ahead, what is your vision for Group e4? How would you like this initiative to grow in the coming years?

A: Three things:

We would like to see Group e4 support 100 chess players in the next 5 years by raising Rs. 20 crores... 100% of which will go to the player families.
We want India to be the unbeatable superpower of Chess for ages to come.
We want to see chess be so cool and exciting that every girl and everybody, starting at the age of 3, would want to play chess.

Q: Apart from your work with Group e4, you have recently launched a book of Urdu poetry - Alfaaz ki Mehfil. Could you tell us about the book and what inspired you to write it?

The book is available on Amazon and in bookstores all across India.

A: Chess and Urdu poetry are two amazing 100% products of Indian civilization. Each is magical in its own right...for their infinite variety, depth of thought, and the joy they can inspire. I caught the Urdu poetry virus during Covid and have been incurable since, delightfully so. I started translating Urdu poetry, one couplet a day...every single day, without missing a day, for the last 4 years. I am truly fortunate that this sustained effort has resulted in a book, Alfaaz ki Mehfil, published worldwide by Hachette, a renowned global publisher.

What draws me to the glorious Urdu poetry are three unique and amazingly delightful charms: one, it is secular (not religious), philosophical, capturing observations and insights about life; two, its brevity whereby even the most profound philosophy is captured in two lines and about 20 words...that's it; three, the most rich, evocative, euphonious, and musical vocabulary that is simply unmatched in its expressive power.