"he is a great Chess player" is grammatically correct, but the rest could be better.
No one really says footballer, a better choice would be Football player
try:
"he plays football and chess well."
or
"he's great at both football and chess."
The chess player has direct control of 16 chessmen .
Chess master , chess player , participant , patzer(a derogatory term) or player .
Maelzel's Chess Player was created in 1836.
Chess Player's Chronicle was created in 1841.
Chess World Champion
This could be the dairy food cheese or the strategy game chess.
Peter Lee - chess player - was born in 1943.
Marmaduke Wyvill - chess player - was born in 1815.
János Balogh - chess player - died in 1980.
Elias Stein - chess player - died in 1812.
Ludwig Rellstab - chess player - was born in 1904.
Ludwig Rellstab - chess player - died in 1983.