Overview Of Chess boxing

Game Rules

Chess Boxing has been in operation since 1992 and is a sport requiring both brain and brawn. Since 1992 the sport has gone global with countries including England, Germany, Netherlands, France, Russia and Japan all embracing the new sport. Players have to be skilled in both boxing and chess to compete at the highest level.

Object Of The Game:

The object of chess boxing is to either beat your opponent in alternate rounds of chess or boxing. Matches can be won from either discipline with the chess coming down to check mate or forfeit and the boxing in either a stoppage or points decision.

Players & Equipment:

Players go head to head in chess boxing and the match starts with a four minute round of chess. The players then go into the ring for a three minute round of boxing before again returning to the chess board. The match consists of 11 rounds in all (6 rounds of chess and 5 rounds of boxing) with 1 minute intervals between rounds.

Each player has boxing gloves which are removed for the chess round. Head phones are given to the players when taking part in chess so not hear advice from the audience. The chess side of the game is played out over a 12 minute clock and is essentially ‘speed chess’. Officials may step in if they believe a player to be stalling in the chess rounds to force them into a move within 10 seconds.

Scoring:

The boxing rounds are scored as per a normal boxing match on points. Unless the chess game has seen a conclusion – and this is very rare in the sport – then the game will go to count back on boxing points. In the event that the boxing is a draw then the win will go to the player playing the black chess pieces.

Winning The Game:

To win you must either gain check mate or receive a withdrawal from the chess game. Alternatively you can knock your opponent out in boxing or win on points to receive the win if the chess is a draw.

Rules of Chess Boxing:

• Players must not deliberately waste time when playing the chess discipline of the game. If the referees deem that they are then a 10 second penalty will be placed.
  
• Players must have an understanding of both boxing and chess disciplines.
  
• Players must have a chess rating of at least 1800 to compete in the sport.
  
• Players can win from either the chess or boxing rounds.
  
• 6 rounds of chess and 5 rounds of boxing will be completed unless the contest is stopped with a winner in a previous round.
  

Equipments Need For Chess boxing

Each player will wear traditional boxing gloves for the fighting rounds (removed for the chess rounds)

Player also use head phones during the chess game so they are unable to hear advice from the audience

History Of Chess boxing

The concept of combining combat and mind sports doesn’t have any one single source, as several fictional works had depicted similar ideas for decades.But it was the work of Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh that brought the game to life.

Chessboxing Family Grows:

Chessboxing first received credit from the international Chess Federation FIDE, in April 2008; its president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, took part in a chessboxing demo fight in Elista.At the same time, the chessboxing community began to grow globally at an even faster rate. In 2008, chessboxing clubs were founded in London and Krasnoyarsk. Created in 2009, the Los Angeles Chessboxing Club was the first of its kind in the United States and was directly followed by the New York Chessboxing Club in 2010. The Boxwerk in Munich also opened in 2010 and offers chessboxing training. In addition to the WCBO’s initially European and then later world championships taking place worldwide, the scene at the London Chessboxing Club grew where chessboxing events take place on a regular basis. In 2011, the first international club matchup took place with Berlin and London in the ring—London came out the winner with 2:1 won bouts.

Chess boxing Timeline:

1992-Rubingh’s idea to create a new sport fusing the two disciplines, chess and boxing, originates from the 1992 comic Froid Équateur—written by French comic book artist Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilalovic)—that portrays a chessboxing world championship.

1993-Kung-Fu movie Mystery of Chessboxing (1979) as well as the Wu-Tang Clan's song "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" (1993).

2003-The first chessboxing competition took place in Berlin in 2003. That same year, the first world championship fight was held in Amsterdam in cooperation with the Dutch Boxing Association as well as the Dutch Chess Federation and under the auspices of the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) that was founded in Berlin shortly before. Dutch middleweight fighters Iepe Rubingh and Jean Louis Veenstra faced each other in the ring. 

2005-The most notable being Berlin, which hosted the first ever European Chess Boxing Championship on October 1, 2005.

2004-The Chess Boxing Club Berlin, created in the following year (2004), that is the first of its kind making Berlin the birthplace of chessboxing.

2008-As the years went on, chess boxing began to gain more attention in the world of chess. In 2008, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov played a friendly match in Elista, while a World Chess Boxing Organization soon appeared to provide oversight and regulation for the new sport.

2005-The first European Chess Boxing Championship took place in Berlin on October 1, 2005

2006- In 2006, more than 800 spectators filled the Gloria Theatre in Cologne for the world championship qualification fight between Zoran Mijatovic and Frank Stoldt.

2007-The 37-year-old Frank Stoldt, former UN-Peacekeeper in Kosovo and Afghanistan, won when his opponent resigned in chess in the 7th round. After qualifying himself to fight for the title in 2006, Frank Stoldt went up against the American David Depto in November 2007 in Berlin, to fight for the first world championship title in the light heavyweight division.

2008-London Chessboxing is a brand under which the sport of chessboxing has been promoted since 2008 in London, United Kingdom. Although the sport has been practiced in London since 1978,the home of Chessboxing in London today is Islington Boxing Club where London Chessboxing host regular training sessions.

The first ever Chessboxing event hosted in the UK under the brand was at Bethnal Green Working Men's club in Hackney by Tim Woolgar on the 15th of August 2008. 

2011-In 2011, the WCBO and with it the global chessboxing community made the biggest leap forward in its development to date with the foundation of the Chessboxing Organisation of India and its expansion in Asia, including also Chessboxing China and the Chessboxing Organisation of Iran which were founded in 2012. 

2012-The third chessboxing organisation in the United States, USA Chessboxing, was founded in 2011 and the European movement was being reinforced by the foundation of the Italian Chessboxing Federation in 2012.

2013- the Chess Boxing Global Marketing CBGM GmbH—called Chess Boxing Global, CBG—was founded, that as of May 2013, is responsible for organising all of the professional chessboxing fights worldwide and above all, for the organisation of the Chess Boxing World Championships.

2015-Chessboxing events in 2015 were produced by London Chessboxing under the WCBA—two events at Scala, Kings Cross in London. The second event in June 2015, The Grandmaster Bash!, saw the British, European and IBF light welterweight world champion Terry Marsh fight and defeat Dymer Agasaryan. Terry Marsh (57) is the first professional boxer to compete in Chessboxing and has competed in 3 fights since June 2014 in London and still remains unbeaten in his career. The fight was one of the most compelling to watch as it went the distance, normal time ending in stalemate. After a deciding round of boxing Terry Marsh was awarded victory on points.

Origin Of Chess boxing

Chessboxing was brought to life by Dutch born Iepe Rubingh in 2003. He was inspired by „Froid Équateur“, a graphic novel written by comic artist and film director Enki Bilal in 1992.

Iepe Rubingh:

Iepe B. T. Rubingh is the founder of chess boxing and a former artist.

Works as an artist:

As a performance artist, Rubingh blocked off intersections in Berlin and Tokyo to create major traffic congestion. He was jailed for 10 days for the Tokyo action.

Chess boxing:

Rubingh founded chess boxing in 2003, drawing inspiration from Enki Bilal's comic book Froid Équateur.He is the current president of the World Chess Boxing Organisation and CEO of Chess Boxing Global, the marketing company for professional chessboxing.

Titles:

1st World Chess Boxing Organization World Middleweight champion (2003 – Current)

1st Chess Boxing Club Berlins International German middleweight champion

First Chessboxing Competition:

In 2003, the worlds first chessboxing fight between Jean Louis Veenstra and Iepe Rubingh was fought in Amsterdam, and was won by Rubingh. The historic event was watched by over one thousand fascinated spectators. Sport had been taken to a new level.

First European Chess Boxing Championship:

Two years after the first world championship, the first European Chess Boxing Championship took place in Berlin on October 1, 2005. Present day chessboxing commentator Andreas Dilschneider was defeated by Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev when he resigned in the 7th round (chess), crowning the latter the first European Chess Boxing Champion.

First International Club:

Rubingh founded the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) and the first ever Chess Boxing Club in Berlin in 2004. From that moment on, chessboxing clubs and associations started appearing all over the world Now in 2015, the WCBO has members in China, India, Iran, Italy, Russia, Germany, Mexico, Turkey and the US.

Chess Boxing in India:

The Chess Boxing Organisation India was founded in 2011 by kickboxing official and former Indian kickboxing and karate champion Montu Das. With this, the growth of chessboxing in Asia gained momentum with the first Chess Boxing Organisation in Western Asia already being built in the following year by another experienced official in the kickboxing world: Fereydoun Pouya started the Chess Boxing Organisation Iran.

Documentary:

The first feature-length documentary about chessboxing is entitled Chessboxing: The King's Discipline. The film follows the development of the sport over a span of 3 years as the promoters in Berlin, London and Los Angeles each attempt to bring their differing visions for the sport to a mainstream audience. At the same time the film explores the various critiques of the sport put forth by members of the chess and boxing communities, while also seeking to understand the potential social impact of a never-before-seen mental/physical sporting combination such as this.The project is completely independent, produced and directed by Canadian filmmaker David Bitton under the banner of his Anonymous Pineapple Productions. A successful kickstarter campaign took place between June 12-July 17, 2013 and raised over US$35k for the production.

Governing Bodies

World Chess Boxing Organisation(WCBO):

The World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) is the governing body of the new sport chess boxing. The WCBO was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Its current president is Iepe Rubingh, founder of the sport.

The WCBO's motto is: 

"Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board".

The principal tasks of the WCBO include: 

Training people in the number one thinking sport and the number one fighting sport and the combination of both; building up a worldwide structure of chess boxing clubs and organisations; promoting chess boxing; and holding championship and promotional fights.

• Currently, there are two organisations that are affiliated to the WBCO:
  
• the Chess Boxing Club Berlin (founded in August 2005)
  
• the Bulgarian Chess Boxing Organisation (founded in October 2005)