Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played one-on-one with fans on Saturday. He even lost a few matches.
But not in basketball.
Wemby was playing chess. And this wasn’t on a whim: he can play and even brought his own chess set.
Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama posted the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the southwest corner of Washington Square Park to play chess? I am there,” Wembanyama wrote.
It was 9:36 am. People showed up almost immediately.
Washington Square Park is a famous place for chess in New York. Bobby Fischer, among others, famously played there, and it has been used for several film scenes featuring the game.
Wembanyama was there in the rain for an hour, from about 10am to 11am. He played four matches, winning two and losing two – telling Bleacher Report afterwards that both losses were to professional chess players – before leaving to take care of the Spurs. flight.
Wembanyama had spent most of the team’s time in New York trying to go somewhere to play chess. Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won Friday night in Brooklyn. The schedule never matched up until Saturday morning. And even in bad weather he made an effort to make it happen.
He posed for photos with a few dozen people showing up and braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA’s biggest stars.
“We need a chess tournament only for NBA players, with proceeds going to the winner’s charity,” he wrote on social media after his chess journey was over.
Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning Rookie of the Year last season. The Spurs play at Minnesota on Sunday.
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