When Lionel Messi asked ChatGPT to teach him a chess opening that matched his style - Here's what it suggested

Lionel Messi tried his hand at the game of chess, with the help of ChatGPT, the video of which went viral on social media and has garnered a lot of attention. The Argentine football superstar, who recently retired from international football, was shooting for ChatGPT.

Arguably one of the most-followed athletes in the world, Messi, in the video asked ChatGPT for chess instructions with one move at a time. “Chat, you know my style. Show me a good chess opening, step by step,” Messi asked the Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI.

Within minutes Messi was ready to try another move. The video, which is shared by ChatGPT, was captioned, “I asked ChatGPT to teach me a chess opening that matched my style. It suggested Goat Horns."

This is not the first time Messi was involved in an advertising campaign involving chess. In November 2022 after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared together for a Louis Vuitton campaign, centred around chess and photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

Earlier this year, Messi had collaborated with OpenAI before the FIFA World Cup 2026, where he imagined his hair in Argentina’s blue-and-white colors, thus encouraging his fans around the world to the image tool.

Was ChatGPT correct in suggesting Messi?

According to a Chess.com, AI models are known to give bad advices in chess, and several top professionals are unlikely to approve Black's suggested opening moves, described as "Goat Horns": 1.e4 a6 2.d4 c6.

Meanwhile, this new ad comes just two weeks after OpenAI released their Intelligent UI, which will allow the ChatGPT to assist with more visual and interactive responses. The Messi-ChatGPT ad comes a day after Bayern Munich used chess to promote a Champions League meeting with Arsenal.

The Bundesliga giants posted an image on X which showed Harry Kane playing and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka - the two England teammates - on the oppositive side of the chess board ahead of their clubs’ encounter.

Lionel Messi's retirement

Messi announced his retirement from international football on August 31, 2026, shortly after his father Jorge Messi passed away. In an Instagram post, Messi shared that he had written his farewell letter shortly after Argentina lost to Spain in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2028.

However, it was after the death of his father on August 8, Messi made up his mind to hang up his boots for the national team. His last match for the country was against Benin, in front of his home fans, in Buenos Aires.

In 208 matches, Messi finished with 126 goals in a 21-year-old career that saw him lifting two Copa América titles and a World Cup. However, Messi continues to play club football for Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer.