Chess boxes
Chess boxing is a martial art that combines the two traditional sports of chess and boxing. The fighters take turns competing in chess and boxing rounds. Chess boxing was invented in 2003 by the Dutch action artist Iepe Rubingh (1974–2020). Initially intended as an art performance, the idea quickly developed into a mature competitive sport.
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Course of a chess boxing match
The classic chess box rules provide for a fight over 11 rounds, 6 of which are played in chess and 5 in boxing. Chess and boxing rounds are completed alternately, the fight begins and ends with a chess round. Each round lasts 3 minutes, both in chess and boxing. The chess time adds up to a total of 18 minutes, of which each player has 9 minutes. After each chess round, the exact position of the chess game is digitally registered and reconstructed before the next chess round , so the players play a rapid game of 18 minutes divided into 6 rounds. The breaks between the boxing and chess rounds are usually 60 seconds. In amateur chess boxing matches, rounds and match lengths may change to a certain extent, for example in youth tournaments or show matches.
Fight decision
A chess box match can be decided early by the following events:
- Victory by knockout (in boxing rounds)
- Victory through technical knockout (in boxing rounds)
- Victory by checkmate (in chess rounds)
- Victory by running out of chess time of a fighter (in chess rounds)
- Disqualification due to time play (in chess or boxing rounds after several previous warnings)
- Victory by giving up the opponent (in chess or boxing rounds)
If no early decision can be made by one of the two fighters and the game of chess ends in a draw , the winner will be determined on points in boxing. If the boxing match also ends in a draw, the chess boxer who played in chess with the black pieces wins. However, this case has not yet occurred in practice.
Weight classes
Currently (as of August 2014) the following weight classes apply to the professional chess boxing competitions of Chess Boxing Global:
Men (from 17 years)
- Lightweight: up to 70 kg
- Average weight: up to 80 kg
- Lightweight: up to 90 kg
- Heavy weight: from 90 kg
Women (from 17 years)
- Lightweight: up to 55 kg
- Average weight: up to 65 kg
- Lightweight: up to 75 kg
- Heavy weight: from 75 kg
In amateur WCBO competitions, the weight classes are usually graded in 5-kilogram increments; in exceptional cases, 10-kilogram increments are also tolerated.
history
The origin of Rubingh's idea of creating a new sport from the disciplines of chess and boxing comes from the comic book " Froid Equateur " by the French illustrator Enki Bilal . A world championship in chess boxing is held in the work, published in 1992. The comic version, however, stipulated that the opponents would first fight a complete boxing match against each other and then face each other in a game of chess. Rubingh found this principle impractical and developed it further into today's competitive sport of chess boxing, in which chess and boxing rounds alternate and which follows a detailed set of rules.
An early form of combining chess and boxing was observed in a boxing club on the outskirts of London in the late 1970s. The two Robinson brothers made it a habit to play a game of chess against each other after training in their boxing club. However, no specific connection can be established between the Robinson brothers' chess game and the actual sport of chess boxing. The same applies to the kung fu film "Mystery of Chessboxing" (1979) and the song "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" (1993) by the Wu-Tang clan .
Early years
The first exhibition match in chess boxing took place in 2003 in Berlin. In the same year, in cooperation with the Dutch Boxing Association and the Dutch Chess Association, the first world championship match under the flag of the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO), which had recently been founded in Berlin, was held in Amsterdam. In the middleweight division, the two Dutch Iepe Rubingh and Jean Louis Veenstra competed against each other. Rubingh won the fight in the 11th round by the expiration of the chess time of his competitor and was the first world champion in chess boxing in the history books. He founded the Chess Boxing Club Berlin the following year (2004) as the world's first chess boxing club. Not least because of this, Berlin is considered the cradle of chess boxing.
2005 to 2008 - The first champions
On October 1st, 2005, two years after the first world championship match, the first European championship match in chess boxing took place in Berlin. Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev ( Bulgaria ) defeated today's chess boxing commentator Andreas Dilschneider ( Germany ) by giving up in the seventh round (chess) and was crowned the first European chess boxing champion.
In 2006 over 800 spectators found their way to the Gloria Theater in Cologne for the World Cup qualifying match between Zoran Mijatovic ( Croatia ) and Frank Stoldt ( Germany ). The 37-year-old former UN trainer in Kosovo and Afghanistan, Frank Stoldt, won in the seventh round by giving up his rival in chess.
After he had qualified for the title fight in 2006, Frank Stoldt ( Germany ) competed in November 2007 in Berlin against the American David Depto ( United States ) in the fight for the first world title in light heavyweight. Over 1200 tickets were sold for the biggest title fight to date in the Berlin Tape Club. This time there was the first checkmate in an official WCBO fight. Frank Stoldt defeated David Depto on the board in round 7 and was the first German world champion to underpin Berlin's supremacy in chess boxing.
2008 to 2011 - The chess box family is growing
In April 2008, chess boxing received its first recognition from the international chess federation FIDE: Its president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took part in a chess box demonstration fight in Elista. At the same time, the chess boxing community around the world grew faster and faster. In 2008 chess boxing clubs were founded in London and Siberia, in 2009 the first club in the USA was established with the Los Angeles Chessboxing Club, immediately followed by the founding of the New York Chessboxing Club in 2010. Chess boxing training has also been offered in the Munich Boxwerk since 2010.
In addition to the WCBO World Championships, which were initially held across Europe and later worldwide, a larger scene developed around the London Chessboxing Club in which exhibition fights take place regularly. In 2011 the first international club comparison took place between the two big chess boxing strongholds Berlin and London, from which London emerged victorious with a 2-1 win.
2011 to today - worldwide expansion and professionalization
In 2011 the WCBO and with it the global chess boxing community made the biggest leap in development to date with the entry of the Chessboxing Organization India and the expansion to the Asian continent. In addition, the professionalization of chess boxing took shape in the second decade of the 21st century. In addition to the WCBO, which became a registered association under German law in 2014, the Chess Boxing Global Marketing GmbH (CBGM) was founded, which since May 2013 has been responsible for the worldwide organization of all professional chess boxing matches and above all for the organization of the official chess boxing world championships responsible for.
The Chess Boxing Organization India was founded in 2011 by the kickboxing official and former Indian kickboxing and karate master Montu Das. This gave momentum to the development of chess boxing in Asia. In the following year the first chess boxing association was founded in West Asia: the Chess Boxing Organization Iran, also by an official with experience in the kickboxing world: Fereydoun Pouya.
At the same time, a milestone was reached in the professionalization of chess boxing: The 2013 World Championship fights in Moscow were the first chess boxing event organized and marketed by Chess Boxing Global. With three world championship fights in one evening, more than 1200 spectators and a level of combat never seen before, the first CBGM event set new standards in the history of chess boxing, especially Leonid Chernobaev Belarus , who has over 15 years of chess experience and is in the boxing world Already made a name for himself as a sparring partner of Marco Huck and with over 200 amateur fights. He won the light heavyweight title against the Indian Tripathi Shailesh India by technical knock-out in boxing. Sven Rooch Germany secured the middleweight title against Jonatan Rodriguez Vega Spain by giving up the Spaniard in chess and the heavyweight world championship fight between Nikolay Sazhin Russia and Gianluca Sirci Italy was decided by checkmate in favor of the Russian Nikolay Sazhin.
Sazhin ( Russia , heavyweight), Chernobaev ( Belarus , light heavyweight) and Rooch ( Germany , middleweight) went down in chessboxing history as the first official Chessboxing Global world champions - they are the first ever professional world champions in chess boxing.
In 2013 and the beginning of 2014, great successes were also achieved in the world of chess boxing for the development of popular sports. At the second and third Indian Championships, in the summer of 2013 in Salem and in the spring of 2014 in Jodhpur, where around 245 fighters in different age and weight classes competed, more than ever before at chess boxing events.
Requirements and training
Chess boxers must be of a high level in both boxing and chess to be admitted to professional chess boxing matches. The Chess Boxing Global competitions currently have an Elo rating of 1600 and a record of 50 amateur fights in boxing or a related martial art as minimum requirements. A decisive factor in chess boxing is that the fighters have to train chess mainly in rapid chess format because the requirements of chess forms with a time limit are different from those of a classic game of chess.
The special art of chess boxing, however, lies not only in mastering both sports at a high level, but above all in switching from full contact sports to mental sports and vice versa again and again from round to round. Because after three minutes of boxing, with their pulse on the stop, the two opponents sit down at the chessboard almost without a break and have to act calmly and tactically. This change becomes more and more difficult for the increasingly exhausted athletes, especially as the fight increases.
In order to train these requirements, blitz chess games are specifically built into strength and endurance training in chess boxing training in order to simulate the physical and mental stress of a chess boxing match. For example, exercises such as “track chess” or “stair chess” can be trained, in which the two training partners play an 18-minute rapid game of chess over six rounds and intensive running exercises such as 400 m sprints or stair sprints with maximum intensity between the rounds of chess complete. Power exercises such as push-ups or boxing sparring, combined with a rapid game of chess, are also common training methods.
Chess boxes in Germany
Germany plays a special role in the history of chess boxing, especially the federal capital Berlin. It is considered to be the nucleus of chess boxing and is now home to the oldest and first chess boxing club in the world, the Chess Boxing Club Berlin, also the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO) and the only marketing agency for professional chess boxing matches recognized by the WCBO, Chess Boxing Global Marketing GmbH. The Chess Boxing Club Berlin was founded in 2004 by the inventor of the sport Iepe Rubingh. A year earlier, Rubingh had founded the world association WCBO in the same place, under whose flag the sport was publicized in the following years.
Outside of Berlin, chess boxing was also able to establish itself in Germany in the Munich “Boxwerk” under the direction of Nick Trachte. In addition, chess boxing events were held in Cologne in 2006 and 2008 and there are individual fighters in Kiel and Mannheim who mostly train in local boxing clubs.
Previous title holder
Between 2003 and 2013 the world championship fights in chess boxing were organized by the WCBO, since 2013 they have been held as professional events under the flag of Chess Boxing Global GmbH.
WCBO
World Champion
- 2003: Iepe Rubingh Netherlands - middleweight, in Amsterdam against Jean Louis Veenstra Netherlands
- 2007: Frank Stoldt Germany - light heavyweight, in Berlin against David Depto United States
- 2008: Nikolay Sazhin Russia - light heavyweight, in Berlin against Frank Stoldt Germany
- 2009: Leonid Chernobaev Belarus - light heavyweight, in Russia against Nikolay Sazhin Russia
European champion
- 2005: Tihomir Dovramadjiev Bulgaria - light heavyweight, in Berlin against Andreas Dilschneider Germany
- 2010: Gianluca Sirci Italy - Heavyweight, in London against Andrew Costello United Kingdom
CBGM world champion
- 2013: Nikolay Sazhin Russia - heavyweight, in Moscow against Gianluca Sirci Italy
- 2013: Leonid Chernobaev Belarus - light heavyweight, in Moscow against Tripathi Shaliesh India
- 2013: Sven Rooch Germany - middleweight, in Moscow against Jonathan Rodriguez Vega Spain
Important organizations
World Chess Boxing Organization
The World Chess Boxing Organization was founded by Iepe Rubingh just before the first chess boxing match in 2003. Their goal was and is to establish the WCBO as the worldwide organization for chess boxing. The goal of the WCBO is to bring together and network all of the world's active chess boxing clubs under one roof. In 2014 it was officially recognized by the Berlin District Court as a registered association under German law. The organization is based in Berlin. The WCBO was the official organizer of the chess boxing world championship matches until 2013, before it recognized Chess Boxing Global Marketing GmbH as the sole marketer of professional chess boxing matches in accordance with its statutes. Since then, the WCBO has focused on the non-commercial, popular sports organization and the further development of chess boxing. The current chairman is the inventor of chess boxing Iepe Rubingh. The first honorary member is the comic artist Enki Bilal, whose comic was the starting point for the invention of chess boxing.
WCBO member associations:
- Chessboxing Club Berlin (CBCB)
- Chessboxing Organization of India (CBOI)
- Chessboxing Organization of Iran (CBOIR)
- Italian Chessboxing Federation (FISP)
- China Chessboxing (CBCN)
- USA Chessboxing
- Russian Chessboxing Organization
World Chess Boxing Association
The World Chessboxing Association (WCBA) is a recognized umbrella organization for the sport of chess boxing. It was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in London, England. The current president is Tim Woolgar, English heavyweight chess boxing champion.
The World Chessboxing Association emerged from the London Chessboxing Club after it was separated from the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO). It was founded in 2013 by Tim Woolgar to promote the development of chess boxing. The champions of the WBCO are also managed and recognized by the WCBA.
WCBA members:
- UK Chessboxing Association
- Russian Chessboxing Organization
- Italian Chessboxing Federation
Chess Boxing Global Marketing
Chess Boxing Global Marketing sees itself as a marketing agency for professional chess boxing matches and all commercial activities related to the sport of chess boxing. It is officially the only marketing agency for professional chess boxing recognized by the WCBO and takes on tasks such as the organization of the world championships for professional athletes and the marketing of the professional athletes themselves. The CBGM was founded in 2013 by Iepe Rubingh in Berlin and attracted attention through the auction shortly after it was founded of a painting by Enki Bilal on February 23, 2013 in Paris. By auctioning the picture, which shows an artistically staged chess boxer, the CBGM was able to generate 170,000 euros. The first world championship fights under the umbrella of Chess Boxing Global Marketing took place in 2013 in Moscow under the eyes of 1200 spectators. Under the slogan “A quest for the smartest and toughest man on the planet”, professional athletes from all over the world meet here.
Current world champions:
- Middleweight: Sven Rooch Germany
- Light Heavyweight: Leonid Chernobaev Belarus
- Heavyweight: Nikolay Sazhin Russia
Regional associations and clubs
The following chess boxing associations currently exist in the world, of particular importance are the Chess Boxing Club Berlin, the oldest chess boxing club in the world, and the Chess Boxing Organization India, which currently has around 400 members, the largest association in the world:
- Chess Boxing Club Berlin: since 2004.
- Russian Chessboxing Organization: since 2008.
- London Chessboxing: since 2009.
- LA Chessboxing: since 2009.
- Boxwerk Munich: Chess boxing: since 2010.
- New York Chessboxing Club: since 2010.
- Chess Boxing Organization India: since 2011.
- USA Chessboxing: since 2011.
- Italian Chessboxing Federation: since 2012.
- Iran Chess Boxing Organization: since 2013.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Justus Bender: Royal discipline , In: Die Zeit. No. 39, September 22, 2005, ISSN 0044-2070
- ↑ Anna Gauto: An interview with chess boxer Iepe Rubingh
- ↑ Mark Chandler: Chessboxing
- ↑ WCBO: Press release - Battle of the Cities
- ↑ Andreas Dilschneider: "What was going on, Mr. Dilschneider?" , In: Der Spiegel, 42/2005.
- ^ Berliner Morgenpost: Frank Stoldt - world champion in chess boxing
- ↑ FIDE: Kirsan as a Chessboxer
- ^ Arno Nickel: London beats Berlin
- ↑ Nik Afanasyev: Knockout or Matt
- ↑ Shamik Bag: Chess boxing catching on in India