Chess boxing

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Chess boxing is a hybrid sport which combines the sports of chess and boxing.

The concept was envisioned in 1992 by cartoonist Enki Bilal, and a match of chess boxing was a major plot point of his graphic novel Froid-Équateur. Iepe "The Joker" Rubingh, a Dutch artist, inspired by Bilal's book, brought the concept to life in the spring of 2003.

Chess boxing was featured in the 1991 Finnish movie Uuno Turhapuro - herra Helsingin herra, where Uuno plays blindfold chess against one person using a hands-free telephone headset while boxing another person. It is not known if Bilal or Rubingh knew about the movie. In addition, there is a 1979 movie by director Joseph Kuo called "Ninja Checkmate" whose USA dubbed version was known as "Mystery of Chess Boxing". It does not feature chessboxing as understood in this article. The "Mystery of Chess Boxing" is likely an inspiration for the Wu-Tang Clan song of the same name, from their first album "Enter the Wu-Tang".

A match between two opponents consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of boxing and chess sessions, starting with a four-minute chess round followed by two minutes of boxing and so on. Between rounds there is a 1 minute pause, during which competitors change their gear. The form of chess played is "blitz chess" in which competitors have a total of twelve minutes. Competitors may win by knockout, checkmate, a judge's decision or if their opponent's twelve minutes of chess time elapses.

The sport is governed by the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO), whose motto is "Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board." The first world championship was held in Amsterdam in 2003 and was won by Iepe Rubingh himself. The 1st European Chess Boxing Championship took place in Berlin on 1 October 2005 when Tihomir Titschko of Bulgaria defeated Andreas Schneider of Germany after the latter conceded defeat in the seventh round.

Recently, about 400 people gathered in Gloria, Cologne, to see two chessboxing fights. Zoran 'the Priest' Mijatovic played the Queen's Gambit, but 'Anti Terror' Frank Stoldt was very well prepared. In the 7th chess round Mijatovic was three moves away from being checkmated, so he resigned. Stoldt also controlled the boxing rounds.[citation needed]

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