Former world champion Magnus Carlsen is playing for St. Pauli in the Bundesliga for the first time

When Magnus Carlsen walks into the hall, everyone’s attention naturally turns to what kind of outfit he has chosen this time. As we all know, you can’t look into a person’s head anyway, even if that’s particularly unfortunate in this case. On the one hand, because both neuroscientists and his competitors would like to know how the Norwegian manages to dominate the sport of chess so much. On the other hand, because he now allows himself to be carried away by one or two quirky things. Like the thing with the pants the other day.

Even people who only follow the sport of chess on the sidelines may have noticed how Carlsen recently started a little farce when he showed up at the World Rapid Chess Championship wearing jeans, contrary to the applicable dress code, and reacted to an impending sanction with a tirade of abuse. Last weekend, Carlsen once again opted for jeans, white sneakers and a gray hoodie with the club logo of FC St. Pauli, for whom he will be competing for the first time in the Chess Bundesliga on Saturday and Sunday. This time, however, the outfit is not a provocation. Because in Germany it’s obviously enough to have pants on at all. His opponent on Sunday, for example, the Chinese Wei Yi, who is ranked ninth in the world rankings, opted for worn black sweatpants made of polyester.

So there he sits, Magnus Carlsen, monarch and face of the chess world. Photographers crowd into the gaming room in the Brahms-Kontor, an office complex in the center of Hamburg, and snap everything that comes in front of their lens: Carlsen getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator; Carlsen resting his head on his left; Carlsen, how he neatly places his figures in the middle of the fields. And finally Carlsen, making his first move on Sunday at ten o’clock sharp: pawn on e3.

Thanks to Carlsen, St. Pauli leaves the relegation zone for the first time

This is probably what the millionaire and chess fan Jan Henric Buettner hoped for; he is, in a sense, the grandmaster who orchestrated this remarkable deal between Carlsen and St. Pauli. Buettner, who is wearing faded skinny jeans on Sunday, wants to make chess more popular in Germany; He is friends with Carlsen and has worked with him not only as part of his Weissenhaus Chess Academy, where, among other things, alternative, faster chess variants are to be tested. In the Brahms-Kontor, on the other hand, tough everyday league life has to be completed in classic chess: thanks also to Carlsen, who beat the Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam (number 82 in the world rankings) after 33 moves, Bundesliga promoted St. Pauli achieved its first win of the season against SG Solingen on Saturday ( 5.5:2.5 points). On Sunday, Carlsen and the Chinese Wei Yi finally agreed on a draw after 35 moves; According to the analysis computer, this was the logical decision due to uncovered figures and mating motifs. St. Pauli had to admit defeat to championship candidate Düsseldorfer SK with a narrow score of 3.5:4.5. But at least: With Carlsen, the neighborhood club is leaving the relegation zone for the first time this season and is now eleventh among 15 teams. After the compulsory program is completed, Carlsen quickly leaves again.