"Basketball great Derrick Rose shares his passion for chess and its potential life-saving implications"
Derrick Rose, the 2011 NBA MVP, is spearheading an innovative collaboration between the worlds of chess and professional basketball. The event, known as the 2025 Chessival, took place in Las Vegas and brought together top names from both disciplines.
Rose, who developed a passion for chess during his basketball career, organized the tournament with the aim of promoting collaboration and deepening his understanding of the game. The unique format of the tournament saw NBA players and chess champions working as teams, reflecting Rose's belief that learning chess patterns and openings helped him see the basketball court differently.
The Chessival featured a Head & Hand format, where chess grandmasters named a piece and NBA players decided where to move it. Notable participants included Quinten Post from the Golden State Warriors and Grant Williams from the Charlotte Hornets. Derrick Rose himself took part in the tournament and plans to host a similar event again.
Judit Polgar, a chess grandmaster, played at the 2025 Chessival and won the Head & Hand competition with Grant Williams. Polgar credits chess with teaching resilience, the importance of every move and decision, and improving concentration skills, which she believes can help athletes adjust to different situations.
Rose shares these sentiments, believing that chess teaches patience, mindfulness, and the importance of thinking moves down the line. He also believes that chess can help children from less privileged areas make better decisions and potentially save lives, and encourages his own children to learn the sport.
The collaboration between chess and basketball is not limited to the Chessival. Rose's passion for chess has led to a growing interest in the game among high-profile soccer and NFL stars, who credit it with helping their own professions. Chess is currently experiencing a huge popularity boom and is increasingly collaborating with mainstream leagues.
The unexpected connections between basketball and chess highlighted at the Chessival serve as a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential benefits of learning and applying skills from different fields. As Rose continues to champion this unique partnership, it will be exciting to see how it evolves and impacts both the worlds of chess and basketball.
