Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze has started getting familiar with being a winner ahead of this season’s FA Cup Final against Manchester City, as he emerged winner in an online chess tournament.
The 26-year-old England international took home $20,000 (£15,000) in prize money, following his victory at the Chess.com’s four-day amateur PogChamps tournament – contested by 12 celebrity content creators and athletes.
Eze, who only began playing chess after being taught by former Palace team-mate and Bayern Munich forward Michael Olise, defeated American Youtuber Sapnap in the Final of the event, which had a $100,000 (£75,000) total prize money.
Players had to compete in a group stage to earn a place in the Championship bracket, with Eze winning the final 2-0 which was live on the streaming service Twitch. Quoting Chess.com’s announcement of Eze’s victory, Crystal Palace posted on X: “He can do it all.”