Crystal Palace Forward Eze Wins Chess Tournament

Just days after helping Crystal Palace reach the FA Cup final, Eberechi Eze has celebrated another victory – triumphing in an online chess tournament.

The 26-year-old England international pocketed $20,000 (£15,000) in prize money for winning Chess.com’s four-day amateur PogChamps tournament, contested by 12 celebrity content creators and athletes.

Eze, who scored in a 3-0 win against Aston Villa at Wembley last weekend as Palace set up an FA Cup final against Manchester City, beat American Youtuber Sapnap in the final of the event, which had a $100,000 (£75,000) total prize fund.

Eze began playing chess after he was taught by former Palace team-mate Michael Olise, who he would often play against at the club’s training ground.

He told The Athletic, external in 2023: “I didn’t start learning chess until Michael came in.

“It was him and my brother who nudged me to learn how to play and face them, so that’s when I started studying the game, watching YouTube videos of the best chess openings, things like that.”

Players had to compete in a group stage to earn a place in the Championship bracket, with Eze winning the final 2-0 live on the streaming service Twitch.

Quoting Chess.com’s announcement of Eze’s victory, Crystal Palace posted on X: “He can do it all.”
On the pitch this season, Eze has scored nine goals and contributed 11 assists in 38 appearances for Crystal Palace.

The Eagles will bid to win the club’s first major trophy when they contest the FA Cup final against Manchester City on Saturday, 17 May.