The important thing is to control the middle: Magnus Carlsen discusses similarities between football and chess with Pep Guardiola

In a video, Carlsen who is a known football fan and a supporter of Spanish giants Real Madrid, explained to Guardiola how the two sports were similar.

Pep Guardiola and Magnus Carlsen shoot a promotional video for Puma. (Screengrab: Puma Youtube)

Two modern icons met face to face recently as treble winning coach Pep Guardiola and 5-time chess world champion Magnus Carlsen engaged in riveting conversation.

In a video shared by Puma, Carlsen who is a known football fan and a supporter of Spanish giants Real Madrid, explained to Guardiola how the two sports were similar.

“The important thing is to control the middle. If you control the middle, you control the pitch or the board,” Carlsen said while also adding that he used to play football in his formative years but because he was better at chess, he pursued that.

Watch the full video here👇https://t.co/bZSPN0tjLQ

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) December 12, 2023

“Another thing is that often in chess you attack on one side, force the opponent to overload and then you switch and you have an advantage on the other side. In terms of space, it’s remarkably similar,” Carlsen would continue.

“I think the way you have to take defenders away with the attack depends on the movement of the opponent. You must pay attention to what the opponent does in every single movement and react to that. Magnus has two hours to make the next movement. We have a second to react or take a decision,” Guardiola would chip in clearly impressed by Carlsen’s insights.

They would then go on to watch some memorable moments in their career with Carlsen later posting on X, “The conversation? It was not horrible.”

This is not the first time a chess board and footballers have intersected. In 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, shared a picture that raked up millions of likes within hours of being posted.

The photograph, which was taken as part of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s campaign, shows the players indulging in a game of chess, while the chess board is held on an LV trunk. The dark-toned photo taken by famed portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz has since gone viral across social media.