MILAN - How many times have you heard a meeting between two coaches compared to a game of chess? It's due to the intuition, patience and attention necessary to make the right move.
On 2 December the parallels between football and chess were bathed in blue and black, when 23-year-old Danyyil Dvirnyy of Treviso won the 73rd Italian Chess Championship at the Hotel Regina Maria in Rome with 8 wins out of 11.
Having moved to Italy when he was 4, the young champion is a big Inter fan and his sporting progress has followed a similar trajectory to Inter's in recent years. He became an International Master in January 2010, just a few months before the Nerazzurri claimed the Champions League and completed the historic Treble: the only Italian side in history to do so. Danyyil is the only Italian to have won all three national titles in the fast game of chess, no mean feat.
Last but not least, the new Italian champion became a Grand Master during the tournament he won on Monday. A coincidence? Probably not, because in chess, just like in football, nothing is left to chance.
