The world's number one player Magnus Carlsen unexpectedly sent the challenge of Cristiano Ronaldo in a friendly flag when both were (or will) at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the framework of the Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC).
“I don't know how Ronaldo used to play chess. But his life and football career are really extraordinary. It will be an honor to meet and play chess with him when I'm here,” Carlsen shared in the interview with EWC's YouTube channel.
Carlsen, 34, will compete at EWC from July 29 to August 1, where the chess was first brought into this tournament with the bonus fund of up to US $ 1.5 million, of which $ 250,000 for the champion – the highest bonus was besides the world championship matches.
However, the competition between Carlsen and Ronaldo is still likely to be dreaming, at least this time. While Carlsen was busy “fighting” in Riyadh, Ronaldo and Al Nassr Club were training money in Austria, then stopped by Portugal, before returning to Saudi Arabia, that is, after the tournament ended.
However, “chess and Ronaldo” actually met indirectly. In 2022, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi appeared in a promotional campaign of Louis Vuitton, where these two superstars were puzzled chess on a luxurious suitcase. The special thing is that the flag in that photo is not random staging, but taken from a real game between Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura at the Norway Chess 2017.
Carlsen is a hard fan of football, especially Real Madrid – where Ronaldo used to play the top. In 2014, Ronaldo himself gave Carlsen the No. 1 Real Madrid shirt once he visited the club training ground.
In addition to Ronaldo, Carlsen also talked about the spread of chess in the world of players. Stars like Mo Salah, Harry Kane, Martin Odegaard, Christian Pulisic or N'Golo Kante are all fans or chess players. But up to now, both Ronaldo and Messi have never publicly hit a game.
Carlsen, is like “Messi of the chess village”, became a general lawsuit at the age of 13 and held the world championship for a decade (2013 to 2023). Not only excellent on the chessboard, he is also famous for its strong style, confidence, love for fashion and is one of the people who helped the chess to the global entertainment.
Although the prospect of “Ronaldo fighting Carlsen” may not happen, this idea is enough to excite the fan community. Because what is better: The superhuman brain of chess confronts the great foot of football?
Until then, Carlsen still had greater work to worry – bringing chess to the top Esports stage. But if one day Ronaldo nodded, surely the world would follow each country.