Hikaru Nakamura to face Formula One star Charles Leclerc in strategy-game challenge

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/31/2026 – Hikaru Nakamura will face Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc in a strategy-game challenge in Monza on 1 September, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. The pair will compete at Se!ze, a chess-inspired game developed with Leclerc's involvement. The event adds another chapter to the Monégasque driver's documented interest in chess, following earlier encounters involving Carlos Sainz and GM Teimour Radjabov. | Photo: Chivas Regal
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Nakamura prepares for a new test in Se!ze

Hikaru Nakamura will take on Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc in an unusual strategy-game contest in Italy on Tuesday, 1 September, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Rather than facing each other over a conventional chessboard, the two will compete at Se!ze, a new chess-inspired game developed by Leclerc in collaboration with Chivas Regal.

The encounter will form part of the Chivas Regal Arena of Mastery, a public event at which the game is set to be presented. Se!ze is named after the French word for 16, Leclerc's racing number. The game emerged from a project that began roughly a year ago. The Ferrari driver, a long-standing chess enthusiast, was involved in developing the concept and testing successive versions of the game.

For Nakamura, the challenge offers a somewhat different test from his usual activities at the highest level of chess. The US grandmaster has already spent time studying Se!ze and has even created an online version to play practice games. His preparation has included examining its opening phase and attempting to identify useful basic strategies.

The simplified mechanics of the game, according to Nakamura, might make it accessible to people without previous experience in chess and potentially serve as an introduction to other strategy games.

Nakamura's participation extends beyond Tuesday's contest: he is scheduled to attend the Italian Grand Prix. It will not be his first Formula One race, as he previously attended the Miami Grand Prix several years ago. His appearance at Monza represents another crossover between professional chess and Formula One, two sports whose participants have repeatedly drawn comparisons between decision-making, preparation and strategic planning.

Leclerc, meanwhile, has made his interest in chess increasingly visible in recent years. In January 2022, he participated in a rapid chess challenge against his then Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. More recently, shortly before the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Leclerc and current teammate Lewis Hamilton met Azerbaijani GM Teimour Radjabov. Radjabov watched the two Ferrari drivers play each other and offered advice before Leclerc and Hamilton joined forces to play against the former World Cup winner.

Leclerc and Nakamura have also crossed paths over the chessboard before. Leclerc recalled that he once faced the American as part of a 20-board simultaneous exhibition, in which Nakamura defeated him comfortably.

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Topics: Hikaru Nakamura
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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