Ronaldo-Messi photo: The chess position in the picture is from a Magnus Carlsen vs Hikaru Nakamura game

The picture of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing chess together has become the toast of social media ever since the players shared the photo on their respective social media handles. The picture that was shared with the caption, ‘Victory is a state of mind’ was posted to promote the fashion label, Louis Vuitton. It was captured by the popular celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Since the picture went viral, several speculations were buzzing around about the position on the chessboard. Now, it has been revealed that the position was inspired by two of the greatest chess players – Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. It happened back in 2017 when Carlsen and Nakamura faced each other at the Norway Chess tournament.

Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen was the first person to discover the similarity. Taking to Twitter, Nielsen shared the position of the pieces on the board of the Carlsen-Nakamura game along with the Louis Vuitton advert. Nielsen’s post grabbed the attention of Carlsen itself. He retweeted with a caption that says, “Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest.”

Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest https://t.co/9ncVVgUnzs

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) November 19, 2022

After the sixth round of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour in San Francisco, Carlsen was questioned about the Louis Vuitton photograph. He responded by stating that the original is from his encounter with Nakamura in Norway Chess 2017. He continued by saying it was a really upsetting experience for him. At the end of the competition, he had minus one, and at various times.

Additionally, he risked the chance of being relegated to the second, third, or possibly fourth spot in the world. He also revealed his thoughts about the resemblance of the Ronaldo-Messi rivalry with the one between him and Nakamura. “Not really, but there’s no denying that he excels in many of the skills I possess. However, it’s not the worst comparison in the world,” Carlsen explained.

As per the rankings revealed by FIDE as of August 2022, Carlsen is leading the list with 2864 ratings, while Nakamura is standing at No. 8 with 2768 ratings.

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