Chess Boxing - The Evolution of Sports

Hello everyone. This is going to be my first post on sportstalksocial. This platform was introduced to me by some of the sports-loving fellas from another platform where we used to post and talk about sports. I hope this would be another home for all of us and I would like to get started by introducing this interesting fusion of sports called "Chess Boxing"

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One thing we all are witnessing with the new era of evolution is that it's not enough to master only a single discipline anymore. To be in the race for "survival of the fittest" in a fast pacing world towards globalization and intermixing of the ethnicity and professions, one needs to be a combination of smartness, agility, and strength. This phenomenon is not far from being included in the sports and today we can have a glimpse of it in the form of the hybrid sports called "Chess Boxing".

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From Arts towards Sports (Evolution of the Idea):

The idea of combining the intellectual board game (Chess) with a physical sport (Boxing) was first introduced in 1992 by a fiction novel "Cold Equator by Enki Bilal", where originally the opponents go through a whole boxing match to end up with playing chess. The idea was considered charming by an artist named "Iepe Rubingh" who modified the rules of the hybrid sports and presented the first ever chess boxing competition as a tribute to art and sports lovers and by putting himself in the ring. The contest was much appreciated and was attended in Amsterdam in 2003 by thousands of viewers. Nonetheless, after a sequence of exhausting chess and boxing rounds, Rubingh won the title and became the first official champion of the hybrid sports.

_{Fiction novel presenting chess boxing {left} the idea implementer and the first title by Iepe Rubingh (right) Image Source}

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Modifications & Rules:

Instead of the initially introduced full boxing rounds followed by chess round in the novel, the rules were modified to make the hybrid game/sports more interesting. Now,

• Consists of total 11 rounds, with 6 chess rounds and 5 boxing rounds alternatively.
• The time duration for each round is 3 minutes and the chess round time is divided between the two opponents equally.
• 1 minute of a break in between each round.
• Four categories: Lightweight ( Under 70 Kg), Middleweight (70-80 Kg), Light heavyweight (80-90 Kg) and lastly the Heavyweight (Above 90 Kg).
• Proficiency of the player in both Chess & Boxing.
• Win by the player by the following: Check-mate in chess, knock-out in the ring, if any player exceeds the time-limit allocated or the decision by the referee for best game demonstration with accumulative points of both sections.

_{*The rules mentioned here are from the 'Chess boxing organization' and the full PDF can be downloaded from the LINK}

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Clubs, Competitions & Names to know:

The first ever Chess Boxing Club was established right away in 2004 in Berlin. Since then, a numerous interest in the sports has been demonstrated by various other countries with current participation of Russia, Germany, Mexico, Turkey, China, India, Iran, Italy, and the US. There have been some "World championships" and "European championships" where Germany & Russia are currently leading the group.

World Championships:

• Iepe Rubingh Netherlands – Middleweight, in Amsterdam against Jean Louis Veenstra Netherlands (2003)
• Frank Stoldt Germany – Light heavyweight, in Berlin against David Depto United States (2007)
• Nikolay Sazhin Russia – Light heavyweight, in Berlin against Frank Stoldt Germany (2008)
• Leonid Chernobaev Belarus – Light heavyweight, in Krasnoyarsk against Nikolay Sazhin Russia (2009)

European champions:

• Tihomir Dovramadjiev Bulgaria – Light heavyweight, in Berlin against Andreas Dilschneider Germany (2005)
• Gianluca Sirci Italy – Heavyweight, in London against Andrew Costello United Kingdom (2010)

Challenge for Bettors:

The new sports always bring new challenges not only for players but also for the betting masters. Especially, by increasing the complexity of the game and development of hybrid games such as "Chess-Boxing", one needs to be aware of multiple factors now. It is not only the strength of a player you can fully rely on or the strategical aspects.

It would interesting to see the predictions for the chess boxing tournaments, and it would also bring a chance for those who have just joined betting to take advantage of the confused bets, opening new horizons for the beginners to join-in the betting world.

Nonetheless, we always had this urge of punching our opponent, when he/she could out-smart us in Chess, well you can do now but, an an.. Make sure you pre-decided that you were playing "Chess Boxing", otherwise you are going to be in trouble.

Video of the first chess boxing championship

That is all for today, have fun and see you around.
Haseez