Chess boxing

Dani and I went to watch the European Heavyweight championship fight for chess boxing last friday.  Yes, chess boxing.  In case you don’t know it, chess boxing combines speed chess with boxing, alternating four minutes of chess with three-minute rounds of boxing.  The winner is determined by checkmate, knockout, the opposition running out of time in the chess (each competitor gets 12 minutes in total) or, in the unlikely event of no result by the end of the sixth and final chess round, by points from the five rounds of boxing.

There were three matches in the evening, but the main event was between these two freakin’ mountains of men (click on the image for the full-sized version.  My apologies for the poor image quality – I forgot the camera and was reduced to using my phone):

Chess boxing at The Dome

As you can see, during the chess rounds the competitors have earphones on (and cotton wool stuffed in their ears) to avoid distraction from the crowd and to allow a commentator to talk about the game.  The old-school board in the background was used because the projector gave up the ghost half-way through the night.

The event got coverage from The Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, although the Times correspondant (or her management?) seems to have been a little caught up with the “glistening muscles.”

We had a great time.  I was amazed at how well the guys were playing in their chess despite being repeatedly pummelled about the head.