A sport combining athleticism, critical thinking and strategy: this issue, The Ocho is taking on Chess boxing.
Chess boxing is exactly what it sounds like, each game can last up to 11 rounds composed of six rounds of chess and the other five rounds of boxing. Both types of rounds are three minutes each with around 60 seconds in between each round. Much like speed chess, the competitors are given nine minutes each to execute their moves, stopping their time after every move.
Because chess boxing is a combination of two sports, there are many ways to win. A competitor can either win by knocking-out their opponent, technically knocking-out their opponent (referee determines one fighter is not fit to continue), winning by checkmate, having their opponent go over their allotted time limit, or by resignation of their opponent. With so many ways to win a match, there are a plethora of strategies that competitors can implement.
“[The options of victory] are reasonable,” said junior Ron King III. “If you are going to combine the sports, might as well have the option to win in either.”
With both parts of this sport being almost polar opposites, it takes some very special athletes to compete at a high level. One must be able to take blows, throw punches, then quickly change their mentality to think about strategy and opponents’ next moves. The USA Chessboxing website describes them as “Not stereotypical chess players or boxers, but a new generation of athlete that crosses the line of stereotypes between an intellectual and a sportsman.”
Chess boxing has been a growing sport in Eastern-European countries, but many leagues and associations have been popping up in the state. Since 2009, three clubs have been built: LA Chessboxing, New York Chessboxing and USA Chessboxing. With the number of members and clubs growing here in the US, it is only a matter of time before the sport is in the mainstream of American culture. There are talks of establishing an MMA-chess hybrid sport similar to chess boxing. This pairing makes a lot of sense as MMA is also an up-and-coming sport in the US.
“The UFC already has a strong fanbase, I can see them getting into [Chess-MMA],” said King.
There are still some skeptics, not understanding the true genius of the sport that combines two very different sports. Many times in history, the greatest minds are criticized, so it is expected that the sport is receiving some flak.
“It’s counter-intuitive, if two guys are hitting each other and get concussions, then how will they play chess?” said senior Tommy Nguyen.