 "Magnus Carlsen joins hands with former NBA star Derrick Rose in unique event ahead of Freestyle Chess Las Vegas")
Chess joined hands with basketball in a unique moment in sport with NBA legend Derrick Rose collaborating with with Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen for an event in Las Vegas, USA recently. The event, titled ‘Chesstival’, featured several other stars from the world’s top basketball league and took place ahead of the upcoming event of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour, which will also be taking place in ‘Sin City’.
Ex-NBA star Rose joins hands with chess icon Carlsen
Besides Rose, his former Chicago Bulls teammate Tony Snell and ex-Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo and ex New Orleans Pelicans power forward and center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl also participated in the pro-am chess event that featured NBA Blitz Chess Championship – which carried a $50,000 charity prize fund.
The Chicago Bulls even shared pictures of Rose competing alongside Carlsen against Robinson-Earl and Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. “Find D-Rose at the chessboard,” read the caption of the post. “@drose & @magnus_carlsen hosted NBA hoopers & world-class chess player at Chesstival here in Vegas!”
Former point guard Rose, who was adjudged the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2011 and is also a three-time NBA All Star, has taken quite the interest in chess in the year that has passed since retiring from basketball last year.
“Chess has taught me patience, vision and how to stay calm under pressure. I want kids who grow up like I did to have access to that,” Rose had told Essentially Sports.
Carlsen, meanwhile, enters the American leg of the Grand Slam Tour on the back of his victory in Paris, where he defeated Hikaru Nakamura convincingly in an ‘El Chessico’ final. It was quite the statement from the world No 1 after he had finished third in the opening event in Weissenhaus, Germany, losing to Vincent Keymer in the semi-finals. He would go on to win the subsequent event in Karlsruhe, Germany – part of the Grenke Chess Festival – with a perfect score of 9.
The upcoming event features three Indians – Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Gujrathi. Reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh, however, has opted out of the event. The Las Vegas leg will also feature controversial American GM Hans Niemann, who has been making headlines for his long-running feud with Carlsen following the 2022 cheating scandal.
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