Chessboxing - The Sport Of The Future?

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."

Interesting

[gasaraki]

I imagine the competitors would start off great at chess, but get worse and worse at that while their fighting game improves over their career.

Re:Interesting

[gabec]

When I first read the blurb I thought they were talking about Human Chess (a la your favorite Renaissance Festival) where the tokens fight and the winner of the round determines the success of an attack. That'd be pretty sweet. The chessmasters would have to adapt their strategies based on known fighting-skills of their players.

Having the players box would make gameplay anticlimactic... Envision if you will... They're jumping around pounding away at one another jowls flopping, sweat spraying, a grunt of pain as a glove makes contact... the bell rings and... they stop.

They pull off their gloves, whip out their favorite thinking caps and perhaps a calabash pipe [sherlockholmes1.com] spending the next five minutes staring fixedly at the plastic tokens before them.... yeah... that's rousing.

They'd even have to switch announcers just to bring the rousing mood down further. Start off with a classic boxing announcer [wrestlingclassics.com] and end up with a golf-level announcer. *snore*

So...

[TechnoPops]

It's April Fools' Day in the Netherlands, right? :P

How about Debating Box for POTUS ...

[leoaugust]

Personally I would love to see the sport of Debating-Box adopted in the US.

The Presidential Contenders Debate for four minutes and then box for two minutes. They do it till one of them can spin the debate or there is a knockout.

The winner then advances to do the same with the sitting President. Only thing is that to help the sitting president the rules are changed and now there is two minutes of debates and four minutes of boxing.

Re:How about Debating Box for POTUS ...

[roseblood]

And Arnold though getting to Sacramento was going to be the peak of his political career! DC here he comes!

Re:How about Debating Box for POTUS ...

[JavaLord]

erhaps you do not recall the 2000 Election [I know filthy liberal scum like yourself are both trying to forget and still continuing to focus on it], but Gore was absolutely demolished in the debates leading up to the election.

Mod him down all you want, the truth hurts. Gore was highly touted as a master at debate while Bush was labeled as being "simple" but Gore came off poorly against Bush in the '00 debates.

Re:How about Debating Box for POTUS ...

[RevAaron]

The reason he was modded down had little to do with the painful truth. The difference between his post and yours is the difference between something modded as "insightful" and a troll. If you can't see what he said to be labelled a troll... well, then you must be *really* conservative. :)

measured by different standards

[JimmytheGeek]

I thought Bush was a complete nitwit - and he was.
"Fuzzy math! Fuzzy math! (My coaches prep'd me endlessly for this one! Oh! Oh! Call on me, teacher!)"

And the thing is, the equation was equivalent to 1-1 != 2. How was that fuzzy? If you divert Social Security receipts to private investment accounts, where do the current payments for existing retirees come from?

Either an idiot, or a liar.

But that's not how the debate was evaluated. So the spin - "Bush didn't soil himself" ==> "Bush held his own in d

2003 not 2000 Re:How about Debating Bo

[leoaugust]

When I wrote about giving the Sitting President 2 minutes for Debating and 4 minutes for boxing, I wasn't referring to the 2000 Debates. What I meant was current and

From the NY Times [nytimes.com]

As he enters the final year of President Bush's current term in office, while refusing to address the question of whether he would serve during a second term, Mr. Powell says, however, that

he is more determined than ever to counter the perception that diplomacy in general - and his own role in particular - have been marg

Mediocrity, or supermen?

[c.emmertfoster]

I figure that this will attract mostly people who are moderatly good at both, considering how little it really adds, and I can't imagine what kind of person would enjoy watching it. It's not exactly recognized as an olympic sport, either.

'Iepe the Joker' is somewhat proficient at both boxing and chess? So what? I bet I could beat him at writing web-code, and playing Starcraft. We could call it "DHTMLStarcraft: the sport of the future!"

I doubt it. The real sport of the future will involve people in giant robots beating the shit out of each other.

Enki Bilal

[Rxke]

European 'bande-dessine' (comic, strip...) author Enki Bilal used this in his works *years* ago... But I can't remember any title...

Re:Enki Bilal

[Anonymous Coward]

here it is : "froid equateur" (1992)
http://bilal.enki.free.fr/bibliographie.ph p3?trier _par=date

AND, Enki Bilal IS famous and well-known etc...

Re:Enki Bilal

[Rxke]

That's the one i meant... Yes Bilal is a Great artist... Very personal style... Great atmosphere...

Those chess machines

[Anonymous Coward]

So how long before a computer beats a human at this?

Re:Those chess machines

[bmnc]

A long time since computers arent very good at boxing.

I imagine when ppl begin to manipulate the rules a match will go something like this:

Heavy Weight Boxer: So I have 12 minutes on the chess clock right?

Chess Player: Yes. I will kick you ass in 20 moves.

HWB: Great, I'll make one move then. This will ensure 3 rounds of boxing with you at 2 minutes each.

CP: Ummmmm... Shit!

Re:Those chess machines

[devnull17]

I'm not sure. When does Skynet become self-aware again?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Chess Around the House

[RevAaron]

Now that sounds interesting. I was wondering why "chess boxing" would be of any note considering there is no integration at all. You could take any two random activities and smash them together but avoiding creating anything new- Masturbation Hop-Scotch, Nose-picking Line-dancing, etc. Big deal.

Whereas this "chess around the house" sounds like a clever and fun idea. If I liked running or played chess I'd totally try this, to put an extra edge on my matches.

Re:Chess Around the House

[Unoti]

Hey, it worked for porn-surfing/Everquest!

Re:Chess Around the House

[Quikah]

No meaningful connection between the activities? I would think getting punch in the head repeatedly would have a dramatic effect on your chess game.

chessboxing II: physics, too

[eyenot]

i like it, alternately i would set up a huge board with (very staminated,) human chess pieces. in order for a taking move to be successful, the pieces would have to put up their dukes in order to prove their position. alternately they could convince the other piece to battle them in a debate over physics until one cedes the point. this is stupendous!!! (i give it three exclamation points. but you noticed that. but, i digress.)

Still a Joke

[Chasuk]

Sure, it sounds like a joke, but an actual match was held not too long ago

Because an "actual" match was held, it can't be a joke?

Re:Chessboxing....

[NihilSmurf]

The game of chess is like a swordfight
you must think first before you move.

In the front, in the back, killer bees on attack!

Re:Chessboxing....

[the Man in Black]

I'm so glad I'm not the only /.-er to think Wu-Tang whenever I hear Chessboxing [ohhla.com].

The game of chess, is like a swordfight
You must think first, before you move

Harry Harrison

[amcguinn]

I seem to remember "Planet of the Damned" by Harry Harrison started with a kind of "decatholon" involving weightlifting, running, poetry composition and chess, among other events. It took place on a planet that was ice-bound for most of the year and had a brief summer when everyone went wild, or something like that.

Re:Harry Harrison

[hublan]

Bit like Canada, as I'm finding out.

hmmmm..

[Millbuddah]

I couldn't help but think this has got to be a joke upon first reading the article... All I've gotta say is this cannot end well.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Too weighted towards boxing

[Dr. Spork]

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...

Re:Too weighted towards boxing

[Anonymous Coward]

a heavyweight boxer might be able to avoid losing in chess for four minutes, but a chess master may be able to keep from being KO'd in two minutes, if he's quick enough. Tyson certainly could beat the hell out of boxers who wanted to beat the hell out of him, but if someone was just simply avoiding him, could it last for two minutes? that's the real question.

that said, I like the "Predator/Prey" role reversal idea in this game, but the game itself is recockulated.

Re:Too weighted towards boxing

[DigitumDei]

I'd assume they still have weight divisions in this. Would be pretty unbalanced if the 100kg chess player gets to beat the crap out of the 70kg chess player.

Re:Too weighted towards boxing

[Dr. Spork]

Tyson certainly could beat the hell out of boxers who wanted to beat the hell out of him, but if someone was just simply avoiding him, could it last for two minutes? that's the real question.

Funny picture! It wouldn't look much like boxing then, would it? It would be a lot of ducking and running. Really, a great recipe for a spectator sport.

Re:Too weighted towards boxing

[default luser]

Running away would be a sign you are unable to defend yourself.

In most boxing matches, if you do not defend yourself, the rules state the referee must stop the fight.

This rule is really intended to save boxers who are too tired / beat up to keep their arms up, but are too thickheaded and determined to fall to the mat. But it also can apply to fighters making a mockery of the match, so no boxing stance, no win.

Re:Too weighted towards boxing

[visgoth]

There might be some profound lesson in that observation...

"Let the wookie win", mayhaps?

Hmmm...

[77Punker]

I'll have to try this at my next chess club meeting at school!

Re:Hmmm...

[Funky Jester]

the first rule of chess club is:

1. you don't talk about chess club!

Re:Hmmm...

[77Punker]

I started my school's chess club; I make the rules. :-)

What about Go ?

[Thinkit3]

Hey, has Go been brought up in this article on Chess yet?

Re:What about Go ?

[AnyNoMouse]

So, every time you have a Ko fight, you fight for a KO? Ouch... ^_^;;

Chessboxing? Been there

[bluethundr]

My getting beat up on the way home from Chess club was a rather regular occurance. It wasn't regulation boxing, mind you. More like "Wrestling Team/Football Team/Baseball Team vs Chess Team". But I remember these "events" being on the bill nearly every week!

american action movie

[Hubert_Shrump]

can we just get done with the whole sitting thing and have something blow up?!

i can imagine most modern theatre would be improved by sporadic fisticuffs...

and art museums.

This reminds me of a contest

[TerryAtWork]

I invented some years ago.

It was designed to eliminate people in widely contrasting contests of mind and body - for example the first one was a marathon. the top half of competitors would move on a tournament in say, some lesser board game like checkers.

Then the top half them run 100 meters - the top half of that play another game etc.

In the end the top 16 play a chess tournament then the top 8 chess players run 5 miles then the top 4 5-milers play Go and the best two Go players fight it out in a Ultimate Fighting championship sort of thing (but this was some years before UF)

Who knows - this could catch on!

OT: obligatory wu-tang reference

[diesel_jackass]

ooo
aaa
ooo
aaa

raw i'm a give it to ya
with no trivia
raw like cocaine straight from bolivia

(sorry, it just popped in my head when i read the headline. there's gotta be some other wu fans on /.)

Right out of Hogwarts

[thirty2bit]

I couldn't help but think of this Harry Potter dialogue:

Hermione: That's totally barbaric!
Ron: That's Wizard's chess!

This is a FREE-FOR-ALL

[ziggy_zero]

Did anyone else see the "more pictures of the championship"? They also had a RAP BATTLE, I assume in Dutch?

Chess-Boxing and Dutch rap battles at the same time.....my mind is officially blown.