Soccer legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi mimic one other nice rivalry on the chessboardYesterday

Ali Khusen December 29, 2022 2 min read

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo pose in Louis Vuitton’s newest marketing campaign, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.Courtesy Louis Vuitton

Vogue large Louis Vuitton is aware of a factor or two about advertising and marketing, so when it commissioned a photograph of soccer greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi enjoying chess, the image was sure to go viral.

Famend photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the 2 soccer legends learning a place on a Vuitton checkerboard attaché case and it was launched simply earlier than the World Cup started. With Ronaldo’s 500 million Instagram followers, and Messi’s 380 million, the put up echoed all over the world.

However for chess followers, it was the place on the board that mattered most.

It didn’t take lengthy to find that the place was an actual one, taken from a sport between world champion Magnus Carlsen and American Hikaru Nakamura. The 2017 encounter in Norway led to a draw.

“I used to be questioning why this place regarded acquainted!” tweeted Nakamura.

As for the world chess champion, he took the chance to rank the respective aggressive facets of the 2 video games. “Second biggest rivalry of our time mimicking the best,” Carlsen wryly tweeted.

The comparability between skilled soccer and chess isn’t far-fetched. Considered one of Carlsen’s coaches, grandmaster Simen Agdestein, is a former Norwegian professional soccer participant. And Carlsen himself is among the world’s high fantasy soccer gamers.