How a billionaire is supporting young chess talents worldwide

A "wholesome" sponsorship program

Most chess sponsorships focus on tournament fees and coaching. But how often do we hear of a program that goes beyond that? In this article, you will read about a billionaire who became a father figure to many young players around the globe. Evren is the driving force behind a project that supports players who is helping young chess players not only with coaching, but also specialized nutrition, psychological guidance and overall well-being. His journey in this space began with supporting Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, a highly talented Turkish player who was on the verge of quitting chess. With Evren’s support, Yagiz went from having zero grandmaster norms to earning the GM title in a remarkably short span of time. Evren later extended his support to several other young players across the world. To understand the thinking behind this project and the people who make it work on a daily basis, we spoke with Selim Gurcan, who is the program's coordinator and who saw it all come together.

Q. How did Evren decide to support the young talents? How did the program begin?

A: About two and a half years ago, Evren called me. He mentioned that his workload had decreased and that he wanted to do something in chess that would make a global impact. I spoke to him about Yagiz Kaan Erdogmuş. When I told him about Yagiz's age and the achievements he had already accomplished at that time, he said there was no need to think twice; we should support him. And that’s how the project started, by beginning to support Yagiz Kaan.

Q. What has been your role in the project?

A: My role is to coordinate all of these activities and to ensure that the sometimes emotional, tense, and expectation-filled relationships between Evren, the coaches, the players, and the parents run smoothly.

Q. Who are the players currently supported by the program?

A: In addition to Yagiz Kagan Erdogmus, we support several other talented young players: 14-year-old Turkish talent Atilla Kuru (15 years), Marc Llari (12 years) and Luca Protopopescu (10 years) from France; Bodhana Sivanandan (11 years) from England; and Brewington Hardaway (16 years) from the United States. We also support other female players: Gulenay Aydın (20 years) from Turkey and Govhar Beydullayeva (22 years) from Azerbaijan.

Q. This support goes beyond just chess training and expenses that are covered. There are more things that are important in the project, such as mental well-being, nutrition, and other things. Is that true?

A: Exactly! There are many more important aspects within the project: mental health, nutrition, and other areas. Especially at a young age, feeling psychologically safe, knowing that you are valued and loved, and preventing support or sponsorship from turning into pressure were our main priorities.

When we started supporting Yagiz, his previous sponsor had withdrawn their support. Because of this, he was under stress, not only from the pressure of becoming the youngest grandmaster but also from the fear that something like that could happen again. Thankfully, Evren approached him like a father figure, making him feel that this was not just a sponsorship but genuine support. From the very first day, he said this would be a project lasting at least five years. Only then did Yagiz emphasize that this was support, not pressure. In fact, shortly after this, Yagiz, who had never earned a grandmaster norm before, achieved three norms in three consecutive tournaments and quickly became a grandmaster.

Maintaining health and nutrition is a constant challenge under such a grueling schedule, and it’s easy for young players to neglect their well-being. To prevent this, Yagiz has a dedicated person preparing specialized meals at home. We also brought on a personal fitness coach to prioritize his physical health, an area that was difficult to manage during the height of his tournament run.

Q. How did the relationship between Yagiz and Shahkhriyar begin?

A: Yağız’s first coach was my dear friend, Grandmaster Mert Erdogdu. Through an incredibly intensive training process, Yagiz earned his grandmaster title by achieving norms in three consecutive tournaments. His progress was so rapid that we decided he should receive support from Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as well. I have been friends with Shakhriyar for 25 years. Expecting a top-level player like him to take on a coaching role would normally be unrealistic. So I told him this: He wouldn’t be tied to any schedule or time commitment! He could simply meet with Yagiz occasionally and look at chess together. That was how I managed to convince him to take the role.

Later, once Shakhriyar recognized Yagiz’s potential, he began dedicating more time to him. Eventually, with Yagiz’s continued success, things reached such a level that Shakhriyar put his own career into the background and started working with him full-time.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about the talents? What are their similarities, what are their differences, and how are they so special? Can you also speak about the role played by their parents?

A: When this question was asked to Yagiz, his answer was simply, “I work very hard.” It was a modest response. Of course, in chess, the greatest talent is the ability to work a lot and to work efficiently. But without doubt, the foundations of this must be laid at an early age. There will always be coaches who support and guide a young player in this process. However, none of their influence can match the impact of parents who constantly encourage and support their child. To achieve success in chess, especially at a young age, at least one parent must be extremely supportive. In Yagiz’s case, this was evident from an early age. Both of his parents supported him tremendously, and his father in particular followed his development very closely and consistently.

Q. Is it true that Yagiz was about to quit playing chess before the support from Evren?

A: Yes, it’s true. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, chess is not an inexpensive sport. Yes, buying a chess set is easy, but if your goal is to become a world-class player, you need to travel to many tournaments, work with the best coaches, and cover many other expenses. Before Evren’s support began, Yagiz was completely deprived of these opportunities. Of course, thanks to many online resources, especially during the pandemic, you can improve to a certain level by studying passionately at home. But achieving real top-level success without the conditions I mentioned is nearly impossible. At exactly this point, Evren’s support made a decisive difference. It enabled Yagiz, who might otherwise have quit chess and chosen another career, to shine in the chess world.

Q. Why did Evren and you decide to support talents from other countries as well?

A: Because Evren wants to make the world a better place, and he believes that one of the ways to do that is through chess. In particular, he sees chess as a remedy for the attention problems that are so common among children today. Just think about it. If, through chess, we can help save many children from the gaming addictions and short-video addictions that people often complain about today, we will have done something truly valuable for the world.

Q. Would it be possible to reveal the current outflow in terms of money that is being done for this project? Why is Evren spending this money on chess?

A: I can say that he provides approximately 1.5 to 2 million dollars per year in support for chess. In addition to supporting young talents, he regularly supports the Marseille Chess Club in France, the Monte Carlo Chess Club and the Monte Carlo Chess Federation in Monaco, and the Istanbul Chess Club in Turkey.

Q. What are the future plans?

A: Our focus is long-term, sustainable development rather than short-term results. We want to support more young talents from different countries and build strong teams around them, including coaches, psychologists, and fitness experts. The goal is not only to produce top chess players but also to raise confident, balanced individuals. We also hope to promote chess as a tool that helps children improve focus, discipline, and life skills.

Q. Seeing Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus play at the Tata Steel Masters and beat many of the top players in the world, how did it feel?

A: Before this tournament, Yagiz had already played a match against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and won it 3.5–2.5. So these kinds of victories were not a surprise for us. However, seeing him fight with such determination and resilience in such a tough tournament was an extra source of happiness. What made us especially proud was that after losing a game, he didn’t settle for short draws or collapse emotionally. Instead, he came back and won games. That fighting spirit meant the most to us. Of course, one of the key people behind his emotional stability was his second coach, Grandmaster Eltac Safarlı.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about Evren and his successes as an entrepreneur?

A: I have known Evren for about 35 years. Our connection goes back to the time when we both became champions in a school championship. Later, Evren stepped away from the chess world, studied in the United States, and went on to become a highly successful businessman. Over the years, we only stayed in touch occasionally by calls or messages. As he later told me, whenever his workload eased during those years, he would dream about doing exactly what he is doing today. Even this example shows how long-term his thinking is.

As a businessman, I can say he is a self-made billionaire. His logical intelligence is incredibly high, and he has an exceptional ability to solve problems very quickly. He is also one of the founders of Trendyol, the online marketplace platform, which became a decacorn. Beyond that, he has very broad interests and deep knowledge in many areas, ranging from history to technology and more. And of course, he still plays chess. I can easily say that despite his busy schedule, over the last one and a half to two years, he has managed to raise his playing strength to above a 2300 level.