Chess boxing goes to Germany

Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010

A chess boxing match in Berlin, 2008

Hi Everyone,

• Do you know muscle is not the only thing that can make you win at chess boxing?
• Chess boxing is not as time consuming as regular chess
• Chess boxing is now being taken seriously around the world

And, chess boxing recently returned to Berlin after a world tour as its founder prepares to pass the baton to the next generation.

It actually started in 2003. "It's the competition, it's the fact that you combine physical combat and psychological combat," explained novice chess boxer Jeronimo "the Chief" Barbin, in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

"Boxing is the number one physical sport and chess is the number one psychological sport and to combine both is complete. You are a complete human being."

The idea was conceived by Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, who goes by the stage name The Joker, and was inspired in part by a cartoon depicting a chess boxing match. Developing the rules and format further, Rubingh and the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO) have created a system that fully integrates the two disciplines.

"A chess boxing fight goes over 11 rounds - you have six chess rounds and five boxing rounds," explained Andreas Dilschneider, a chess trainer at the Berlin Chess Boxing Club. "Rounds are alternating, so first you have a chess round of four minutes then you have a boxing round of three minutes and so on."

Here is this nice write-up about chess boxing in Germany. Here are nice videos on World Chess Boxing. You'll love the videos.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com