Chessboxing

Father Ted

Father Ted

Father Ted

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7 Dec 2006
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It's hard to imagine too many similarities between the cerebral game of chess and the bone-juddering discipline of boxing and yet there is a new sport that melds the two.

When you think of chess players, you probably think of tangle-haired geniuses, reclusive Russians, and the boys at school who were too delicate to play in the yard.

You probably don't think of bulging biceps, iron jaws and sweat flying. That's why the mere mention of chessboxing causes so many raised eyebrows.

It's a mixture of chess and boxing - one round of chess is followed by a round of boxing and so on until the winner is declared by knockout, checkmate or points victory.

The sport, brought into reality in 2003 by a Dutch performance artist inspired by a French comic, came to the UK in April and has its headquarters at a boxing gym in north London. On the continent, the sport's epicentres are in Amsterdam and Berlin.
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Full story: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7701980.stm

Can't wait for this to become an Olympic sport. Must be bloody difficult moving the pieces though whilst wearing boxing gloves. ;)
 
I just can't comprehend why anybody would come up with the idea of putting the two together. And once somebody had why anybody else would think 'Hey, that sounds like a really great idea for a sport.'
 
It's a mixture of chess and boxing - one round of chess is followed by a round of boxing and so on until the winner is declared by knockout, checkmate or points victory.
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What's a "round of chess"?
 
the same article said:
It lifts when the first fighters take to the stage, with a compere whipping the crowd into a frenzy and a traditional glamorous lady circling the ring with a sign declaring "Round One". The boxers then sit down and play chess. A bout of chessboxing stretches to 11 rounds - six of chess (four minutes each) and five of boxing (three minutes each)
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Last edited:
Greenlizard0 said:
If they're both quite good at chess, then how can a game be completed in four minutes each?
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Quite simply - the game continues until either there is a result on the board (win or draw), one player runs out of time and the opponent declares that their flag has fallen, or both flags fall before anyone notices.

Some top chess players are also very good at speed chess, although obviously you have to have a very good knowledge of openings and a general middlegame strategy for this format of the game. I suspect they aren't that good at boxing though :p
 
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