Palace forward Eze wins chess tournament

Eberechi Eze won another victory in an online chess tournament just days after helping Crystal Palace to reach the FA Cup final.

The 26-year-old England international won Chess.com’s four-day amateur PogChamps competition, which featured 12 famous content creators and athletes. She won $20, 000 (£15, 000) in prize money.

Eze defeated American YouTuber Sapnap in the event’s final with a $100, 000 (£75, 000) total prize fund in the final of the event, which featured a 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley last weekend as Palace prepared for an FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Eze first began playing chess after receiving instruction from his former Palace teammate Michael Olise at the club’s training facility.

He stated to The Athletic in 2023, “I didn’t begin learning chess until Michael arrived.

I started studying the game, watching YouTube videos of the best chess openings, and other things like that, because he and my brother nudged me when I was learning to play and face them.

Eze won the final 2-0 live on the streaming service Twitch after going through a group stage of competition.

Crystal Palace stated on X: “He can do it all. ” in response to Chess.com’s announcement of Eze’s victory.

In his 38 games with Crystal Palace, Eze has scored nine goals and provided 11 assists this season.