From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chess boxing
Chess boxing
chess game reaches a stalemate, the scores from the box-
ing rounds are used to determine the winner. If the box-
ing 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] Rub-
ingh felt the method described in the book, a boxing
A chess boxing match in Berlin, 2008 match followed by a chess match, was impractical. He in-
stead decided on alternating rounds of chess and box-
Chessboxing is a hybrid sport that combines chess ing.[5]
with boxing in alternating rounds. Most of the world A similar concept was featured in the 1991 Finnish
championships have been held in Berlin. Ten events or- film Uuno Turhapuro—herra Helsingin herra, where the
ganised by the World Chess Boxing Organisation have hero plays blindfold chess against one person using a
been held in Germany overall. In London, England there hands-free telephone headset while boxing another per-
have been 10 international chessboxing tournaments son. It is not known if Bilal was aware of the movie. There
since 2008. Several other chessboxing events have taken was also a 1979 movie by director Joseph Kuo called "Nin-
place around the world, including in Los Angeles, Nantes ja Checkmate"; the English-dubbed USA version was
(France), Reykjavík (Iceland), Amsterdam and Krasno- known as the "Mystery of Chess Boxing". It does not fea-
yarsk (Russia) although Berlin and London in particular ture chess boxing, but it is probably the inspiration for
have emerged as the most important centres for chess- the Wu-Tang Clan song "Da Mystery of Chessboxin’" on
boxing. The sport was invented by Dutch artist Iepe Rub- their first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993).
ingh, who was inspired by a French comic book ’Le Froid Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA is a fan and advocate of the
Equateur’ by artist and filmmaker Enki Bilal. Chess box- sport.[1]
ing is now growing in popularity.[1] Participants must be The earliest chessboxing reference occurs in London
skilled as both boxers and chess players, as a match may in 1978 when two brothers Stewart and James Robinson
be won either way. 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
Structure and rules 2011.
A match consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of The sport is governed by the World Chess Boxing
boxing and chess. The match begins with a four-minute Organisation (WCBO), whose strapline is "The smartest
chess round. This is followed by three minutes of boxing, toughest (wo)man on the planet." The first world cham-
with rounds of chess and boxing alternating until the pionship was held in Amsterdam in 2003 and was won by
end.[1] There is a one minute break between rounds. Iepe Rubingh.[6] The First European Chess Boxing Cham-
Speed chess is used, a form in which each player has a to- pionship took place in Berlin on October 1, 2005. Tihomir
tal of only twelve minutes for the whole game. Atanassov Dovramadjiev of Bulgaria defeated Andreas
Competitors may win by a knockout, achieving a "D" Schneider of Germany, who conceded in the seventh
checkmate, by the judges’ decision, or if their opponent’s (chess) round.
twelve minutes of chess time is exceeded.[1] If a competi-
tor fails to make a move during the chess round, he is 2006
issued a warning and he must move within the next 10 On April 21, 2006, 400 spectators paid to watch two chess
seconds.[2] Repeated warnings may result in a disqualifi- boxing matches in the Gloria Theatre, Cologne. Zoran
cation. The players put on headphones during the chess "the Priest" Mijatovic opened with the Queen’s Gambit.
portion so that they do not hear any shouted assistance Zoran’s opponent, a 37-year old former UN Peacekeeper
from the audience or the live chess commentary. If the named Frank "Anti Terror" Stoldt, was well prepared and
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chess boxing
to the chess board, Sazhin used up too much time attack-
ing 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
On the left: reigning light heavyweight world champion Niko-
lay Sazhin from Russia. Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev is a FIDE Master with
a rating over 2300 and has won multiple chess competi-
tions.[14][15]
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 re- References
signed.[7][8]
[1] ^ Calhoun, Ada (2008-07-10). "Chess-Boxing Hits it
Big". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/
2008 arts/article/0,8599,1821639,00.html. Retrieved
In April 2008, the World Chess Federation FIDE posted 2008-07-13.
a video on its website showing its president, Kirsan [2] "What is ChessBoxing?". London ChessBoxing.
Ilyumzhinov, playing a friendly chess boxing match in Archived from the original on 2008-08-22.
Elista.[9] That same month, the United Kingdom’s first http://web.archive.org/web/20080822105716/
Chess Boxing club was begun in London by the Great Bri- http://www.londonchessboxing.com/about.html.
tain Chess Boxing Organization’s founder Tim Woolgar. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
In July 2008 in Berlin, a 19-year old Russian math- [3] http://wcbo.org/content/e14/index_en.html
ematics student Nikolai Sazhin won the "World Cham- World Chess Boxing Organization
pion" title in chess boxing by defeating Frank [4] James, Kyle (April 19, 2006). "Chess-Boxing
Stoldt.[10][11][12] Stoldt resigned in the 5th round (chess) Combines Brawn and Brains in One Event". National
after losing his queen.[11] Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=5350368. Retrieved 9 January
2009 2010.
November 28, 2009 saw the light heavyweight world [5] McGroarty, Patrick (2008-07-17). "New sport
championship bout between chess boxers Nikolay "The combines boxing and chess". Associated Press.
Chairman" Sazhin and Leo "Granit" Kraft, at the Ivan http://ap.google.com/article/
Yargin Palace of Sport in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, before a ALeqM5hRW0gsSHajHY1eO0jrCF3RQGufrAD91V3HBO1.
crowd of 2000. Sazhin, a native of Krasnoyarsk, had previ- Retrieved 2008-07-18.
ous amateur boxing experience, having fought in 95 pre- [6] van Melick, Simon (2003-12-05). "Chess Boxing
vious bouts (winning 85), and possessed a chess Elo rat- World Championship". Chessbase.
ing of 2005; however, he had recently suffered an injury http://www.chessbase.com/
to his knee. His opponent, Kraft, was four years younger newsdetail.asp?newsid=1348. Retrieved
(at 17 years of age); he was born in Gomel, Belarus, but 2008-07-17.
was representing the German Chess Boxing Organisation. [7] ^ Mahoney, Donny. "Da Mystery of
Although younger, Kraft had fought in 50 amateur boxing Schachboxen:Ringside at the Chess Fights". Mongrel
fights (with a record of 45 wins), and had an Elo rating of (21). http://www.mongrel.ie/issue21/
1997.[13] may06pp28.php. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
The fight opened with the Gruenfeld defense, and was [8] "Special:Chess Boxing". SportsCenter. ESPN.
followed by the first boxing round, which was largely 2007-05-07.
dominated by the younger Kraft. The return to the chess- [9] "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov As A Chess Boxer!". FIDE.
board in the third round saw Kraft castling early, and 2008-07-18. http://www.fide.com/component/
the resulting play saw Kraft having to defend his king. content/article/2-articles/1327-fide-videos.
Sazhin continued in the subsequent boxing round, taking Retrieved 2008-07-18.
the upper hand in the fight. However, once they returned
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chess boxing
[10] Bouvier, Arnaud (2008-07-07). "Chess boxers slug it 84863-World-Chess-Boxing-Champion-Crowned.
out". Melbourne, Australia: The Age. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
http://www.news.com.au/story/ [15] "Chessboxing on ESPN, Playboy and Maxim".
0,23599,23979955-23109,00.html. Retrieved ChessBase. 2006-06-27.
2008-07-18. http://www.chessbase.com/
[11] ^ "Nikolay Sazhin is the New World Champion". newsdetail.asp?newsid=3208. Retrieved
World Chess Boxing Organisation (press release). 2008-07-21.
http://site.wcbo.org/content/e7/index_en.html.
Retrieved 2008-07-13.
[12] "Chessboxing World Championship 2008 in Berlin".
External links
ChessBase (press release). 2008-07-03. • The official WCBO site
http://www.chessbase.com/ • Official UK site
newsdetail.asp?newsid=4744. Retrieved • Chessboxing site
2008-07-13. • Chessboxing video
[13] ^ "Youngest Chessboxing Champion Ever". World • The official Great Britain Chessboxing Organisation
Chess Boxing Organisation. 2009. http://wcbo.org/ site
content/e18/index_en.html. Retrieved 9 January • A review of chessboxing training classes in London
2010. • A photographic account of Chessboxing, October
[14] ^ Chalk, Andy (2008-07-07). "World Chess Boxing 2009, Tufnell Park, London.
Champion Crowned". The Escapist. • Interview with Iepe Rubingh
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chess_boxing&oldid=465013323"
Categories:
• Individual sports
• Multi-discipline sports
• Chess variants
• Boxing
• Combat sports
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