It appears Derrick Rose has put hoops firmly in his rearview mirror. And helping him transition better to life post-NBA is a passion—nay, more like an obsession—he is now pursuing with the same zeal with which he played, especially in his younger years.
That obsession, oddly enough, is the Yin to the Yang of basketball: chess.
Derrick Rose Gets into Chess
Yes, the NBA’s youngest MVP at 22 years, 191 days is into chess and is, in fact, heavily promoting it now that he’s happily retired. Rose even teamed up with chess’ best, Magnus Carlsen, in hosting the latter’s Freestyle Chess Tournament. He also competed in last July’s 2025 Chesstival in Las Vegas, where he and other NBA players like Quenten Post of the Golden State Warriors and Grant Williams of the Charlotte Hornets matched wits with chess Grandmasters in a special format called “Head and Hand” (the GM would mention a chess piece and the NBA player would decide on the move).
It turns out, Derrick Rose started getting into chess during his playing days, telling CNN that he picked up the game due to its cognitive health abilities. Chess great Judit Polgár vouches for it, pointing out that chess “can be pretty good for empowering your concentration skills” and “is also very good on how you adjust your brain with the different situations.”
Rose admitted to CNN he got so deep into chess even in his hoops career that he had to rein in his obsession a bit because it was taking up too much of his time and energy. He was even dreaming about chess in his sleep, he said.
“The dreams were very intense, and while I was playing basketball, I never wanted anything to come equal to that, or jump that,” Rose admitted. “Chess was kind of doing that. I’d be up late at night trying to play one game, then I’d look up, it’s two in the morning, and I got to be up at seven for treatment.”
But now, Rose can play all the chess he wants as he enjoys life away from the pro level.
Chess Teaches You About Life, Says Derrick Rose
Happily retired, Rose is playing chess whenever he can and for however long he can. He’s also planning to promote the game in his own ways. Foremost of these plans is to host more tournaments similar to the one he and Carlsen organized previously. Chess-centered projects for kids could be in the offing, too, as the one-time MVP firmly believes that chess teaches people a lot about life.
“Most kids now, they’re reacting instead of thinking, from the areas that I grew up in. That decision may cost them their life depending on the situation that they’re in,” he told CNN. “So I always want them to be patient, be mindful, and to know that you have to think moves down the line… I want kids to know how precious their life is, and I think the game of chess teaches you a lot about life, a lot about being strategic and organizing yourself as a young man growing up in these harsh environments.”
Derrick Rose should know. He grew up in the mean, unforgiving streets of Englewood in Chicago. But he deftly maneuvered his way out of those trying times—one calculated move at a time. Now, he wants to help inner city kids do the same, with chess as one of his chief aids.
