Chess –– a meeting of the minds –– has been mashed up with boxing –– a gathering of the gloves –– to spawn what could be one of the strangest sports ever: chessboxing. The premise: 11 rounds alternating between 4 min. of chess and 3 min. of boxing. In the event of a stalemate, the pugilist with more boxing points wins. If it’s a tie, whoever played the black pieces wins. What, no sudden death round of speed chess?
As the sport grows, it’ll be interesting to chart how and when wins occur. For instance, just last week, the Light-Heavyweight World Championship title was decided in round 7 via checkmate. German Frank Stoldt (aka “ANTI TERROR” – seriously, we can’t make this up) defeated David “Double D” Depto (what a creative name!) –– Queen to G7… booyah! Fun, collective wisdom factoid: though the notion of chessboxing originated in a 1992 French graphic novel called “Equator Cold," the sport didn’t become a reality until 2003. [via funtasticus, image via BBC]
