Victor Wembanyama's opponent reveals his estimated ELO rating after taking him up in chess contest

On Saturday morning, Victor Wembanyama left NBA fans stunned as he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to put out an open invite to play chess with him at Washington Square Park in New York. The night before, Wembanyama and the Spurs picked up a 96-87 win over the Brooklyn Nets, and with Saturday being an off day before he and the Spurs played the Timberwolves on Sunday, he took the morning to enjoy himself.

Despite the rainy conditions, Wembanyama followed through, and before long, he and Washington Wizards fan Max Haskell, who has an ELO of over 2100 online. An avid NBA fan, Haskell saw Victor Wembanyama's post while out shopping, and quickly rushed over to Washington Square Park with two chessboards in hand.

After hopping in line, a member of Wembanyama's crew noticed Haskell with the boards and before he knew it, he and the reigning Rookie of the Year were battling it out.

In an interview with Madeline Hill of Impersonal Foul, Haskell opened up on the match, while praising Wembanyama's chess abilities.

"I'm a massive NBA fan, so I would've been delighted to play PJ Washington or TJ McConnell, let alone Victor Wembanyama. ... He was decent! Would estimate he has a 1000-1100 ELO on Chess.com."

"Wemby is a great bloke and clearly appreciates going beyond his comfort zone. He was accommodating and finished our game despite the material imbalance against him. That's likely a testament to his competitive resilience."

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"I was just feeling like it" - Victor Wembanyama opens up on chess showdown with fans in New York

Prior to the NBA Draft, fans became aware of the fact that Wembanyama is considered, by modern standards, to be a renaissance man. When the San Antonio star isn't tearing it up on the court, he enjoys visiting art exhibits, writing, and reading every night before bed.

As fans are now aware, Wemby is also a pretty avid fan of chess. After Friday's win over the Nets, Victor Wembanyama took to X to ask fans where the best spots to play chess in New York are.

After fans suggested Washington Square Park, Wemby put out an open invite the following morning, eventually battling it out with two different pros as a group of spectators watched on in the rain.

Following the outing, Wembanyama spoke to BleacherReport's Molly Hannahm about his decision to spend his Saturday morning playing chess in the rain.

"I don’t know. I was just feeling like it. That's enough of a reason. ... It was a lot of fun, I learned a lot. So I lost against two pros but I won against my brother so that's worth it."

After Saturday's outing in New York Wembanyama has also thrown out the possibility of an NBA chess tournament, with the proceeds going to charity.

Considering a number of other players around the league, like Kristaps Porzingis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, are avid chess players, as well as retired NBA stars like Derrick Rose, it will be interesting to see if the idea picks up steam.