Jan Vertonghen will take on a legend from a different sport

Tottenham icon Jan Vertonghen will change sports on Wednesday as he faces Garry Kasparov in an exhibition game of chess.

The former defender, who retired last year, was a fan favourite during his time with Spurs between 2012 and 2020, thanks to his valiant defending and leadership skills. But the Belgian legend has a daunting challenge ahead of him as he prepares to face super-grandmaster Kasparov.

The Russian is widely considered one of the greatest chess players in history, having become the youngest-ever world champion at 22 and going on to achieve the second-highest Elo rating, behind Magnus Carlsen.

Kasparov will face Vertonghen, economist Geert Noels, politician Peter De Roover and five additional young talents simultaneously at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, showcasing his remarkable skill. Each of them secured their place after a large selection process organised as part of Your Next Move 2026 Kids, where children aged six to 14 participated in trials to earn the right to face the chess legend.

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The initiative intends to make chess more accessible to children in Belgium. Vertonghen, who is the most-capped player ever for his nation with 157 appearances, has been an avid chess player since a young age.

He counted former Spurs teammate Eric Dier among his adversaries. But Vertonghen refused to face Spurs and Belgium teammate Mousa Dembele, despite them both loving the sport.

Vertonghen and Dembele shared a passion for chess since their academy days together but never dared discover who was actually the better player. “We both love chess and we’ve known each other since 12,” Vertonghen said in 2018.

“But we’ve never played because we hate losing against each other that much. We play every game together - apart from chess. The fear of losing is too big. I think I’d win, but he thinks the same. We both don’t want to risk it.”

Vertonghen revealed that he, Dembele and ex-Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen spent nearly 100 hours playing backgammon at the 2018 World Cup, but never started a game of chess together.

The former centre-back explained: “It’s a game without excuses, so for a footballer it’s very hard to play. If we play each other and I win, you’re stupid. That’s how we think, especially me and Mousa.

“We play online against people we don’t know. If Eric Dier beats me, he can call me stupid until I beat him. When it’s brains versus brains, there’s no saying, ‘Your bishop got lucky there’. Eric beat me the last time - he’s a bright guy - but I think overall I’m up.”