Famous Chess Players and their Sporting Twins

Hello everyone and welcome back to your favorite series on the internet. A couple days ago I saw a blog post detailing Chess tournaments and their sporting twins, And I was thinking whether the same can be done with Chess Players and their sporting twins. As we already know, Chess is probably the most famous mental sport out there, and unlike your humble game of checkers or backgammon, this game actually requires a certain level of deep understanding and strategy coupled along with theory. This is why we see so many people taking up the game and carving out their destiny. In this blog post we will be looking at Chess Players and their sporting twins.

REMEMBER, I AM PLANNING TO DO A PART 2 VERY SOON.

Table Of Contents

1. Chess and Tennis

2. Chess and Cricket

3. Chess and Basketball

4. Chess and Football

5. Chess and Motorsports

Chess and Tennis

So first of all, we have to address the elephant in the room. I normally am an avid watcher of Tennis, and every now and then when I have time to watch TV I can watch the now and then Tennis Tournament happening when there isn't any exciting Cricket or Football around. If you have actually watched Tennis Closely, you can actually make out quite an easy example of one important player. 

Our Chess Player: Magnus Carlsen

Of course you were expecting this, so lets go straight into it.

Born in Tonsberg, Norway, Magnus showed intellectual aptitude from a young age, solving jigsaw puzzles at 2, and finishing lego sets for 10 year olds at age 4. However he did not show that much interest into chess, although he was taught by his father who himself was a chess player. His first book about chess was from none other than Bent Larsen (!!!). Later one he became the world number 1 chess player, world champion, defending the title successfully and staying at the top of the rankings. Originally being an attacking player, Magnus later developed to become a tricky opponent to play against, since he started trying so many openings and defenses that it was really hard to prepare against him.

Tennis Player: Novak Djokovic

Born in Belgrade, Novak rose to the heights of tennis and battled against players who were part of the big three like Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Rodger Federer. The reason why I want to compare him to Magnus is because Magnus also strove hard to get into that "cool club", aka the likes of Kasparov, Anand, and Topalov. However he played so well he made his own club. Same case with Djokovic.

Chess and Cricket

Our Chess Player: Garry Kasparov

Born In Baku, Azerbaijan (Then soviet SFSR), Garry Kasparov rose to prominence early on in his career, becoming the undisputed world champion at 22 in 1985 after defeating Karpov, and stayed world champion for another 15 years (albeit under suspicious circumstances). Since retiring from chess, Gary devoted most of time to authoring chess books and spending time in the political circuit. Garry Kasparov also attained one of the most peak ratings ever attained in any Chess Career.

Our cricket player: Ricky Ponting

Born in Tasmania, Just like Chess and Russian players, Cricket and Australian players go hand in hand. The reign of undisputed dominance is etched all over the history of world cups by the Australian team. And at the very center of this dominance was none other than Ricky Ponting. For three consecutive world cups, 1999, and most notably 2003 in South Africa and 2007 in the West indies, Ricky Ponting captained Australia to successive titles. And the most dominant thing about this triumph is that in 2003 and 2007 they won the world cup undefeated against teams like Sri lanka, Pakistan, India, and most notably the tried and tested South African team.

Chess and Basketball

Our Chess Player: Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian is a grandmaster from Armenia, born on October 6, 1982. He started to play chess at a young age and quickly become one of the top players in the world. Known for his creativity and deep understanding of the game, he has won many tournaments, including the prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament, which is basically the Wimdelton of Chess.

Our Basketball Player: Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry is a basketball player from the United States, born on March 14, 1988. He grew up in North Carolina, where his dad, Dell Curry, also played in the NBA. He plays for the Golden State Warriors and become famous for his amazing shooting skills, especially from the three-point range. 

I likened these both players because their innovative thinking is absolutely off the chart.

Chess and Football

Our Chess Player: Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov, born on May 23, 1951, in Zlatoust, started playing chess when he was just a kid, and by the time he was a teenager, he already was winning big tournaments. Karpov become World Chess Champion in 1975 after Bobby Fischer didn’t defend his title.

Our Football Player: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, Born in Rosario, Argentina, was already scouted at an early age as talent and quickly found his way into the Barcelona ranks. Aside from that, his most notable achievement is probably wining the 2022 football world cup in Qatar.

I decided to put them for the likeness to anticipate moves ahead of time.

Chess and Motorsports

Our Chess Player: Viktor Krochnoi

Viktor Krochnoi was born in 1931 in leningrad. He started playing chess at an early age and rose through the ranks quickly. Being known for his fearless style of play and being fierce, he rose to prominence in the 70's and 80's "global dominance" era of Chess. He challenged Anatoly Karpov twice for the title, although he could win it, and later he changed his nationality to Switzerland. He also played one of the longest games in chess history, in which he was faced with the tricky Bishop and Rook vs Rook position.

Our Motorsports Driver: Fernando Alonso

Born in Olvido, Spain, Alonso started showing his passion for racing early on and starting go karting at a young age. From there he pivoted himself into the Formula 1 stage and became double world champion in 2006, and 2007, driving for Renault. The amazing thing about this person is that he is still up and around the track, still racing, which likens his comparison with Korchnoi because of both of their longetivity.

Thanks for tuning in to this blog, and tune in next time for more fun content!