The intense sport of boxing, combined with the classic board game, Chess, introducing: Chess Boxing! To defeat one’s opponent, one must be well-versed in the arts of chess and boxing. This fierce activity tests both the body and the mind.

This exciting game is relatively simple. The main objective is to either beat the opponent in alternate rounds of chess or boxing. Matches can be won by checkmate during the chess portion, forfeit, stoppage, or points decision in boxing. The match consists of 11 rounds (six chess and five boxing rounds) and a one-minute interval between rounds. The game begins with a four-minute round of chess, then the players go into the ring for a three-minute round of boxing before returning to the chessboard.

During the chess section, each player will remove their boxing gloves and be given headphones to block out potential advice from the audience. This speed chess is played out over a 12-minute clock. Officials may step in if they believe the players did not make a move within 10 seconds. The boxing rounds are scored as normal boxing matches in terms of points.

Chess Boxing has existed since 1992 and remains functional even today. The sport was initially popularized in Berlin and the first official tournament was held in 2003. As time passes, Chess Boxing has only skyrocketed in popularity. The sport has gone global including countries such as England, Russia, and Japan all competing in the many tournaments that have been held since then. Along with this, in 2013, an official World Chess Boxing Association otherwise known as the WCAB had also been established.

Chess Boxing, unlike a lot of other sports, requires both physical strength and intelligence. As a result, the sport begs for its players to be both strong enough to hold themselves in the boxing ring, while also being able to outsmart their opponent on a Chess board. The larger appeal of the sport is that crossover between the two unlikely audiences. While the boxing part of Chess Boxing may attract long-time fans of the initial sport, the chess twist of it all can also potentially draw in an intellectual crowd that otherwise wouldn’t have considered watching boxing at all.

Many people who are involved in the overall Chess boxing community exclaimed what they thought was the appeal of the sport.

Denno Probst, the coach for the German chessboxing team expressed in the Daily Mail that, “You can either win by checkmate or by knockout. It means you can’t just rely on one strength. Being good at one doesn’t mean being good at both.”

Probst also goes on to add to his previous statement stating, “You can’t just be a nerd and you can’t just be a fighter, it’s all about concentration.”

Another active community member, Julianna Baron, the current European champion also exclaimed in the Daily Mail about the untapped potential of Chess boxing’s audience.

“It’s a growing sport and the demographic is changing all the time, at the beginning it was mostly seen as a funny and weird sport,” Baron told the Daily Mail. “But now it’s more serious. After all, who is going to be crazy enough to get in the ring if you only do chess and vice versa just boxing?”

The Los Angeles Chessboxing Club classes are taught by World champ, Andrew Gregor. The club also offers other classes including kickboxing, wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu.