Chess Boxing - a sport that combines brain and physical strength

Since its inception, Chess boxing, or chess boxing, is gradually becoming an attractive sport in Europe because of the combination of mind and body.

Boxing is a sport that requires a lot of muscle strength, while chess requires players to use all their minds. At first glance, these two sports seem to have nothing in common. However, the ingenious combination between the two sports makes it impossible for anyone who has witnessed it to deny the appeal of this sport that is considered extremely odd.

Chess boxing originated in the 1990s, in the works of cartoonist Enki Bilal and the Finnish film "Uuno Turhapuro". In the early 2000s, Iepe Rubingh, a Dutchman, began organizing the first competitions of this new sport. Towards the end of 2005, the European Championship was held. Then, it was introduced to America, under the name hip-hop chess, and was supported by boxing legend Lennox Lewis.

After many revisions, the rules of boxing chess are now set to take place in a maximum of 11 rounds, with six rounds of chess interspersed with five rounds of boxing. Each boxing round lasts three minutes, with one minute of rest between rounds. When playing chess, each player has a total of nine minutes, playing in blitz style. The winner of a chess boxing competition satisfies one of the following conditions: Checkmate on the chess board, the opponent runs out of time to play chess, knocks out on the boxing ring, or the opponent makes a forbidden move.

After 11 rounds, if there is no knock-out both in the ring and on the chessboard, the referee will count the points to find the winner.

In 2003, about 800 people flocked to Amsterdam, Netherlands, to watch a model competition between Rubingh and a friend. "The match was a disaster. I lost the Queen in the second round of the game," he said.

But that failure did not stop him from pursuing his dream. The Dutchman returned to Germany, where he had lived for the past 10 years, and began looking for fighters who could play chess.

Rubingh knew he couldn't recruit top boxers or chess talent. He sought out low-ranked or amateur gladiators, but had brains and tactics.

One of his first prospects was Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old Berlin riot policeman and an amateur boxer. Stoldt is also a chess enthusiast, often forgetting to sleep to "compete" in online chess matches.

Stoldt began training at Rubingh's boxing and chess center in Berlin. And last November, he won the first world chess and boxing championship competition held in Berlin. However, this month, he lost the "belt" to Sazhin, a 19-year-old Russian man.

Sazhin learned about this new sport while surfing the web. He then tried sending his boxing tapes to Rubingh and playing online chess with Rubingh. Rubingh believes that Sazhin may be the first person in the world of chess fighters who both likes boxers and admires chess masters like Garry Kasparov and Boris Spassky.

And then the first battle came. At a warehouse in Berlin, long after midnight, Sazhin and Stoldt walked onto the ring and sat down at the chessboard. Stoldt moved very quickly to establish a good protective barrier, while Sazhin moved diagonally. Switching to boxing, Sazhin attacked Stoldt with a series of heavy punches that caused the German fighter to lose his strength.

Then back on the board, Stoldt looked distracted, he had left his Queen in a dangerous position. Sazhin seized the opportunity, forcing Stoldt to surrender.

In addition to the title and belt, the champion also receives prize money. However, Rubingh did not reveal how much, because at this time the amount is only symbolic, "not worth much compared to professional matches".

Jonathan Rodriguez - a Spanish athlete who participated in the World Cup of chess and boxing - affirmed that this strange sport is a harmonious combination of muscle and intelligence: "The deeper I get into this sport, the more I know about it." The founder of chess boxing has diligently researched. New players like me, when exercising at high intensity, our minds are always strained. The head is not yet dizzy from the punches, so we have to rack our brains. Think about how to checkmate your opponent. I remember the two times I met Sven Rooch, a German, in 2013 and 2014. Both matches, I lost on the chessboard. Then I realized, in this subject, chess and how important boxing is. During the 11 rounds, my mind was always thinking. When putting on gloves, I was looking for loopholes in my opponent, and when I was sitting at the chess board, I was looking for ways to capture the king.

Chess boxing is an exciting sport. More and more, I see the chess board and the ring as similar, because they both push the limits of the mind to the highest level. It also contributes to destroying stereotypes and prejudices in society. Boxers are not violent men, and chess players are not nerds who wear thick glasses."

As a hybrid sport, chess - boxing is considered a subject with high requirements, athletes must have muscular strength, agility but not lack of intelligence.

In the future, many more professional tournaments will be held and promise to become a delicious spiritual dish for audiences around the world.

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