Chess champion tops global fantasy football table

Chess grandmaster and reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen has moved to the top of the global Fantasy Premier League standings.

The 29-year-old Norwegian reached the summit of the competition, which has seven million worldwide players, thanks to a 74-point game week that featured a bumper Mohamed Salah captaincy.

Carlsen even changed his Twitter profile to reflect his new lofty status. “World Chess Champion. The highest ranked chess player in the world. Current (live) #1 Fantasy Premier League player,” his profile read on Monday morning.

Carlsen is a reportedly a keen football fan and clearly has an aptitude for the fantasy game. He finished in the top 2,500 players in the 2017-2018 season.

In a tweet to his 247,000 Twitter followers last week, he described his fantasy football strategy as a “not so groundbreaking one of part stats and part gut feeling. Part @Opta-mist and part optimist. Patent pending.”

Although Carlsen chose his team and captain wisely this past week, his reign at the top will be under threat this evening.

Second-placed Nick Tanner trails Carlsen by a point and his “winlooseoronthebooze” team includes three players from Brighton and Crystal Palace who play on Monday evening.

Carlsen has no players who will feature in this game meaning he will likely be overtaken.

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