When Lionel Messi asked ChatGPT to teach him a chess opening to suit his style – Here’s what he suggested | Today’s news
Lionel Messi tried his hand at playing chess with the help of ChatGPT, a video of which went viral on social media and garnered a lot of attention. The Argentine soccer superstar, who recently retired from international football, shot for ChatGPT.
Arguably one of the most watched athletes in the world, Messi, asked ChatGPT for chess instructions one move at a time in a video. “Chat, you know my style. Show me a good chess introduction, step by step,” Messi asked the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI.
Within minutes, Messi was ready to try another move. The video shared by ChatGPT was captioned: “I asked ChatGPT to teach me how to play chess that suits my style. It suggested Goat Horns.”
This is not the first time that Messi has been involved in an advertising campaign related to chess. In November 2022, after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared together in a chess-themed Louis Vuitton campaign photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Earlier this year, Messi collaborated with OpenAI ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he envisioned his hair in Argentina’s blue and white colors, encouraging his fans around the world to use the image-making tool.
Was ChatGPT right to suggest Messi?
According to Chess.com, AI models are known to give bad advice in chess, and several top professionals are unlikely to approve of Black’s suggested opening moves, described as “goat horns”: 1.e4 a6 2.d4 c6.
Meanwhile, this new ad comes just two weeks after OpenAI released its intelligent user interface that will allow ChatGPT to help with more visual and interactive responses. The Messi-ChatGPT ad comes a day after Bayern Munich used chess to promote their Champions League clash with Arsenal.
The Bundesliga giants posted an image on X showing Harry Kane and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka – two England team-mates – playing on opposite sides of the board ahead of their clubs’ clash.
The departure of Lionel Messi
Messi announced his retirement from international football on 31 August 2026, shortly after his father Jorge Messi died. In an Instagram post, Messi shared that he wrote his farewell letter shortly after Argentina lost to Spain in the 2028 FIFA World Cup final.
However, it was after the death of his father on August 8 that Messi decided to hang up his boots for the national team. His last game for the country was against Benin, in front of the home fans, in Buenos Aires.
In 208 games, Messi finished with 126 goals in a 21-year career that saw him win two Copa América titles and a World Cup. However, Messi continues to play club soccer for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
