Why are athletes like Haaland, Salah and Webamiyama obsessed with chess?

While fitness, technique and endurance are essential components of any high-level athlete, the ability to think, adapt and overcome competitors is equally important.

Quique Setien, former Barcelona coach, was drawn to chess because of its rules, positions and tactics.

He explained: “Chess and football are similar. The pieces are linked to attack and defense. It is necessary to control the middle of the board.”

His compatriot Alcaraz also said it benefits his game, in a 2018 interview with Vogue, saying: “You have to have a hunch about where the other player is going to send the ball, and you have to move in advance, and try to do something that will make him uncomfortable. So I play it.” [chess] a lot.”

Payne believes the benefits to athletes are twofold.

“A lot of them find a very good way to stop playing, but Mohamed Salah said it helps him play football,” he told BBC Sport.

“I was teaching Boris Becker and he said it sometimes helped him plan and think more strategically in tennis. When he started coaching [Novak] Djokovic, I noticed they were playing regularly.

“It’s thinking about the future and trying to identify the decisive moments [that are important] Because in chess you have to stay calm, and if you let emotions get in, you’re done.”

The competitive nature of chess is also attractive to athletes accustomed to competing at an elite level.

“It’s attractive to people because it’s in the form of a game,” Emil Sotowski, chief executive of the International Chess Federation, told BBC Sport.

“If you’re a chess player, you’re competing. Chess embodies this combination of strategic thinking and concrete decisions, like making a decision every step of the way that’s similar to life, career and sport.

“I remember Carlos Alcaraz mentioned several times that he plays chess and this helps him plan his game during tennis matches.

“Professional athletes appreciate chess because they are very competitive by nature, and chess is as competitive as it gets,” he adds.