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Chessboxing - The Sport Of The Future?

Posted by simoniker on from the alternates-not-allowed dept.

eval writes "According to the Chessbase website, the new sport of chessboxing has been devised 'to combine the No.1 thinking sport and the No.1 fighting sport into a hybrid that demands the most of its competitors.' Sure, it sounds like a joke, but an actual match was held not too long ago at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, which 'was packed with around 800 people' to see the world champion, 'Iepe the Joker' crowned."

2 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. Chess Around the House by Tal+Cohen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A much better alternative is "Chess Around the House", played by Alan Turing and friends over 50 years ago. It was described in GEB and elsewhere.

    The idea is simple: make a chess move, start running a (cyclic) track. Your opponent has to make a move before you return. The faster you run, the less time your opponent has. So unlike chessboxing, there's a real, meaningful connection between the two activities. It requires good stamina, chess skills, and some thinking ahead, too (if I sprint now, he'll have less time for this move, but I'll be very tired for the next run and he'll have more time then; etc.)

    Very enjoyable!

    --
    - Tal Cohen
  2. Too weighted towards boxing by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Suppose (per impossible) that this sport made it big, with large amounts of prize money. Well, then it would essentially turn into straight boxing.

    I read the rules, and though you begin with chess, it goes only four minutes, and then it's a round of boxing. Even Mike Tyson could learn to not lose a chess game in four minutes (by stalling or whatever). And then, seriously, who can go a whole round against a top-rated heavyweight boxer? Only another top-rated heavyweight boxer. (In his prime, Tyson would regularly KO the second-best boxer in the world in the first round. What chess players would have a chance?)

    When you think of it, any intellectual activity/boxing hybrid will most likely be decided in the boxing segment. There might be some profound lesson in that observation...