Carlsen will now play in the Bundesliga

It's not about football, it's about chess.

For St. Pauli, he moves to the top tier of the Bundesliga in both football and chess this spring.

In order to strengthen the chess team, the Hamburg club brought in the world number one ranked Norwegian player, which caused an uproar in the German media.

– Carlsen says: – I'm looking forward to becoming part of the coolest brand in Germany Sports photo.

Businessman Jan-Henrik Büttner is the one behind this sudden turnaround, writes Sport Bild. Carlsen and Buettner collaborated closely this winter in the Fischer Championship broadcast by VG at Buettner's Weissenhaus hotel.

-It's great to get a double promotion in both football and chess. To make chess more visible in Germany, FC St. Pauli is an ideal partner. I'm happy that Magnus decided to play for FC St. Pauli on our initiative, says Büttner according to the German magazine. By “we” he means the Weissenhaus Chess Academy, founded by Büttner and which works closely with St. Pauli.

In chess, it is possible to play for teams in several countries, in the same way, for example, in motorcycle racing. This means that Magnus Carlsen can continue to play for his club Offerspill in Norway, at the same time as playing for St. Pauli in the German Bundesliga, where classical chess is played.

Carlsen lost the final of this year's second Chess Champions Tournament on Wednesday. It was a deciding loss for Alireza Firouzja in the first and second matches of the grand final.

As of May 27, the Norwegian is playing at home at Chess Norway in Stavanger.