For those of us for whom dither and delay are the default, success at Fantasy Football will always be elusive. Making the right decision at the right time is a trait entirely absent from the skillset of us also rans.

For the serial incompetent at the game, just once managing to pick a side for the weekend without a goalkeeper who registers an own goal after the ball hits his back on its way into the net, or a defender who hobbles off injured after 15 minutes, or a striker with an apparent clinical fear of goalscoring, would represent the peak of achievement.

And my sense of cowed inadequacy at organisational prowess of others has hardly been improved by the news that one of those heading towards the bundle of glittering prizes on offer to this season’s winner of Fantasy Premier League (which includes a Nike manager’s coat) is a chess grandmaster. If that’s what it takes to win such booty, then the rest of us might as well give up now.

Like many of his fellow Norwegians, the chess genius Magnus Carlsen is obsessed by the Premier League. But this season he has put his obsession to the test, entering Fantasy Premier League, the biggest iteration of the fantasy game in the world. And after this weekend’s fixtures, he stands sixth in the table. That’s sixth out of more than six million players. This is a man who clearly knows when to replace his hapless centreback.