What is evident from the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is that humans have a natural curiosity to form unions between two unlikely components. Perhaps this is what Dutch born artist Iepe Rubingh had in mind with his creation of the hybrid sport known as chessboxing.
A chessboxing match in Berlin in 2008
As the name of the sport implies, participants pit both their minds and bodies against one another in a challenge of brains and brawn. The sport was first invented in 2003 by Rubingh. That same year Rubingh founded the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO) and held the world’s first chessboxing world championship in Amsterdam. The final fight came down between Rubingh and fellow fighter Jean Louis Veenstra. Rubingh won the bout due to Veenstra exceeding the chess time limit, effectively making Rubingh the world’s first chessboxing champion.
The rules of the sport are not for the novice in either discipline. According to the official rule book of chessboxing on the WCBO’s website, a bout lasts a total of 11 rounds with alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The fight begins with a round of strictly regulated speed chess. Fighters are required to make their moves under an allotted time or they risk disqualification. The complexity of the rules can be difficult to understand of just the chess rounds alone. Chess clocks are used to keep the bout moving and also keep track of a fighter’s total amount of time used. Both fighters are allotted nine minutes through the entire bout to complete the game of chess but that time is only used while it is their turn. If they exceed that total at any point during the chess game then they become disqualified. After three minutes of boxing the chess clock is stopped and the board is removed from the ring for the beginning of the boxing round.
Before the boxing round begins, fighters are given a one-minute break during which they are allowed to receive boxing advice from their designated coaches. The coaches are not allowed to advise on the game of chess. The boxing part of the bout begins and lasts a total of three minutes, applying all of the same rules of standard boxing. After the three minutes are up both fighters are given another break and the chess game resumes. This process goes on for a maximum of six chess rounds and five boxing rounds.
While never having participated in chessboxing, Director of Counseling Services and avid mixed martial arts fighter and chess enthusiast Tim Morenz can attest to the challenge of both sports separately. “It would probably take some individuals that [three minutes] to recover after a round of boxing,” said Morenz, let alone using that time to play chess. He added, “If someone could do it they would be one bad ‘mama jamma.’”
Fighters can win a bout in multiple ways, including by knockout in boxing and checkmate in chess. The rules as officially stated and regulated by the WCBO also include procedures and policies for every conceivable outcome or dispute of a chessboxing match. These include how to deal with infractions, draws in the game of chess, the rules of boxing and how to declare the winner. A full PDF version of the official rulebook of chessboxing can be found on the WCBO’s website at wcbo.org.