Carlos Alcaraz has become the first high-profile tennis player to be featured as an athlete chess bot on the online platform Chess.com.
Developed in 2005 as an internet chess server and social networking website, Chess.com has a mission to improve and help people enjoy their lives through the game of chess. As such, it hosts 10 million chess games every day on its platform.
As announced on its website, Alcaraz will have a 1000 rating, which according to the ELO rating system is in the novice category for a chess player. Chess lovers and even tennis fans who have a passion extending to the chessboard can play against an Alcaraz bot in the online game from the touch of a button.
Alcaraz is a chess enthusiast, having picked up the hobby from his grandfather, also called Carlos. A chess game regularly serves as part of Alcraz's routine before a tennis match as it helps to improve his concentration levels.
During an interview with the ATPTour.com earlier this year, Alcaraz explained how he draws parallels between chess and tennis. On the chess board, you are always advised to anticipate your opponent's next move, and this is a strategy Alcaraz employs on a tennis court with his sharp movements.
"I love chess. Having to concentrate, to play against someone else, strategy—having to think ahead. I think all of that is very similar to the tennis court. You have to intuit where the other player is going to send the ball, you have to move ahead of time, and try to do something that will make him uncomfortable. So I play it a lot."
And in another interview on Marca, Alcaraz opined that chess helps him to be "mentally faster." It is not a coincidence that at 20, Alcaraz is so tactically astute on a tennis court. He has won two Grand Slams and ascended to World No. 1 in his short career so far.
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