Checkmate or a punch in the face?

Chess boxing alternates four-minute rounds of chess with three-minute rounds of boxing. Photo / Supplied

It's one of the more incongruous sights in sport. Two men, towels draped across bare shoulders, sit in a boxing ring, headphones clamped on, concentrating on a chess board.

After four minutes of such intellectual rigour, they ready themselves to come out and practise what Pierce Egan first called back in 1812 the "sweet science of bruising".

This is the essence of chess boxing, once described as "Rocky with rooks".

There are 11 rounds - six chess and five boxing. To the casual observer, it's probably better to be Muhammad Ali than Garry Kasparov. That's until you realise it is speed chess where, to be comfortable, you need to make a move about every 20 seconds.

Competitors have a maximum of 12 minutes to complete the chess moves during a bout, while the boxing rounds last three minutes. A win is gained either by a checkmate or a knockout; a judge's decision; or if the opponent's 12 minutes expire.

In one world title qualifying bout a few years ago in Europe, Frank Stoldt (a 36-year-old German policeman) and Zoran Mijatovic faced off. It was even until Mijatovic lost his rook to a check then tried to knock Stoldt out. Stoldt held him off and Mijatovic resigned when he saw mate was imminent.

The first official bout in New Zealand could be on November 28 at central Auckland's Ringside Gym as part of promoter Mark Michaels' Fight Night V.

That's when the Les Mills World of Fitness covered carpark is transformed into a little patch of Las Vegas for the night with seats for up to 500.

It's planned that the chess boxing bout will be in an abridged format - three two-minute rounds of each discipline, provided a checkmate or knockout doesn't intervene.

Big screen televisions will be stationed around the ring to give the audience a better perspective on the chess.

Tiered seating will also surround the ring, which Michaels says creates a "hostile, intimate environment".

He's open to new ideas but needs to maintain audience interest for such a novelty event.

"I don't know how to play chess but I just thought it'd be cool to show on the night.

"We're having discussions with the governing body on how to speed it up because we need to draw in the participation of the crowd.

"If it goes too long, they can get bored. But if you've got corporate guests, you've got some pretty intellectual people there, so to have the combination of brains, brawn and skill at the same time would be unique."

Dylan Russell of Ringside Gym featured in New Zealand singer Reb Fountain's music video TAB as a chess boxer.

He is training one of the potential contenders, although they are still yet to sign up to the hybrid fight.

"I'm focusing purely on the boxing training side of things. It's the same training but at least they get a bigger physical rest between rounds by playing chess," said Russell.

The origin of the sport in its current format is understood to extend back to 1992 from a science fiction comic by Yugoslav-born, French cartoonist Enki Bilal. Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh picked up on the concept in 2003 and took out the inaugural world championship later that year in Amsterdam. He is the current president of the World Chess Boxing Organisation.

Rubingh is accustomed to being a proponent for the somewhat odd.

He was once jailed for 10 days after a 'piece' of his work blocked an intersection and created major traffic congestion in downtown Tokyo. He has also been responsible for hanging 10 urinals on a wall in the name of art.

Back at those first world championships, Rubingh identified several comparisons that made the two disciplines a good hybrid.

"If you move the pawn, it's like moving your jab. If you come with the knight, it's like a hook. If you come with the rook, it's a straight right. And if you march in with the queen, it's a knockout."

- HERALD