Erling Haaland has already conquered goalscoring. Now he's thinking several moves ahead — literally. The Manchester City striker has co-founded a company called Chess Mates, taking a strategic ownership stake in Norway Chess, the organisation behind the newly announced Total Chess World Championship Tour.
"Chess is an incredible game," Haaland said in a statement. "It sharpens the mind, and there are clear similarities to football. You have to think quickly, trust your instincts, and think several moves ahead." It's the kind of quote that could easily sound like PR fluff — except Haaland has never really done things for appearances.
What Chess Mates actually is
Chess Mates was established alongside Norwegian businessman Morten Borge. The investment figure hasn't been disclosed, but the company will be a "significant owner" of Norway Chess, which is running the new tour.
The format itself is worth understanding. The tour will rotate across four new host cities and blend fast classic, rapid, and blitz disciplines to crown a single combined world champion. The minimum annual prize pool sits at $2.7 million — modest by elite sport standards, but serious enough to attract the game's best.
Norway Chess CEO Kjell Madland said Haaland has "already contributed with several great ideas." Whether those ideas translate into broader audiences is the actual test. Chess has been trying to crack mainstream appeal since the Queen's Gambit bump in 2020. A 25-year-old footballer with 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and a global fanbase is a different kind of ambassador than the game usually gets.
A pattern of smart diversification
This isn't Haaland suddenly discovering a hobby. He launched his YouTube channel last year and has quietly been building a profile beyond the pitch. The chess investment fits the same logic — low ego, high upside, genuinely interesting.
At 25, he's one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet. Any odds market built around his future — silverware, golden boots, Ballon d'Or — just got a more complicated subplot. The man is clearly planning well beyond his playing career.
The Total Chess World Championship Tour is scheduled to launch next year. Haaland, meanwhile, still has a Premier League season to get through first.
