Latest news with #Chesstival
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Derrick Rose eager to shine light on NBA's secret obsession: Chess
LAS VEGAS — Standing before NBA peers and grandmasters, dozens of hoop heads and chess enthusiasts, Derrick Rose's words passed through his throat like 30-pound dumbbells. He addressed a crowd he wasn't sure would show. Chesstival, a chess tournament he hosted last weekend at Wynn Las Vegas, was his passion project, his hopeful attempt at magnifying his secretive, longtime hobby. It made him nervous. Advertisement Rose never had to convince people to watch him play for the Chicago Bulls. His belonging needed no reassurance. He was a perpetually airborne, homegrown MVP. Rose, like his NBA peers, kept his newest obsession private during his playing days. So tight-lipped that it bordered on taboo. Sunday was his step forward from secrecy. A long-awaited step toward growing the game. 'It's (600) million people that play, but everybody say it so quietly,' Rose said about chess. 'Now I'm tryna get them to yell about it, or put visibility or eyes on the game knowing that it's been around for thousands of years.' Rose was unaware of his chess-playing peers until his NBA career finished. On Sunday, he had lined them up across the stage, paired with world-renowned grandmasters. Rajon Rondo was once one of his fiercest rivals. Rose and Tony Snell shared a locker room for three seasons. Drew Gooden was one of Chicago's veterans during Rose's rookie year; yet they never spoke a word about the game they all secretly loved. His vision was meant to play out at Madison Square Garden a couple years earlier. With patience, Rose's ambition aligned with the Freestyle Chess Tour and the endeavors of its co-founders, Magnus Carlsen — the top-ranked player in the world — and Jan Henric Buettner. Carlsen and other grandmasters such as Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana paired with both former and current NBAers for a night of live-streamed, single-elimination games with $25,000 on the table for their charity of choice. The experts lurked over the hoopers' shoulders until they were forced to let go of their hands for the second competition, a round robin that consisted of five rounds in which a larger batch of NBA players competed against each other for more prize money. For the length of the night, they followed the rules of Freestyle Chess, where games are played with pawns in their traditional places, but back row pieces are randomized. Advertisement Rose, an investor in the Freestyle Chess tour, already knew everyone on stage. He'd streamed Carlsen's matches and watched the others on YouTube. He'd ripped from their games and been curious about their personalities. He told Carlsen he'd been dying to know if the dialogue between players during matches was genuine or if, 'y'all out there BS-ing.' He nodded as Carlsen, his eventual partner, pointed out theoretical attacks. Rose cheesed through his moves, half-jokingly urging the official to check his opponent's changes. For minutes, the remarks stopped. His eyes scanned the board as if his dribble were changing hands. His new hopstep is less explosive than calculated. Carlsen couldn't save him from a first-round out; the room collectively groaned over the move that buried Rose. 'I had anxiety whenever I (played basketball),' Rose said. 'I never have anxiety whenever I play chess. Losing is actually worse in chess than basketball. After you lose in chess, it makes you want to fight. In basketball, I never got that mad. 'Losing is the best thing in chess. You start to see how important just one move is. And that one move is a choice in life.' His favorite maneuver in chess is the Sicilian defense, when he breaks away from the traditional route of mirroring his opponent's first move. It encourages conflict sooner. 'I got jankiness to my game,' he said. This obsession began in adulthood. Rose hoped for ways to sharpen his mind when he stumbled upon chess. He was soon fascinated by the rules, the defenses and the optionality. 'Me believing that once you get older, (when) you transcend, that you only got your memories,' Rose said. 'And I want to make sure that when I am older, I'm fresh mentally.' Rose can't help but think of what chess might've meant to his early life. To the kid who struggled and rose from Englewood. His investment in the game is his hope of handing a new generation of kids the pieces he didn't have then. Advertisement 'That's the goal, getting kids to critically think,' Rose said. 'I said this prior — where I'm from, getting kids to think before they pull the trigger, before they do harm. 'I feel like the game can prevent it if you're playing it at an earlier age. I'm not saying it's the solution, but (you) gotta start somewhere. I feel like this can be a start.' Rose expressed admiration for players who have put years into honing their craft but play to sustain an inadequate living. Those who've seen more moves than dollars. 'You got players dedicating their whole life to the sport,' Rose said. 'Man, somebody gotta look out.' Part of Rose's concern lay in whether his investment would be mistaken for sudden interest. Rose, despite his fascination with Freestyle Chess, has no intentions of minimizing chess in its traditional form. 'We're not trying to kill the sport or think about it in a crass way,' Rose said. 'We're adding to the sport. Traditional chess is always going to be there. Just like basketball is always going to be there, but you have an All-Star Game to bring people in.' He looked on at the dimly lit rows of seats inside the carpeted ballroom of the Wynn, among them a frayed replica of his Bulls jersey. The jet black had faded to gray. The letters peeled. Loyalty is threaded into that red polyester. His paths meshed by the same thread. His post-retirement time has been split between his construction business and a flower shop. But chess was there even during his hoop career. During his best and darkest days. For so long, he kept that fascination tucked away like the folded chessboard he carried during his final season. Seeing the reception Sunday, the love from his colliding worlds, he moves and sounds as if he wished he'd proclaimed chess's place in his sphere sooner. Rose floated around the venue as players advanced through the tournament. In the hallway, he bumped into NBA champion and fellow Chicagoan, Tony Allen. Allen noted that when he heard of Rose's event, he needed to come see it for himself. Allen knew, like few others, that Rose had long planted these seeds. It was Rose who helped introduce Allen's son to chess. 'It's crazy,' Allen said. '(Rose) put the chessboard in front of my son.' 'Told you, bruh,' Rose nodded triumphantly.
United News of India
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- United News of India
Praggnanandhaa, take on Carlsen at Las Vegas Freestyle Tour
Las Vegas, July 16 (UNI) The fourth leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour kicked off in Las Vegas today, featuring a stellar 16-player lineup, including three of India's brightest chess stars — R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, and Vidit Gujrathi — who are set to clash with world champions Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana. In a major first, the tournament has expanded to include 16 players and sees the debut of a woman competitor, Grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, a two-time World Blitz Women's Champion. The event, which runs till July 20, follows a unique round-robin-cum-knockout format with rapid time controls of 10 minutes plus 10 seconds increment in the initial phase. The participants are split into two groups — White and Black. The top four from each will progress to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, while the remaining will head to the Bottom Bracket. The knockout rounds will use a slower 30+30 format. The tournament features six of the world's top chess players, including World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, and India's top trio — No. 4 R Praggnanandhaa, No. 5 Arjun Erigaisi, and No. 26 Vidit Gujrathi. Other notable players in the fray include Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), Wesley So (USA), Levon Aronian (USA), Hans Niemann (USA), Vincent Keymer (Germany), and Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA). Ray Robson and Samuel Sevian of the US have stepped in as late replacements for Iran's Parham Maghsoodloo and Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi, who withdrew due to visa and personal reasons respectively. The tournament boasts a massive prize fund of $750,000, continuing its appeal as one of the most lucrative and innovative events in modern chess. The Freestyle format also includes promotional activities like the Chesstival, where top players engage with NBA legends in crossover challenges, underlining the sport's expanding entertainment dimension. The tournament has gained a global following not just for the caliber of competition, but for its fresh, engaging presentation — blending sport, spectacle, and star power. UNI BDN GNK
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First Post
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- First Post
Magnus Carlsen joins hands with former NBA star Derrick Rose in unique event ahead of Freestyle Chess Las Vegas
Carlsen, who has won the last two Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour events in Paris and Karlsruhe, has joined hands with former Chicago Bulls point guard Rose in a pro-am event titled 'Chesstival' that features several other ex-NBA stars alongside chess players. read more Former NBA star Derrick Rose collaborated with Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen for the Chesstival event in Las Vegas ahead of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour event in 'Sin City'. Image credit: Chicago Bulls via Instagram Chess joined hands with basketball in a unique moment in sport with NBA legend Derrick Rose collaborating with with Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen for an event in Las Vegas, USA recently. The event, titled 'Chesstival', featured several other stars from the world's top basketball league and took place ahead of the upcoming event of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour, which will also be taking place in 'Sin City'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ex-NBA star Rose joins hands with chess icon Carlsen Besides Rose, his former Chicago Bulls teammate Tony Snell and ex-Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo and ex New Orleans Pelicans power forward and center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl also participated in the pro-am chess event that featured NBA Blitz Chess Championship – which carried a $50,000 charity prize fund. The Chicago Bulls even shared pictures of Rose competing alongside Carlsen against Robinson-Earl and Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. 'Find D-Rose at the chessboard,' read the caption of the post. '@drose & @magnus_carlsen hosted NBA hoopers & world-class chess player at Chesstival here in Vegas!' Former point guard Rose, who was adjudged the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2011 and is also a three-time NBA All Star, has taken quite the interest in chess in the year that has passed since retiring from basketball last year. 'Chess has taught me patience, vision and how to stay calm under pressure. I want kids who grow up like I did to have access to that,' Rose had told Essentially Sports. Carlsen, meanwhile, enters the American leg of the Grand Slam Tour on the back of his victory in Paris, where he defeated Hikaru Nakamura convincingly in an 'El Chessico' final. It was quite the statement from the world No 1 after he had finished third in the opening event in Weissenhaus, Germany, losing to Vincent Keymer in the semi-finals. He would go on to win the subsequent event in Karlsruhe, Germany – part of the Grenke Chess Festival – with a perfect score of 9. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The upcoming event features three Indians – Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Gujrathi. Reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh, however, has opted out of the event. The Las Vegas leg will also feature controversial American GM Hans Niemann, who has been making headlines for his long-running feud with Carlsen following the 2022 cheating scandal.
Chicago Tribune
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Derrick Rose is looking for purpose in retirement. Chess might provide an answer for the ex-NBA MVP.
LAS VEGAS — Derrick Rose is accustomed to standing shoulder to shoulder with greatness. But Sunday was a little different. The former NBA MVP for the Chicago Bulls sat on a stage alongside chess grandmaster and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, surveying an unplayed board. Carlsen leaned over to Rose, pointing to a few pieces as he offered a few quick words of advice. The unlikely pairing was part of Chesstival, a tournament that Rose organized to overlap with the NBA Summer League and that kicked off the Freestyle Chess tour's weeklong stay in Las Vegas. The pro-am event — which teamed grandmasters with former and current NBA players in a 'head and hand' pairs tournament — marked a capstone in Rose's yearslong effort to establish a presence in the often-exclusive infrastructure of competitive chess. Rose finds plenty of parallels between basketball and chess. The court and the board are different, but winning in either arena requires many of the same qualities. Patience. Respect for the opponent. Balance. And for Rose, truly enjoying the game requires the same mentality. 'I know this is only a game,' he told the Tribune. 'You can quit this game. I can walk away from this board. But I can't quit my life.' In the nine-plus months since Rose retired from the NBA, chess has become a driving force in his life. One of his main goals for his post-basketball career is to enhance the game's popularity as a gateway to self-improvement. He believes chess is more accessible than it's often credited for and hopes to provide more entry points for young players through charitable initiatives. This passion is also why Rose invested in Freestyle Chess and organized Chesstival, which launched the tour's first U.S. event at Wynn Las Vegas. The 16-player Las Vegas Grand Slam runs from Wednesday through Sunday. Before this past Sunday, it had been more than a decade since Rose set foot in the Wynn. In 2014, the hotel hosted Team USA for a minicamp in the lead-up to the FIBA World Cup. He didn't know it at the time, but that tournament would mark a turning point for Rose — one final, hopeful attempt at a comeback from a yearslong battle with knee injuries. Eleven years later, Rose returned with a different mindset: less desperate to prove himself but still hopeful. Things have changed since 2014. Basketball no longer dominates Rose's life. But the setting still offered a chance for reflection — and gratitude for the platform created by his partnership with Carlsen. 'I want to push things to the limit,' Rose said. 'I'm thinking macro. But these are places I can't afford yet. My ideas were libraries and airports. They're looking at the nicest hotel on the Strip.' Chess found Rose early in his NBA career. He first tried out the game as a pastime, intrigued by studies that suggested playing chess could reduce a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease or dementia, something that worried him even in his early 20s. After he suffered his first major knee injury in 2012, chess became an escape for Rose throughout the long months of recovery. He began carrying a board on road trips, inviting teammates to play against him. He made a account to duel higher-rated players from around the world. His friends picked up the hobby with him, playing informal tournaments during the offseasons. Although he's an avid online player, Rose doesn't keep track of his rating. 'I'm a baller,' he joked. 'Get me on the board, I might win. I got a jankiness to my game.' Rose isn't alone in his passion. Chess holds widespread popularity throughout the NBA — as evidenced by Sunday's event, which featured current and former players such as Quinten Post and Tony Snell. But this shared passion also had a strange aura around it, almost cultish, as Rose described. For instance, former Bulls teammate Drew Gooden is an avid chess player, yet he never mentioned it while he shared a locker room with Rose. So why don't NBA players talk about chess? 'I have no idea,' Rose said with a laugh. He wants to encourage more vocal support for the game, particularly to increase youth participation. That was a crucial aspect of placing Chesstival during the opening weekend of the summer league, when an increasing number of NBA fans descend upon Las Vegas to watch upcoming players and mingle with current stars. Rose believes chess can be akin to basketball in its accessibility, but he wants to use his platform to improve some of the barriers that limit the affordability of competition. While high-profile events such as Chesstival focus on the game's biggest stars, Rose is more focused on the grassroots movement — providing support and free education about the game to kids, starting in Chicago. 'We want to look out for everyone,' he said. While last weekend marked a notable victory for Rose in his post-basketball career, in the early months retirement was hard. He didn't know what to do with his mornings. Or his afternoons. Or his evenings. Structure is a constant in the NBA. Rose almost took it for granted. For years, his life followed the heartbeat of his team's schedule — morning film, bus to the arena, pregame meal, recovery. And then, on an otherwise routine day in late September, all of that went away and Rose was left to reorganize the quiet vacuum of day-to-day life. Coming home helped. Rose is now fully based in Chicago again. After eight seasons of playing in other cities, he has found joy in being embraced by the city. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox season opener and served as grand marshal of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race over Fourth of July weekend. One of his next business priorities will be a significant investment in the 1901 Project, which aims to develop the area surrounding the United Center into a multi-use entertainment district. Most of all Rose is finding peace in the same place as always — on the basketball court, now with his son PJ. PJ, 12, plays for MeanStreets, the same AAU program that helped develop his father. And Rose is right there with him — watching film, designing workouts and offering the toughest one-on-one cover in Chicago when he wants to get in some extra scrimmaging. Rose misses basketball. He always will. But slowly all of this has become enough. 'You find it,' Rose said about his new purpose after basketball. 'It takes time, but you find it.'
Time of India
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Derrick Rose teams up with Magnus Carlsen to host NBA–chess crossover event at Las Vegas
Derrick Rose is now a chess player (Image via Instagram / @drose) Derrick Rose hasn't let retirement slow him down in the least. The legendary Chicago Bulls player has been collaborating with different brands and giving his all to unanticipated endeavors like chess. He recently appeared at a chess tournament. The NBA icon organized the tournament for NBA players and professional chess players in collaboration with renowned chess grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen . Derrick Rose embraces chess after NBA, hosts Vegas tournament with top players Derrick Rose, an NBA superstar and probable Hall of Famer , played his first eight seasons with the Chicago Bulls. He was the youngest player in NBA history to earn NBA MVP in his third season in the league, at the age of 22. He has now pursued new opportunities since retiring from basketball. These days, D-Rose has embraced chess as an escape from the mundane. He is not simply playing the game for fun; he is really into it. He is fully committed, putting his all into organizing his own chess tournament. He recently joined the five-time world chess champion at a chess festival, as his followers eagerly await what he has in store. The Chicago Bulls recently shared some amazing pictures of Derrick Rose and Magnus Carlsen playing chess in Las Vegas. They were playing against NBA player Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Indian player Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. The caption of the Instagram post read: 'Find D-Rose at the chessboard.. @drose & @MagnusCarlsen hosted NBA hoopers & world-class chess player at Chesstival here in Vegas!' Derrick Rose retired from Memphis Grizzlies (Image via Getty Images) When the NBA legend made his rare public appearance, he appeared to be a jack of all trades. However, only a few people had predicted that he would assist in hosting a major chess event. Meanwhile, the NBA icon was always fond of chess. As per Essentially Sports, Derrick Rose once said: 'Chess taught me patience, vision, and how to stay calm under pressure. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You To Read in 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo by Taboola by Taboola I want kids who grow up like I did to have access to that.' His love for chess shows his growth beyond basketball, inspiring youth to learn patience, focus, and critical thinking. Even in retirement, the NBA legend continues to inspire. Whether it's basketball or chess, he proves that greatness can take many forms. Also read: 'There's no bad blood'- Derrick Rose breaks silence on Tom Thibodeau's exist from New York Knicks For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
