Tennis legend Andy Murray Serves Up Ace At London Chess Classic
The XTX Markets London Chess Classic got a surprise visitor on Sunday as tennis legend Andy Murray turned up to make Round 5's ceremonial first move.
Murray played 1.e4 for GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium, which he quickly switched to 1.c4, before the Uzbek went on to beat Greek GM Nikolas Theodorou.
Was Murray, the Scot, gently suggesting the Scotch Game, 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 before Abdusattorov opted for the English Opening? A little chess in-joke there, perhaps.
The event, organised by the Chess in Schools and Communities, is Britain's most prestigious chess tournament. It carried a $25,000 top prize.
GM Stephen Gordon, commentating on the event's official stream broadcast on YouTube, said: "Tennis legend, the greatest British tennis player of all time Andy Murray is in the building!"
He added: "I understand he may be a bit of a GM David Howell fan!"
Murray contacted Howell after seeing him on the BBC2 series Chess Masters. Howell is the current English number-one and was in attendance.
In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, Murray told how he gets beaten at chess by his five-year-old son Teddy.
“My 5-year-old boy has gotten massively into chess,” Murray said. “I’m not a particularly good chess player but I’ve got quite an analytical mind. I enjoy the game and watching him learn.”
He added: “It’s difficult losing to a five-year-old when in the middle of the game he’s asking you to come and wipe his bum, essentially. It’s humbling for my intelligence.”
Murray isn't the only tennis star into chess. Boris Becker famously enjoys the game and used to get lessons from Chess in Schools and Communities CEO International Master Malcolm Pein.
Spain's world number-one Carlos Alcaraz is also a regular player.
In an interview in Vogue magazine, Alcaraz said: “I love chess. Having to concentrate, to play against someone else, strategy—having to think ahead. I think all of that is very similar to the tennis court.”
He continued: “You have to have intuition about where the other player is going to send the ball, you have to move ahead of time, and try to do something that will make him uncomfortable. So I play it [chess] a lot.”
In the tournament itself, Abdusattorov has raced into the lead in the nine-round tournament with 4.5/5 so far. He is a full point ahead of GM Alireza Firouzja.
You can watch Round 6 on Monday with commentary here.