Press reports indicate that chess has become popular in recent years among football stars, and experts such as former Norwegian national team player and chess champion Simen Agdestein believe that this is not a coincidence, because a football player can learn many things from chess that will help him perform better on the field.
With the start of the World Football Championship competitions in Mexico, the United States and Canada, press reports began to appear about the popularity of the game of chess among international football stars, from the star of the Norwegian national team and the English club Manchester City, Erling Haaland, to the stars of the Bayern Munich team, Harry Kane and Gamal Musiala, the Frenchman Michael Oliseh, and then the Egyptian Mohamed Salah.
All of these stars discovered chess, and for them it was no longer just a game of mental competition, but in recent years it had become a means of enhancing their ability to focus, think strategically, read the opponent’s movements, and make faster decisions under pressure.
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So what attracts football players to this game? Is there really a relationship between green rectangle plans and area calculations?
The German weekly magazine “Der Spiegel” tried to answer these questions by speaking with a figure who combines the worlds of football and chess, the Norwegian Simon Agdestein, the former Norwegian national football team player and coach of the former world chess champion Magnus Carlsen.
Similarities
The magazine began its conversation with Agdestein by asking about his ability, since the beginning of his career, to combine the two sports. He said that after football training, he would go to a chess club in Oslo in the evening and stay up until late at night reading chess books. He added that he would return home and sleep a little before joining football training in the evening, and then he would return again to chess.
Regarding the reasons for the interest of football stars, such as Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Michael Oliseh, and Haaland, in chess, Agdestein says that this interest is due to the fact that chess has become generally popular in recent years, especially online and through chess platforms.
Agdstein explained that the game attracts many people and has a great ability to make its practitioners addicted to it, and this also applies to the sport of football.
Regarding the emergence of the “fashion” of playing chess among the German national team during the European Championship in 2024, Agdestein said that the interest of players such as national team captain Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane, and Jamal Musiala indicates that this game has reached the highest level, adding that it has become similar to football, and is more planable thanks to technical and tactical development.
Fast thinking
When Haaland says that a player, in football or in chess, must think quickly, trust his instincts and simultaneously plan several moves forward, Agdestein answers that all of this applies precisely to chess, and at the same time to modern football and to players of Haaland’s level.
Control of the center is also essential in chess in order to win matches, and in football control of the midfield can also be useful, especially in premier leagues.
The newspaper wondered which of the two sports can be learned quickly? Agdestein replied that football is more fun because it makes the player physically active, and the team spirit in it is a beautiful thing, but the player must have a lot of luck with the right coach, or he may have bad luck due to injuries, and this is what can determine the player’s career.
As for chess, it is very stressful and losses are very painful, but the chess player, on the other hand, has almost everything under control, as you can learn on your own via the Internet and develop and become better.
Agdestein responded to a question from the magazine about where ego is greater, in football or in chess. He said that chess players are exceptional people, while football players are often boring, adding that chess players are often nice and cheerful people, and there is a very great diversity in their personalities and they are much more distinctive and original compared to football players.
Asked whether chess players could learn something from football players, Agdestein responded by saying that chess players must also be in good physical condition, and this has become an important factor in modern chess, as they need stamina in order to play long matches and tournaments, and they must also be able to withstand pressure.
Regarding his expectations for the performance and results of the Norwegian team in the current tournament, Agdestein said that the current squad of the Scandinavian team is the best squad in the history of Norway, but compared to strong teams such as France, it lacks experience and a long-term strategic outlook.
