The strange hybrid sport of Chess boxing
There aren’t too many hybrid sports around, but chess boxing is one of them and it has to be the strangest. As the name suggests, this sport is a combination of the sport of boxing and the game of chess. A match consists of alternating
rounds of boxing and chess; one round of boxing is followed by a round of chess and so on. This strange sport was invented fairly recently by a cartoonist and has become very popular. At the same time, it seems to be a bit of a contradiction; boxing is not
really a thinking man’s sport and chess players are not the sort of people you see pounding each other in the face. If this sport really takes off we may see other hybrid sports becoming popular in the future.
The first time chess boxing was depicted anywhere was in a graphic novel by French cartoonist and film maker, Enki Bilal. This was in 1992 and inspired by the image, Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh decided to hold a live event in 2003.
He was also one of the first competitors to compete in the first actual chess-boxing match to take place in Amsterdam. The format of the sport is that a match consists of eleven rounds of chess and boxing in alternating rounds. First, a 4 minute speed chess
round takes place and then this is followed by a 3 minute boxing round. There is a one minute period of rest in between the rounds in which the competitors remove their gloves and the chess table is brought back into the ring. This interesting hybrid has been
attracting a lot of attention from all kinds of people all over the world.
Chess boxing has some very specific rules that players need to follow. First, speed chess is used for the chess part of the sport and players have a total of 12 minutes to finish the game. A player can win by knockout while boxing;
a checkmate while playing chess; by judges’ decision; or if one of the players exceeds the 12 minute time limit while in the chess game part of the sport. If a player fails to move in the allotted time limit in the chess round he will be given a warning -
if he fails to move even then, he may lose the match. While the players are engaged in the chess round, they must put on headphones so as not to get distracted by the crowd who might shout strategies and moves to them. The match can be won in several ways
as mentioned above, but if there is a stalemate in the chess game then the player with the higher score in boxing wins. If there is a tie even there, then the player playing with the black pieces wins. This may seem a bit unfair but those are the rules and
it seems to be the only way to settle the result between equally matched opponents.
Recently, chess boxing has been gaining in popularity with the likes of ESPN taking notice of the sport and also boxer Lennox Lewis putting his support behind it. The competitors who take part say that they love this very strange
sport because it is quite different from regular boxing and completely different from playing chess. Players say that they have to strike a balance between the massive adrenaline rush they get when they are boxing to then suddenly calming down and focusing
their minds on the chess game. They are usually thinking about what chess move to play next while boxing and devising boxing strategies while playing chess. A player definitely has to keep his wits about him at all times in this game. Over the years various
organisations promoting the sport have sprung up all over the world, with the main officiating body being the World Chess Boxing Organisation. This body has training facilities in Belgium, London and Bulgaria and is looking to expand its operations worldwide
very soon.
With increased awareness and exposure the sport is all set to grow in the next few years. The current light heavyweight world champion is a young 19 year old Russian math student named Nikolai Sazhin who beat his opponent in the
chess round to win the title. He claims there is no other sport like chess boxing. In finding out about the sport and learning its rules, everyone will probably agree with him; there is no other sport like it in the whole world.
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