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ATLETICO MADRID boss Diego Simeone has been branded a poser after being pictured playing chess without a king and the board “the wrong way round” online.The Argentinian found himself in the firing line in last season’s Champions League over his defensive style.
Diego Simeone has been brutally trolled by the chess worldCredit: Getty
The Argentinian was mocked after posting this snap of him and his son playing the gameCredit: Twitter
And now his attempts to show he knows what he’s doing in the Thinking Man’s Game has left chess fans in stitches.
Simeone, 52, posted the pic of him analysing his positions on a white-sand beach in the Maldives during a game with his footballer son Gio.
The snap appeared online alongside the message: “Family holidays for the Simeones. Cholo and Gio in a duel that requires a lot of concentration.”
But workaholic Simeone’s apparent attempts to show he even spends his summer break using his grey matter was backfiring today after the scene was mocked as “ridiculous”.
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SIMEONE.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}.css-gmec1d{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;height:auto;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-align-content:center;-ms-flex-line-pack:center;align-content:center;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:nowrap;-ms-flex-wrap:nowrap;flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;margin-left:calc(-20px/2);margin-right:calc(-20px/2);}.css-fh9577{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;margin-left:calc(20px/2);margin-right:calc(20px/2);}.css-65fvqt{max-width:302px;max-height:294px;}.css-1exhbll{box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;background-color:rgba(237,245,242,1);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;position:relative;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;max-width:302px;max-height:294px;}.css-bk55po{box-sizing:border-box;display:block;position:relative;margin-bottom:0;}.css-1shocxe{box-sizing:border-box;}.css-1a2irou{box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;}.css-1a2irou 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Chess fans were quick to point out the football boss was “playing” an “impossible” game without his most important piece on the board.
One joked: “Cholo plays without a forward in football and without the king at chess.”
Another added: “What a guy! The first to play a game of chess without the king so his opponent can’t check-mate.”
Self-confessed Real Madrid fan Luis Moscardo wrote on Twitter: “Simeone playing without a king to ensure a 0-0 draw.”
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Meanwhile a host of others insisted the board needed turning round 90 degrees to be in the correct position – and even the International Chess Federation got involved.
It tweeted: “Please tell them that when they return to Madrid we will be delighted to offer them an accelerated beginners’ course in chess – and invite them to visit the 2022 Candidates Tournament which is taking place at the moment in the city.”
Even journalist Julio Montes’ claim Simeone and his son could have been enjoying a version of chess known in Spanish as suicide chess or ‘come-come’, where he could have lost his king and carried on playing, failed to dampen the debate.
One Simeone fan claimed: “Simeone always plays without a king, because he’s the king.”
His comment was met with the joke response “Cholo is focused on searching for his king and Gio is thinking that Subbuteo has changed since he was a little boy.”
Jorge Ramirez wrote alongside the snap: “Poser picture of the year to try to appear intelligent playing chess. Simeone’s playing without a king and the board is placed wrong.”
Simeone, who became a father for the fifth time two years ago after his second wife Carla Pereyra gave birth to Valentina, was mocked up as Che Guevara and described as the man who continued to bring down ‘tiki-taka’ football by Italian press in April 2016.
The Argentinian had just led his side to victory over Bayern Munich in a Champions League semi-final when the German team was still managed by Pep Guardiola.
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He was forced to defend his controversial football style ahead of Atletico Madrid’s Champions League quarter final second leg with Manchester City last season.
Guardiola had said after the first leg: ‘We sensed they would play 3-5-2, then they adjusted and went to a 5-5-0, something that from prehistory times to today is very difficult to attack.’” More