Members -- 10 days ago
Words: Freddie Church
Gentlemen, as you might have guessed from the name this is the ultimate test of brains vs brawn. It consists of eleven alternating rounds, six rounds of chess each lasting four minutes and five rounds of boxing each lasting two minutes. The winner is the first to either get a knockout in the ring, or checkmate on the board.
So how did all this come about? There are various stories as to the origin of the sport, one source says that it all started in 1978 when brothers James and Stuart Robinson decided they would try and combine their two favourite sports. Another maintains that it was started in 2003 by Lepe Rubingh a Dutch performance artist. Originally this was meant as purely a performance piece and not supposed to be a real sport. Rubingh got the idea for the sport from Yugoslavian artist Enki Bilal and his comic book, Cold Equator, which he found in his father’s collection. The concept in the book was to first have a heavyweight boxing fight lasting 12 whole rounds, then go into a chess game which could last up to five hours. However, Rubingh decided that this would not make a good spectacle and changed the rules accordingly.
(Image: Chessbase )
The first fight took place in an art gallery called Platoon. Rubbing, under the alias ‘Lepe the Joker’, fought a dutch friend known as ‘Luis the Lawyer’. The pair fought again in Amsterdam two months later, on this occasion there was more at stake, the vacant world middleweight chessboxing title. Admittedly this title was only vacant because these two were the only two chessboxers in the world at the time.
From these humble beginnings, the sport has grown exponentially in the following years, from the original middleweight weight there are now four separate classes ranging from lightweight all the way up to heavyweight. There are also specific rules you need to adhere to if you are planning on becoming a professional chessboxer. The current minimum requirements to fight in a Chess Boxing Global event include an Elo rating of 1600 and a record of at least 50 amateur bouts fought in boxing, or similar martial arts.
(Image: Mike Deal )
Now, you may not think that chess and boxing are the most natural fit, that they in fact belong in entirely separate worlds. However, there is a logic as to why this sport has become so popular, it challenges all aspects of masculinity and the human body, both the cerebral and the physical. Don’t forget that former world champions Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko both play chess.
The sport require immense levels of concentration, fitness and above all unbelievable levels of self-control. For example, after a round in the ring your heart rate and adrenaline will be through the roof and most people will find it incredibly difficult to completely change gear to be able to concentrate fully on the chessboard. This is where the real challenge lies in chessboxing, the ability to control yourself will inevitably dictate who controls the match. This is the reason this sport is beginning to be seen as the ultimate alpha-male sport.
(Main & featured image: Hypeness)
