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BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Chess fan Mbeumo on why Man Utd was right move for him
Bryan Mbeumo has no problem playing football in front of thousands of people - it's when you sit him in front of a piano with a couple of mates that the nerves kick in."It's funny, but it's so different," Manchester United's £65m new signing explains."Even if I play in front of a couple of friends at home, I'm not exactly shaking but it's 'oh guys, this is kind of hard for me'."Sitting in front of Mbeumo at United's team hotel in Chicago midway through their pre-season trip is to be presented with a different type of Premier League is quiet, relaxed and respectful, completely at odds with the explosive manner in which he scored 20 Premier League goals last season, which made him a primary target for United head coach Ruben Amorim as he tries to make his formation Cameroon international says he was sold on the United "project" - there were conversations with other clubs but he wanted to move to Old Trafford and, even as the drawn-out discussions continued, he never really felt the deal would collapse because he trusted the people around him to deliver the move he was the kind of standard question and answer session you expect from a new when you get the former Brentford man talking about the piano and his other great passion, chess, that is when his eyes light up. Unlike Lionesses Euros hero Michelle Agyemang, who took her piano to Switzerland and played in her room every day, Mbeumo has no great desire to widen his audience."I'm self-taught," he said. "And I'm not bad."The piano is nothing really linked to football. It just makes me take time for me and relax myself in my free time."It sounds like the perfect initiation performance in front of his new team-mates but Mbeumo is dubious."We will see," he ponders. "The thing is, I don't really like to play in front of people." Chess? It's just like football Mbeumo says he has heard Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee likes to play chess so he may take his board on United duty and challenge his team-mate to a game, but for now, most of his chess playing is done anonymously himself as Bryan Mbeumo, Manchester United footballer, to his opponents probably wouldn't deliver the outcome he is looking for."I have a user name," he said. "You choose a nickname and just play against random people online. I use my own chess board against them."I'm not that crazy good. But if you know the rating, I'm like 800 on the surface, it is hard to think of something more different to football, given the intensity of thought and strategy behind each counters that. The similarities, he says, are more striking than you might clearly think so Palace and England forward Eberechi Eze won £15,000 in a four-day amateur PogChamps tournament, contested by 12 content creators and money is a side issue for players with the earning power of Eze and Mbeumo. The attraction comes from the challenge."Even if it's not physical, there is a lot of thought in chess," said Mbeumo."When you play football you have to think as well. Playing chess you can see some moves ahead because it is a strategy game. In football you have your strategy as well so you can link them together."There was one period where I was really into it."I was watching videos on YouTube and doing training on the app."It's really good for the brain and you can develop new skills."Obviously, you're doing football most of the time, every day, so you sometimes you don't really have time to develop on other skills. But I really like the creativity."Mbeumo's interest in chess expanded to watching the Golden Globe-winning mini series The Queen's Gambit. But he has yet to see the Netflix documentary on multiple world champion and world number one Magnus now, Mbeumo is concentrating on getting fit. Convinced by United 'vision' His former team Brentford were not scheduled to report back for training until a week after United's players, and so the 25-year-old stayed mainly in the gym rather than get involved in his new club's team explains why he is behind the rest of Ruben Amorim's squad in fitness terms and was not involved in Saturday's victory over West Ham at the MetLife has already said Mbeumo will also sit out Wednesday's encounter with Bournemouth in the forward may be involved in the final match of the Premier League Summer Series against Everton in Atlanta on 3 is unfazed by having to wait to make his United debut."My first aim is to make sure I'm ready for the start of the season, so I'll keep working hard," he opening-weekend encounter with Arsenal at Old Trafford is followed by a trip to United do have a good record at Craven Cottage, it is the type of test that has repeatedly proved beyond them over the past few Mbeumo's old side Brentford have proved particularly difficult opponents, winning two and drawing one of their last three meetings at the Gtech Community Stadium. Mbeumo scored in the first of those games, setting the seal on a 4-0 victory in August 2022 that proved the trigger for United's transfer window panic and resulted in them spending £155m to bring Casemiro and Antony to the club before that summer's transfer window is that profligacy United are trying to correct now, led by chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason and fellow big-name arrival Matheus Cunha at least fit into Amorim's famed 3-5-2-1 system as the two number was convinced, as was Cunha, by a vision which goes beyond the current campaign, which features no European football at all, let alone the Champions League, which was on offer from his other suitors, which included Newcastle and Tottenham, now managed by his former boss at Brentford Thomas Frank."Of course, I spoke to some others because I wanted to hear their projects but the Manchester United one was very good for me," he said."Ruben [Amorim] says 'we are people who like winning, and we want to be the best team', which is what we will try to do."I'm someone who likes a challenge. Manchester [United] are a big club. I think it's a great opportunity and I wanted to be part of it. That's why I chose the project."
India Today
27-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Freestyle Chess Tour's India-leg cancelled amidst lack of sponsors, CEO confirms
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, which was supposed to have its fifth event in Delhi in September, later this year has been cancelled due to the lack of sponsors. The co-founder, Jan Henric Buettner, confirmed the news to after speculation over the event's status following the removal of the Delhi leg from the official event was supposed to be their fifth event of the inaugural Grand Slam, after posting successful shows in Weissenhaus, Paris, and Karlsruhe. Presently, GM Magnus Carlsen holds the lead at the top with 65 points after winning two will be headlining the next event, which is set to be held in Las Vegas on July 16-20, later next month. He was recently seen in action against the nine-year-old Aarit Kapil from Delhi, who had come close to beating the current top-ranked player. When asked if there may be a possible replacement, Buettner provided a cryptic response and suggested that there could be something done, but the announcement has yet to be made."Yes and no," he was quoted as saying by will do something special for the September leg of the tour instead. This will be announced after Las Vegas," he also revealed that he is planning on stepping down from his role as CEO. In a previous interview, he had revealed how he wants to take up a more executive role instead. Now he is set to end his tenure as CEO on July hope I get out of it! I want it to be implemented in a perfect way. I am giving everything, so when all my visions in my head are implemented, then I can have a more executive role," he NEXT FOR INDIA'S CHESS STARS?With the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour now cancelled, the next home event for India's top chess stars will be the Chennai Grand Masters, starting August 6, where the tournament comprises a 10-man round-robin format with GMs like Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer, amongst many others set to compete.- Ends
India Gazette
07-06-2025
- Sport
- India Gazette
"India is getting many new and good players...": Norway Chess women's champion Anna Muzychuk
Stavanger [Norway], June 7 (ANI): Ukrainian Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk, who secured the women's title at Norway Chess, spoke on her victory and opened on playing Indian chess legend Koneru Humpy as a child. Anna secured her maiden Norway Chess title, drawing in both classical and armageddon against Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu, but it was still enough for her to seal the win with a total of 16.5 points, as per At the second spot was Lei Tingjie with 16 points while Humpy finished third with 15 points. With 11 points, Vaishali finished in fifth position. Speaking to ANI, Muzychuk said that, 'I am very happy. This tournament and this win mean a lot, and I think it is a great success.' On India's progress as a chess nation, Muzychuk said that while India is getting plenty of great players from the new generation, the older generation is still around and doing well. 'India is getting many new and good players from the new generation, but also from the older, like, Koneru Humpy. I played my first game with Koneru when I was seven years old and she was 10. It was 28 years ago... India is doing great in women's and men's competitions, and I think we will have many more players coming. It will always be challenging to play against them,' she concluded. Humpy, who finished third, did not beat grandmaster Ju Wenjun in the classical, but won the armageddon game, as per However, it was not enough for her to get the title. (ANI)
