Chess boxing: the ingenious combination of physicality and intelligence

May 16, 2022 — by Howard Shu
Photo by Howard Shu
It is quite possibly the greatest sport I have ever seen.

What happens when you combine chess and boxing, two one-on-one pursuits that are polar opposites? You get chess-boxing, a frenzied hybrid sport that requires both brain and brawn. This idea of chess boxing first came up in a 1992 comic book by French artist Enki Bilal and grew popular enough to become an official sport designed by a Dutch man named Iepe Rubingh in 2003.

It does not seem that this sport is played professionally anymore, but there are many chess boxing highlights from 2003 to 2015 on YouTube. During the time it was played professionally, matches were held at a variety of venues, including gyms, parks, theaters and arenas.

A match typically consists of 11 rounds, with six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing. Each chess round lasts 4 minutes and each boxing round lasts 3 — opponents alternate between chess and boxing. There is also a 1-minute break between boxing and chess rounds, but no break when transitioning from chess to boxing.

Matches are often decided before all 11 rounds by either knockout in the ring or checkmate on the chess board — boxers can also lose if they run out of time on their chess clock (opponents start out with 12 minutes on the clock, and whenever one competitor makes a move, their clock stops and their opponent’s clock starts ticking down).

If none of these happen in 11 rounds, the boxer with the most points wins. Each boxer is given a score from 0 to 10 each boxing round, and the points are determined solely from the boxing rounds by adding up the scores from each round.

The result of this fusion of chess and boxing is a monster of a hybrid sport in which a player must contemplate the next best chess move after getting punched in the face and kicked in the stomach.

“It’s the combination of the number one thinking sport with the number one fighting sport,” Rubingh said in an ESPN chess boxing mini-documentary. “Ultimately, we’re on the quest for the smartest and toughest men or women on the planet.”

Although there are many ways to measure people’s toughness or intelligence, Rubingh chose quite possibly the most chaotic one of them all through the creation and popularization of chess boxing. 

This sport combines the thrill of watching a boxing match and the suspense of a chess game to form an intense combination of the two that is incredible to watch. There is nothing like watching someone take out their frustration from losing their queen by completely — and legally — beating up their opponent, or seeing people get humiliated on the chess board and put to sleep in the ring in the span of 30 seconds. Chess boxers are rocked both psychologically and physically.

Rubingh is one of the best chess boxers himself, but there is no consensus on who the best chess boxer of all time is. In fact, there was a different world champion almost every year when the sport was being played professionally. Some of the best are Rubingh, Russian Nikolay Sazhin, Dutch Max Euwe and Bulgarian chess FIDE master Tihomir Dovramadjiev.

The commentators in the sport often draw connections between what is happening on the chessboard and the fight, resulting in references to chess in boxing commentary and vice versa.

“It’s time to put away the chess board. Each man now becomes his own fighting pawn as the gloves go on and the ring is cleared for man-to-man battle,” one commentator said during a match in the July 2008 World Chess Boxing Championship in Germany. “Just as they did at the chessboard the two men are being careful, feeling each other out. The first attack comes from Nikolai who crosses with his right hand and catches Frank with a glancing blow to the chin!”

Though the commentary is funny to hear, most of the commentators sound like narrators in a documentary. If WWE commentators announced chess boxing matches instead, the popularity of the sport would surely skyrocket.

I personally would never chess box, but it’s very entertaining to watch and exciting to see who will win when watching the matches. In fact, I would actually like to see more people involved in chess boxing, if they are able to recover from boxing injuries at a quick rate.

For people who love watching MMA fights and are interested in chess, chess boxing is a sport that offers the best of both worlds.

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