Chess-Boxing. Can you call chess a sport and boxing a game?

London – Chess-Boxing. Can you call chess a sport and boxing a game?
 
Chess-Boxing is two of the oldest traditions of attrition combined, one brutally mental and one intelligently physical. It does what it says on the tin as players alternate between firstly a round of chess and a then round of boxing, leaving a knockout or checkmate to decide the victor – whichever comes first.
 
The analogies between the two disciplines are never-ending. First rounds are the preserve of timidly  testing strengths and weaknesses or a full on blitzkrieg assault in both; or as a fork can pressurise the queen leaving a points gain on taking the rook as a feint jab to the head can leave an opportunity for a right hook to the body.
 
Even so the hybrid combination opens up new pastures for control and discipline. With adrenaline pumping and hazy head from a bruising boxing round staying cool on the chess board is key to keeping a foot in the game.
 
This could clearly be seen as Andy “The Rock” Costello, a muscle bound 110 Kg ex-mma fighter with four fights from seven, took on Nikolay “The Siberian Express” Sazhin in March, a trained astrophyscist who in somewhat slimmer shape took the world heavyweight title in 2008. Costello’s brutal left jabs and unimaginative straight rights could not penetrate Sazhin’s well held high guard and comfortable padding. On the chess board the story was different as Sazhin’s higher elo rating of 1911 came into play leaving Costello bereft of pieces and in checkmate by the ninth round.
 
Other fights on the tenth of March showed different more evenly matched temperaments. The rematch of Chris “The General” Levy versus Mike “The Bedfordshire Bull” Bottely played out in a similar manner to their first meeting six months earlier where “The Bulls” diving and ducking in the ring allowed him to stay clear of “The Generals” loaded hanging right fist with victory on the chess board coming in the ninth for “The Bull”.  Biggles Bristol, an up and coming artist, and Max “The Inkman” Brown were both left stinging after wild right and left hooks were sent flying over lowered guards but again the stronger chess gave Bristol victory.
 
Six months earlier and again at the Scala in King’s Cross the London Chess boxing team met the Los Angeles Chess boxing club. In the title card victory went to Hugo Van Mellick, an ex-Merrill Lynch banker turned charity worker – although he gave none to his opponent, Andrew Mcgregor. The bloodied 6’ 8” American’s cornerman threw in the towel after a flurry of punches and strong rights sneaked through a weakly held guard in the fourth. 
 
Chessboxing provides entertainment as well as appealing to the intellectual and blood-thirsty instincts, however the history is mired in controversy. The Germans claim invention in the 90’s and Tim Woolgar, head of the London Chess boxing association, has paraded a photo from the early seventies clearly demonstrating its origins in London. Whoever landed the first punch this is clearly a sport that is finding its feet across the globe.  

Charlie Hayter

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Scritto da Redazione su 16 maggio 2012. Archiviato in Sport. Puoi seguire le risposte a questo articolo tramite RSS 2.0. Puoi lasciare un commento o un trackback a questo articolo