In a world where combat sports and entertainment collide with hopes of luring in new fans, a hidden gem called chess boxing lurks in the shadows of Bare Knuckle Fighting, Car Jitsu, Slap Fighting, Phone Booth Fighting, Turkish Oil Wrestling, and others.
Chess boxing, which was recently highlighted on 60 minutes, is a hybrid sport that combines chess and boxing in alternating rounds. It was invented in 1992 by French comic book artist Enki Bilal in his graphic novel Froid Équateur and then turned into a real sport in 2003 by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh.
What is chess boxing, and how did it become a sport?
A match consists of 11 alternating rounds: 6 rounds of speed chess (usually 4 minutes per player per round, blitz format) and 5 rounds of boxing (typically 3 minutes each).
Each Chess Boxing match starts and ends with a chess round. The rapid switching between intense physical exertion and deep concentration is what makes it uniquely brutal.
You can win in two ways:
Checkmate or opponent exceeding time limit on the chessboard.Knockout, TKO, or referee stoppage in the boxing ring.
If the match goes the full distance without a decisive result, the boxer with more points in the final chess round (or overall boxing score) wins.
