Victor Wembanyama’s launches his Hoops Gambit

Basketball star Victor Wembanyama hosted his inaugural "Hoop Gambit" event in his hometown of Le Chesnay, France, blending his passion for basketball and chess. This event marked the first phase of a vision he previously expressed during a break in New York last winter, where he invited people to play chess and mentioned creating an NBA player chess tournament.

The "Hoop Gambit" featured a chess tournament alongside one-on-one and three-on-three basketball competitions played on courts designed by Wembanyama himself. He shared his personal connection to chess, revealing he learned the game around age 10 and played in a club for half a year, appreciating how it "challenges the brain big time".

The chess tournament attracted dozens of competitors ranging in age from 5 to 90 years old. Notable participants included chess streamer Julien Song and NBA player Rudy Gobert. After seven rounds, International Master Yovann Gatineau emerged as the chess champion.

Wembanyama intends this to be the first of many such events, with a specific goal of bringing chess to the NBA All-Star Weekend in the future.