Rose finds plenty of parallels between basketball and chess. The court and the board are different, but winning in either arena requires many of the same qualities. Patience. Respect for the opponent. Balance. And for Rose, truly enjoying the game requires the same mentality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this is only a game,\u201d he told the Tribune. \u201cYou can quit this game. I can walk away from this board. But I can\u2019t quit my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the nine-plus months since Rose retired from the NBA, chess has become a driving force in his life. One of his main goals for his post-basketball career is to enhance the game\u2019s popularity as a gateway to self-improvement. He believes chess is more accessible than it\u2019s often credited for and hopes to provide more entry points for young players through charitable initiatives.<\/p>\n
This passion is also why Rose invested in Freestyle Chess<\/a> and organized Chesstival, which launched the tour\u2019s first U.S. event at Wynn Las Vegas. The 16-player Las Vegas Grand Slam runs from Wednesday through Sunday.<\/p>\n Before this past Sunday, it had been more than a decade since Rose set foot in the Wynn. In 2014, the hotel hosted Team USA for a minicamp in the lead-up to the FIBA World Cup. He didn\u2019t know it at the time, but that tournament would mark a turning point for Rose \u2014 one final, hopeful attempt at a comeback from a yearslong battle with knee injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eleven years later, Rose returned with a different mindset: less desperate to prove himself but still hopeful. Things have changed since 2014. Basketball no longer dominates Rose\u2019s life. But the setting still offered a chance for reflection \u2014 and gratitude for the platform created by his partnership with Carlsen.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to push things to the limit,\u201d Rose said. \u201cI\u2019m thinking macro. But these are places I can\u2019t afford yet. My ideas were libraries and airports. They\u2019re looking at the nicest hotel on the Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n Chess found Rose early in his NBA career. He first tried out the game as a pastime, intrigued by studies that suggested playing chess could reduce a person\u2019s chances of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease or dementia, something that worried him even in his early 20s.<\/p>\n After he suffered his first major knee injury<\/a> in 2012, chess became an escape for Rose throughout the long months of recovery. He began carrying a board on road trips, inviting teammates to play against him. He made a Chess.com account to duel higher-rated players from around the world. His friends picked up the hobby with him, playing informal tournaments during the offseasons.<\/p>\n Although he\u2019s an avid online player, Rose doesn\u2019t keep track of his rating.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a baller,\u201d he joked. \u201cGet me on the board, I might win. I got a jankiness to my game.\u201d<\/p>\n Rose isn\u2019t alone in his passion. Chess holds widespread popularity throughout the NBA \u2014 as evidenced by Sunday\u2019s event, which featured current and former players such as Quinten Post and Tony Snell.<\/p>\n But this shared passion also had a strange aura around it, almost cultish, as Rose described. For instance, former Bulls teammate Drew Gooden is an avid chess player, yet he never mentioned it while he shared a locker room with Rose.<\/p>\n So why don\u2019t NBA players talk about chess?<\/p>\n \u201cI have no idea,\u201d Rose said with a laugh.<\/p>\n He wants to encourage more vocal support for the game, particularly to increase youth participation. That was a crucial aspect of placing Chesstival during the opening weekend of the summer league, when an increasing number of NBA fans descend upon Las Vegas to watch upcoming players<\/a> and mingle with current stars.<\/p>\n Rose believes chess can be akin to basketball in its accessibility, but he wants to use his platform to improve some of the barriers that limit the affordability of competition. While high-profile events such as Chesstival focus on the game\u2019s biggest stars, Rose is more focused on the grassroots movement \u2014 providing support and free education about the game to kids, starting in Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to look out for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While last weekend marked a notable victory for Rose in his post-basketball career, in the early months retirement was hard.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know what to do with his mornings. Or his afternoons. Or his evenings. Structure is a constant in the NBA. Rose almost took it for granted. For years, his life followed the heartbeat of his team\u2019s schedule \u2014 morning film, bus to the arena, pregame meal, recovery. And then, on an otherwise routine day in late September, all of that went away<\/a> and Rose was left to reorganize the quiet vacuum of day-to-day life.<\/p>\n Coming home helped. Rose is now fully based in Chicago again. After eight seasons of playing in other cities, he has found joy in being embraced by the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox season opener and served as grand marshal of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race<\/a> over Fourth of July weekend. One of his next business priorities will be a significant investment in the 1901 Project, which aims to develop the area surrounding the United Center into a multi-use entertainment district<\/a>.<\/p>\n Most of all Rose is finding peace in the same place as always \u2014 on the basketball court, now with his son PJ.<\/p>\n PJ, 12, plays for MeanStreets, the same AAU program that helped develop his father. And Rose is right there with him \u2014 watching film, designing workouts and offering the toughest one-on-one cover in Chicago when he wants to get in some extra scrimmaging.<\/p>\n Rose misses basketball. He always will. But slowly all of this has become enough.<\/p>\n \u201cYou find it,\u201d Rose said about his new purpose after basketball. \u201cIt takes time, but you find it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Derrick Rose is accustomed to standing shoulder to shoulder with greatness. But Sunday was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,31804,919,329,3824,1025,31822,6,3494],"class_list":{"0":"post-172106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chesstival","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bulls","13":"tag-chicagobulls","14":"tag-derrick-rose","15":"tag-freestyle-chess","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-summer-league"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114856990080802353","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-bulls-knicks012_217524358.jpg\")
Former Bulls star Derrick Rose shoots some baskets during warmups on Derrick Rose Night at the United Center on Jan. 4, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-BULLS_5d4e92.jpg\")
Former Bulls star Derrick Rose yells after throwing out the first pitch before the White Sox season opener against the Angels on March 27, 2025, at Rate Field. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)
\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-BULLS_c53920.jpg\")
Former Bulls star Derrick Rose speaks during a news conference for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race on July 6, 2025. (Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n