The football-mad world No 1 is in London playing for a $1m prize fund and despite dominating the chess world says he has never played the perfect game

One small measure of how Magnus Carlsen has made chess cool came on Thursday afternoon, when the world’s best player walked through a London cafe tailed by school kids repeatedly shouting one word – “Magnus! Magnus!” – as they attempted to grab selfies on the run. Yet such is the ripple effect of the chess boom, fuelled by the pandemic and the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, that the game has been catapulted into far more unexpected spaces.

England’s Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Anthony Gordon have all spoken about their love of chess. Chelsea’s manager, Enzo Maresca, wrote a 7,000-word thesis on how it can help train the mind of a football coach. Last year Mohamed Salah admitted he was “addicted to chess”, had a rating of around 1400 – well above average – and namechecked Carlsen. “I’m not Magnus, but I’m good,” he said. “No one has a chance with Magnus. But hopefully we will play one day.”