
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao held his own against a 10-year-old chess app version of world classical champion Magnus Carlsen in a one-game charity chess showdown Friday dubbed as Magnus Carlsen Celebrity Charity Challenge.
Pacquiao, an avid chess player, played white and lasted 41 moves before he was checkmated.
It was the second longest game so far by a celebrity in the charity event behind FTX crypto exchange chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried, who went 49 moves before losing.
Pacquiao was also far better than most who challenged Carlsen’s app version, which included actors Rain Wilson (30 moves), Cuba Gooding, Jr. (16) and Joe Mantegna (13) and karting and Formula E champion Maximilian Gunther (14).
None, though, had ever beaten Carlsen.
Pacquiao, though, will receive $5,000 for participating, which will go to the Manny Pacquiao Foundation.