EBERECHI EZE is already king of the Palace.
But it was his queen to E3 that won him £15,000 in a chess competition on Friday night.
Eze, 26, was Crystal Palace’s knight in shining armour as he fired his side into the FA Cup final.
The Eagles star scored a belting opener in last weekend’s Wembley semi-final victory over Aston Villa.
But he showed plenty more quick thinking and tactical prowess as he soared to his chess tournament win.
Eze lined up in chess.com’s 12-player celebrity PogChamps 6 which ran this week.
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After coming through the round-robin stage, he earned himself a bye into the semi-finals where he beat Stephen Nedoroscik 2-0.
Then in Friday night’s final, he saw off Sapnap by the same scoreline.
The final was live streamed on Twitch, with Eze sporting a white t-shirt and gaming headset at home – with a piece of artwork depicting him playing for England in the background.
The ten-cap Three Lions hero – playing under the username Ebz Eze with a rating of 1,147 – stormed to the title, closing out the win with his typical class and style.
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He moved his rook to the top end of the virtual board, putting Sapnap in check and forcing him to bring his king up.
But that played perfectly into Eze’s trap as the Palace man immediately moved his queen into position.
And it meant Sapnap had nowhere to move his king into safety and therefore found himself in checkmate.
When the screen flashed to confirm Eze’s triumph, the footballer hilariously shouted “come on” then raised a fist in celebration as he smiled at the camera before bursting into laughter.
Ironically, despite earning almost exactly a day’s wages with the £15k prize, the £100,000-a-week playmaker celebrated his chess glory more enthusiastically than his Wembley wonderstrike.
Earlier in the tournament, though, there was major controversy as one of the internet personalities was booted out for cheating.
YouTuber DrLupo admitted he “f***ed up” by reading the live chat to attain “information he shouldn’t have had” against a higher-ranked opponent.
Eze, meanwhile, will be hoping for another win on Sunday when Oliver Glasner’s side make the trip across the capital to face Tottenham.
But much of Palace’s focus is already on the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 17 – with the South Londoners hoping to win their very first major honour.
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SunSport also revealed Eze could be allowed to leave Selhurst Park this summer alongside team-mate Marc Guehi to raise £130million for a squad overhaul.
He has two years left on his current contract but the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United may trigger his £60m release clause.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
