NFL players are turning to an unlikely hobby to improve their game: Chess
CNNCNN — If you scrunch your eyes up just as an offensive line sets for a play, the outlines of the players look like chess pieces being moved around the board by some invisible hand. “Before a play starts, the pieces are set, this is the position on the chess board,” says Tennessee Titans cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. “As we pulled back the curtain, we realized there were a lot more NFL players playing on Chess.com that even we knew,” Danny Rensch, the chief chess officer at Chess.com, tells CNN. The idea for a chess tournament contested by NFL players arose through Rensch’s friendship with Larry Fitzgerald, the legendary former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver and an avid chess player. Christian Petersen/Getty Images Following a “lot of work,” which involved fellow NFL players Amari Cooper and also Awuzie, Chess.com hosted its first tournament with the league in 2022, Rensch explains.
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