Instead, he’ll play online or, when the Galaxy have an open Sunday, go to Santa Monica where the Santa Monica Chess Club offers open play.

“Most people don’t know how stressful chess is,” he said. “It’s very hard to play chess. And physically, you have to be prepared. Imagine sit[ting] for four or five hours to play one game and after five hours of playing you make one mistake and you’re completely crushed. So it’s not easy.”

Yet that fits Joveljic’s personality. A perfectionist, he cringes — and often corrects — when people mispronounce his name (for the record, it’s day-YAHN YO-vul-EACH). And he rarely opens up in interviews, offering nothing more than short, colorless answers, partly because he’s afraid of making a mistake in English, one of three languages he speaks.

It also fits his intelligence and intolerance of boredom. Before advancing his chess game while idled during COVID, he learned how to solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than 40 seconds while battling mononucleosis as a teenager.

Joveljic also has a playful side though. Asked whether he and Galaxy teammate Novak Micovic ever talk about people right in front of them in Serbian, he declines to answer.

Then he breaks into a wide smile.

“Every day,” he says with a laugh.

Joveljic has played just once this preseason because of a hip injury, which is concerning since the Galaxy’s MLS opener with Inter Miami is less than two weeks away. Then again, given his penchant for filling down time with something productive, maybe the injury will allow him to master the violin or study theoretical physics.

However, nothing will ever replace soccer, he promises.

“This is my hobby, chess,” Joveljic said. “But nothing can compare with scoring goals. That’s the best feeling.”

Checkmate.

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