Ronnie O’Sullivan is looking forward to a “chess-like” contest when he faces Mark Selby for a place in the Northern Ireland Open final.

The pair have enjoyed a plethora of titanic tussles over the years with Triple Crown titles often being decided by arguably the two greatest players this century.

Remarkably they have not faced off since the 2016 UK Championship final, in which Selby prevailed, with O’Sullivan now relishing the chance to do battle once again.

“Mark is never beaten, sometimes he is more dangerous when he’s behind – every match is going to be a tough one against him,” he said.

“You learn there are different ways to play against a certain opponent, sticking to the game-plan irrelevant of what goes on.

“We’re very different players, each brings their own assets to the table – it’s a bit like a game of chess, who can outthink and outfox their opponent and impose their game onto the other.

“There is no tactics or psychology, you have to be strong mentally but it’s about what can impose themselves on the match – whoever does that tends to win.”

Watch the Northern Ireland Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds