Chess boxing

A chess boxing match in Berlin, 2008

Chessboxing is a hybrid sport that combines chess with boxing in alternating rounds. Most of the world championships have been held in Berlin. Ten events organised by the World Chess Boxing Organisation have been held in Germany overall. In London, England there have been 10 international chessboxing tournaments since 2008. Several other chessboxing events have taken place around the world, including in Los Angeles, Nantes (France), Reykjavík (Iceland), Amsterdam and Krasnoyarsk (Russia) although Berlin and London in particular have emerged as the most important centres for chessboxing. The sport was invented by Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, who was inspired by a French comic book 'Le Froid Equateur' by artist and filmmaker Enki Bilal. Chess boxing is now growing in popularity.^[1] Participants must be skilled as both boxers and chess players, as a match may be won either way.

Structure and rules

A match consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of boxing and chess. The match begins with a four-minute chess round. This is followed by three minutes of boxing, with rounds of chess and boxing alternating until the end.^[1] There is a one minute break between rounds. Speed chess is used, a form in which each player has a total of only twelve minutes for the whole game.

Competitors may win by a knockout, achieving a checkmate, by the judges' decision, or if their opponent's twelve minutes of chess time is exceeded.^[1] If a competitor fails to make a move during the chess round, he is issued a warning and he must move within the next 10 seconds.^[2] Repeated warnings may result in a disqualification. The players put on headphones during the chess portion so that they do not hear any shouted assistance from the audience or the live chess commentary. If the chess game reaches a stalemate, the scores from the boxing rounds are used to determine the winner. If the boxing score is also a tie, the player with the black pieces wins.^[3]

History

The hybrid sport was envisioned in 1992 by cartoonist Enki Bilal, and chess boxing was featured in his graphic novel Froid Équateur.^[1] Iepe Rubingh brought the concept to life, fighting under the name "Iepe the Joker".^[4] Rubingh felt the method described in the book, a boxing match followed by a chess match, was impractical. He instead decided on alternating rounds of chess and boxing.^[5]

A similar concept was featured in the 1991 Finnish film Uuno Turhapuro—herra Helsingin herra, where the hero plays blindfold chess against one person using a hands-free telephone headset while boxing another person. It is not known if Bilal was aware of the movie. There was also a 1979 movie by director Joseph Kuo called "Ninja Checkmate"; the English-dubbed USA version was known as the "Mystery of Chess Boxing". It does not feature chess boxing, but it is probably the inspiration for the Wu-Tang Clan song "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" on their first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993). Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA is a fan and advocate of the sport.^[1]

The earliest chessboxing reference occurs in London in 1978 when two brothers Stewart and James Robinson began chessboxing at the Samuel Montagu Boys Club. Iepe Rubingh was unaware of this before being shown the picture at the Berlin vs London press conference in June 2011.

The sport is governed by the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO), whose strapline is "The smartest toughest (wo)man on the planet." The first world championship was held in Amsterdam in 2003 and was won by Iepe Rubingh.^[6] The First European Chess Boxing Championship took place in Berlin on October 1, 2005. Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev of Bulgaria defeated Andreas "D" Schneider of Germany, who conceded in the seventh (chess) round.

2006

On the left: reigning light heavyweight world champion Nikolay Sazhin from Russia.

On April 21, 2006, 400 spectators paid to watch two chess boxing matches in the Gloria Theatre, Cologne. Zoran "the Priest" Mijatovic opened with the Queen's Gambit. Zoran's opponent, a 37-year old former UN Peacekeeper named Frank "Anti Terror" Stoldt, was well prepared and dominated in both the chess board and the boxing rounds.^[7] In the seventh round (chess) Mijatovic realized he was three moves away from being checkmated and resigned.^[7][8]

2008

In April 2008, the World Chess Federation FIDE posted a video on its website showing its president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, playing a friendly chess boxing match in Elista.^[9] That same month, the United Kingdom's first Chess Boxing club was begun in London by the Great Britain Chess Boxing Organization's founder Tim Woolgar.

In July 2008 in Berlin, a 19-year old Russian mathematics student Nikolai Sazhin won the "World Champion" title in chess boxing by defeating Frank Stoldt.^[10][11][12] Stoldt resigned in the 5th round (chess) after losing his queen.^[11]

2009

November 28, 2009 saw the light heavyweight world championship bout between chess boxers Nikolay "The Chairman" Sazhin and Leo "Granit" Kraft, at the Ivan Yargin Palace of Sport in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, before a crowd of 2000. Sazhin, a native of Krasnoyarsk, had previous amateur boxing experience, having fought in 95 previous bouts (winning 85), and possessed a chess Elo rating of 2005; however, he had recently suffered an injury to his knee. His opponent, Kraft, was four years younger (at 17 years of age); he was born in Gomel, Belarus, but was representing the German Chess Boxing Organisation. Although younger, Kraft had fought in 50 amateur boxing fights (with a record of 45 wins), and had an Elo rating of 1997.^[13]

The fight opened with the Gruenfeld defense, and was followed by the first boxing round, which was largely dominated by the younger Kraft. The return to the chessboard in the third round saw Kraft castling early, and the resulting play saw Kraft having to defend his king. Sazhin continued in the subsequent boxing round, taking the upper hand in the fight. However, once they returned to the chess board, Sazhin used up too much time attacking Kraft's king. Thus by round eight Sazhin was forced to win by knockout or lose on the board. This he failed to do, and, on returning to the chess board, Sazhin resigned the match.^[13]

Required chess skill

World-class chess-boxers must not only be experienced boxers, but must also be at least Class A strength as chess players.^[14] For example, Nikolai Sazhin has an Elo rating of around 1900, roughly corresponding to high Class A or low expert level, while European chess boxing champion Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev is a FIDE Master with a rating over 2300 and has won multiple chess competitions.^[14][15]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Calhoun, Ada (2008-07-10). "Chess-Boxing Hits it Big". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821639,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
2. ^ "What is ChessBoxing?". London ChessBoxing. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822105716/http://www.londonchessboxing.com/about.html. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
3. ^ http://wcbo.org/content/e14/index_en.html World Chess Boxing Organization
4. ^ James, Kyle (April 19, 2006). "Chess-Boxing Combines Brawn and Brains in One Event". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5350368. Retrieved 9 January 2010. 
5. ^ McGroarty, Patrick (2008-07-17). "New sport combines boxing and chess". Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hRW0gsSHajHY1eO0jrCF3RQGufrAD91V3HBO1. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
6. ^ van Melick, Simon (2003-12-05). "Chess Boxing World Championship". Chessbase. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1348. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Mahoney, Donny. "Da Mystery of Schachboxen:Ringside at the Chess Fights". Mongrel (21). http://www.mongrel.ie/issue21/may06pp28.php. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
8. ^ "Special:Chess Boxing". SportsCenter. ESPN. 2007-05-07.
9. ^ "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov As A Chess Boxer!". FIDE. 2008-07-18. http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/2-articles/1327-fide-videos. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
10. ^ Bouvier, Arnaud (2008-07-07). "Chess boxers slug it out". Melbourne, Australia: The Age. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23979955-23109,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-18. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ ^{a b} "Nikolay Sazhin is the New World Champion". World Chess Boxing Organisation (press release). http://site.wcbo.org/content/e7/index_en.html. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
12. ^ "Chessboxing World Championship 2008 in Berlin". ChessBase (press release). 2008-07-03. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4744. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "Youngest Chessboxing Champion Ever". World Chess Boxing Organisation. 2009. http://wcbo.org/content/e18/index_en.html. Retrieved 9 January 2010. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Chalk, Andy (2008-07-07). "World Chess Boxing Champion Crowned". The Escapist. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84863-World-Chess-Boxing-Champion-Crowned. Retrieved 2008-07-21. 
15. ^ "Chessboxing on ESPN, Playboy and Maxim". ChessBase. 2006-06-27. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3208. Retrieved 2008-07-21. 

External links

• The official WCBO site
• Official UK site
• Chessboxing site
• Chessboxing video
• The official Great Britain Chessboxing Organisation site
• A review of chessboxing training classes in London
• A photographic account of Chessboxing, October 2009, Tufnell Park, London.
• Interview with Iepe Rubingh