New sport of chessboxing spreads in Germany

A new “sport” that combines boxing with chess is catching on in Germany.

Contestants combine time at the board with rounds in the ring and one recent bout drew an audience of more than 1,000.

“It’s the No. 1 thinking game and the No. 1 fighting game,” said Iepe Rubingh, the sport’s 32-year-old founder.

Rubingh’s chessboxing comes complete with a custom-made electronic chessboard that lets spectators watch the action projected onto a pair of large ringside screens.

In 2003, some 800 people turned out in Amsterdam to watch an exhibition match between Rubingh and a friend. “It was a catastrophe. I lost my queen in the second round of chess,” he said.

But the loss did not stop him from pursuing his dream.

The Dutchman returned to Berlin, where he has lived for a decade, and set out to find tough fighters who could also play a good game of chess.

Germany has emerged as a major boxing centre attracting top talent from Eastern Europe. Most of the world’s top heavyweight fighters are natives of Russia and Ukraine, and many train in Hamburg.

“With a certain level of practice, people can play chess during a chessboxing match almost at their normal level,” Rubingh said.

One of his first prospects was Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old Berlin riot policeman and amateur kick boxer. Stoldt was also an obsessive chess player.

“Both disciplines are aggressive,” Stoldt said of his attraction to the sport.

He started training at Rubingh’s chessboxing gym in Berlin’s Mitte district. In November, he won the sport’s first world championship in Berlin.

The sport combines five rounds of pugilism with a 24-minute game of chess.

The match starts at the chessboard. Each player has a total of 12 minutes in which to beat his opponent. During a player’s turn, the clock is running. When he completes a move he stops his clock, and his opponent’s clock starts ticking.

When the contestants have played four minutes of chess between them, the board game is suspended and they put on their gloves. The boxing is in three-minute rounds.

After each boxing round contestants have a one-minute rest before returning to the chessboard.

The contest can last as long as five boxing rounds and six chess rounds.

There are several ways to win.

By boxing, a contestant can knock his opponent out or win by a referee decision if the chess ends in stalemate.

In chess, a contestant can win through check mate, by forcing his opponent to forfeit the match, or if his opponent’s 12-minute chess clock runs out.