The MPL Foundation will sponsor all national championships organized by the All India Chess Federation (AICF) for the next five years. MPL Foundation has committed an amount of Rs 1 crore, which will be upped by 20% year-on-year.

The MPL Foundation has been roped in as a title sponsor for national championships across all formats from the Under-7 age groups, thus becoming the first major corporate company to engage in a long-term sponsorship agreement with the AICF.

“We have huge plans for the sport in the country. This is one of the first steps in that direction. We are committed to keep working for the betterment of chess with the vision of making India the Number One Chess-playing nation in the world,” AICF president Sanjay Kapoor said.

AICF Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan added, “I am proud to say that today we have people who are very committed towards the upliftment of the game, the game has grown many folds in the last one year and this is only the beginning.”

Earlier this year in June, MPL Sports Foundation had signed up as a principal partner of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), thus becoming the official kit partner for the Indian contingents at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

The company had also launched an advertising campaign featuring some of the biggest Indian Olympic stars as part of a nationwide fan campaign to rally the 1.3 billion Indians to become fans of the Indian contingent at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Founded in 2019 by Sai Srinivas and Shubham Malhotra, MPL is the 26th start-up and the second online gaming company to join the unicorn club of privately held firms, which are valued at $1 billion or more.

MPL Sports, the official kit sponsor of the Indian Cricket team, in June, had launched a limited-edition cricket jersey designed especially for fans. Inspired by team India’s memorable march to the finals of the first-ever test championship, the jersey paid homage to the team’s rich legacy, and its determination and will to win.