Chess: Magnus Carlsen also a grandmaster when it comes to fantasy football

Norway's chess world champion Magnus Carlsen was also the highest-ranked player in the Fantasy Premier League till Monday.
Norway's chess world champion Magnus Carlsen was also the highest-ranked player in the Fantasy Premier League till Monday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON • Magnus Carlsen is a No. 1 player in both reality and fantasy. The chess world champion is showing he has a flair for another game by moving to the top of the standings in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), an online football competition played by more than seven million people.

He is currently third, after being knocked off top spot on Monday following Crystal Palace's 1-1 draw against Brighton in their Premier League match. His place was taken by former Liverpool and Bristol Rovers defender Nick Tanner.

Carlsen, 29, became chess grandmaster for the first time in 2013 when he beat Viswanathan Anand of India. The Norwegian even changed the bio on his Twitter page to reflect his new-found status.

It now reads: "The highest ranked chess player in the world. Former #1 Fantasy Premier League player."

The FPL involves picking a squad of 15 players who score points through goals, assists, defensive shutouts and a few other elements during each round of games in England's top division.

Chess journalist Tarjei Svensen, who has known Carlsen since he was eight, believes he excels at FPL because he has a phenomenal memory of English football.

Carlsen's team, which he has called Kjell Ankedal, rose to No. 1 last Saturday, after Mohamed Salah scored twice for leaders Liverpool in a 2-0 win over Watford.

He picked Salah as his captain, which means he earned double points from the Egypt forward.

"Since a lot of people are asking about my FPL strategy," Carlsen told his more than 247,000 followers on Twitter, "mine is the not-so-ground-breaking one of part stats and part gut feeling".

It was working well in a game played by 7,190,421 players from around the world this season. He also did well in FPL two seasons ago, finishing in 2,397th place.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 18, 2019, with the headline Chess: Magnus Carlsen also a grandmaster when it comes to fantasy football. Subscribe