One small measure of how Magnus Carlsen has made chess cool came earlier this month, when the world's best player walked through a London cafe tailed by school kids repeatedly shouting one word - "Magnus! Magnus!" as they attempted to grab selfies on the run. Yet such is the ripple effect of the chess boom, fuelled by the pandemic and the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, that the game has been catapulted into far more unexpected spaces.
England footballers Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Anthony Gordon have all spoken about their love of chess. Chelsea's manager, Enzo Maresca, wrote a 7,000-word thesis on how it can help train the mind of a football coach. Last year Mohamed Salah admitted he was "addicted to chess", had a rating of around 1400 - well above average - and namechecked Carlsen. "I'm not Magnus, but I'm good," he said. "No one has a chance with Magnus. But hopefully we will play one day."
So would Carlsen be up for a game against the Liverpool striker? Of course he would. "I'm a huge football fan and definitely a fan of Salah," he says. "I've not met him yet but I would certainly love to as well as other sports people who I admire who play chess."
In 2018, the Norwegian routed Salah's teammate Alexander-Arnold in 17 moves in a game that lasted five minutes. Is there anyone in the Premier League who might fare better? "[Arsenaland Norway midfielder] Martin Ødegaard plays a little bit," says Carlsen. "He was playing a lot for a while, and then not so much. He's not a bad player, but he's kind of private about it.
"As for the best, I don't know. There are a lot of decent players. But I don't know if there are any very good players among the sports people I have faced."
Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin October 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin October 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0
THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.
New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?
DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.
Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?
'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"
Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland
Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Trump's return is bleak for America and the world
This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.
Flower Power
Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice
When adult children cut the cord
Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best
Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping
In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".
The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare
It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.
Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton
Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves
