An online fitness class
During Covid, the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy ran its classes online. One of them had nothing to do with chess. It was a physical fitness session.
Everyone logged in. Only one player came prepared.
All the WACA candidates joined, but the person who was totally prepared was Gukesh. He was ready with the mat and clothes. I knew that he was looking for that little X factor.
- Sandeep Singhal
In December 2024, that boy became the 18th World Champion. One of the first people to hug him was Sandeep Singhal, the man who had spotted that X factor in an online fitness class four years earlier.
Sandeep Singhal and WestBridge
Sandeep is the co-founder and managing partner of WestBridge Capital, an investment firm focused on India. Chess is not his business. Yet over the last five years, WestBridge has sponsored four Grandmasters, D Gukesh, R Vaishali, Pranav V and Ilamparthi A R, and Sandeep co-founded the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) with Vishy Anand.
He spoke to ChessBase India about WestBridge and its work in chess in this interview with Vishy Anand:
How WACA started
Anand once came to Bangalore to speak at a WestBridge event. He told ChessBase India what happened next:
After the event, as I was leaving for the airport, Sandeep asked me if I would like to work with him in some way. After I came back to Chennai, we began communicating. If WestBridge wanted to support chess, this was an excellent way to start.
The WACA fellows
WACA launched in December 2020 with five fellows: Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, D Gukesh and R Vaishali. Anand mentored them himself, with help from three of his former seconds: Artur Yusupov, Sandipan Chanda and Grzegorz Gajewski.
Gukesh was rated around 2550 at the time. Anand set one clear goal: "What I want to see from this is to make sure some of them will break into the top 10."
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa both did.
Candidates 2024, Toronto
WestBridge became Gukesh's main sponsor. In April 2024, when Gukesh won the Candidates in Toronto, Sandeep was there with the team.
World Championship 2024, Singapore
Before the World Championship match, WACA brought in Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach known for his work with the Indian cricket team. WACA reached out to him through Olympic Gold Quest, as Upton explained in an interview with ChessBase India. He doesn't usually work with young athletes. Gukesh changed his mind:
I generally don't work with young athletes because they don't have a great ability to self-reflect. But very shortly into my first conversation with Gukesh, I realised that not only is he an incredible chess player, but he also has a remarkable ability to self-reflect.
- Paddy Upton
Gukesh lost the first game of the match. He came back to beat Ding Liren 7½-6½.
WACA celebrations, Bengaluru
In January 2025, WACA threw a celebration for the new World Champion at the Good Shepherd Auditorium in Bengaluru. Gukesh had a few specially made rings with him. He gave one to each of the people who had helped him most on the way to the title.
Sandeep got one.
Watch the celebrations in Bengaluru:
R Vaishali
GM R Vaishali was one of WACA's first five fellows, and WestBridge sponsors her too. She became a Grandmaster in December 2023, India's 84th, and only the third Indian woman to earn the title after Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli.
In September 2025 she won the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss in Samarkand with 8/11, her second Women's Grand Swiss title in a row. That win qualified her for the Women's Candidates.
In April 2026 she won the Women's Candidates in Cyprus, beating Kateryna Lagno in the final round. She is the first Indian to win it.
Next, she will play Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Championship. After her Candidates win, Sandeep spoke to ChessBase India about backing her:
For WestBridge, it has been a family affair. Vaishali and her younger brother Praggnanandhaa were both among WACA's first five fellows, alongside Gukesh.
Pranav and Ilamparthi
Two more players who are sponsored by WestBridge capital:
GM Pranav V: World Junior Champion 2025 (9/11) and World Junior Blitz Champion 2026.
GM Ilamparthi A R: India's 90th Grandmaster and a former World Under-14 Champion.
Closing thoughts
In 2020, the goal was to get a few young Indians into the world top 10. Today India has a World Champion in Gukesh, a Women's World Championship challenger in Vaishali, and a new group of players coming through.
Thank you, WestBridge, for everything you have done for Indian chess.
