Tyson v Michael Spinks for the heavyweight championship of the world, June 27, 1988. Tyson knocked out Spinks in 91 seconds into the first round. Often referred to as “the baddest man on the planet,” Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 in the first round.
An uncanny relationship seems to be taking shape, albeit slowly, between chess and boxing. Hailed over time as “the sweet science,” boxing was regarded primarily as a sport of brawn, with a few exceptions. Now that has changed, and is changing further. Chess boxing has arrived, and if you are as confused as I am, you are in good company. What is chess boxing?
It is a hybrid sport which combines the sport of boxing with games of chess in alternating rounds. Chess boxing is gaining popularity in Europe where actual matches are being organized. To qualify for participation one has to be a skilled chess player and a skilled boxer. A match between two opponents consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of boxing and chess, beginning with a four-minute chess round followed by three minutes of boxing and alternating thereafter. Between rounds there is a one-minute pause, during which competitors change their gear.
Every aspect of chess boxing gets more intriguing as we go along, but this is how the sport is played. It is governed by the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO), whose motto is “Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board.” Last year, the President of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, played a friendly chess boxing match in Elista. Clubs have been springing up across Europe and are affiliating themselves to the WCBO. In a game that was publicized, a player was four moves away from checkmating his opponent but was knocked out in the ring before he could do so.
Last year, a 19-year-old Russian mathematics student Nikolai Sazhin won the title of ‘World Champion’ in chess boxing by defeating Frank Stoldt. Stoldt resigned in the fifth round following the loss of his Queen over the chess board. World class chess boxers are not just good boxers , but are skilled chess players as well. Sazhin has an ELO rating of around 1900 while European chess boxing champion Tihomir Dovramadjiev is a FIDE Master with a rating of over 2300 and he has won multiple chess competitions.
One wonders if this hybrid sport would ever become popular in the West, or of perhaps it could influence the practice of conventional chess. We don’t know for sure, but if it catches on, only the young and strong would survive.
The Guyana Chess Federation, in association with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, is preparing to host the National Schools’ Championships on Saturday and Sunday December 12-13 at the Carifesta Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue. Over one hundred chess players from schools across Guyana are expected to participate. There will be a team tournament and an individual category. A team consists of four players from each school. Some schools will be allowed to field two teams owing to the number of players who are actively pursuing the game in the school. Mackenzie High for example, will be fielding two teams as well as West Demerara Secondary. Schools that cannot field a team will be allowed to participate in the individual category.
So far the response to the championships has been good . A fair number of schools have already confirmed their participation. On Saturday, December 12 also, the Federation will have its Fun Day and Chess Fair on the grounds of the Carifesta Sports Complex starting from 3 pm. Tickets are $200 each with children under six free, and can be purchased at the Kei-Shar’s Gift Shop at Camp and Hadfield Streets.
Carlsen v Anand
Norway’s teenage grandmaster Magnus Carlsen won the World Blitz Championship recently in Moscow. The event was a 22-player double round robin event with a total of 42 rounds and a time control of three minutes per game with a two second increment per move.
Carlsen, M (2801) – Anand, V (2788)
World Blitz Moscow RUS (17), 17.11.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.a3 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.e3 c5 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.Qc2 h6 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.0-0 c4 14.Be2 Be6 15.Rfd1 Qb6 16.Rab1 Rac8 17.h3 Bf6 18.b3 c3 19.b4 Rfd8 20.b5 Ne7 21.Nd4 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Nf5 23.Rd3 d4 24.g4 Ne7 25.exd4 Nd5 26.Bg3 f6 27.Bf3 Qa5 28.Rb3 Bf7 29.Be4 Qa4 30.Rf3 Qa5 31.Kh2 Rc4 32.Rd3 Qa4 33.h4 Rxd4 34.Rxd4 Qxd4 35.Rb1 Re8 36.Bf3 Qc5 37.Qd3 Nb6 38.Rc1 Na4 39.Bc6 Rc8 40.Qd7 Rf8 41.Qd6 Qxd6 42.Bxd6 Rd8 43.Bb4 Rd3 44.b6 Nxb6 45.Rxc3 Rxc3 46.Bxc3 Bd5 47.Bb5 Bc4 48.Bc6 Bd5 49.Bxd5+ Nxd5 50.Bd4 a6 51.Kg3 Kf7 52.Kf3 g6 53.Ke4 Ke6 54.Kd3 f5 55.gxf5+ Kxf5 56.Kc4 Nf4 57.Kb4 Ng2 58.Ka5 Nxh4 59.Kxa6? Nf3 60.Bb6
With only his increment time remaining, Anand makes an error. 60…Nd2? 61.a4 Nc4?? 62.Kb5 Nd6+ 63.Kc6 Nc4 64.Kc5 Nd2 65.Kd5 Nb3 66.Kc4 Nd2+ 67.Kb4 h5 68.a5 Ke6 69.a6 Black resigns! 1-0.
