21-05-2025
The improbable rise of chessboxing
It's 9pm on a sweaty May evening at London's Scala nightclub and Hamza Buhari must knock out his opponent in the next three minutes or lose his king. The 28-year-old pharmacist from London is taking on Lithuania's Tadas Ceponis at chessboxing, a mash-up of two sports, in which competitors win by checkmate on the board or knockout in the ring. The bell ends the third round and Mr Buhari is just a few moves from defeat, forcing him to go for broke with his fists. As Mr Ceponis takes a rain of blows, the referee stops the fight, awarding victory to Mr Buhari.
'He's a much better boxer, I felt that today,' Mr Ceponis tells the baying crowd of around 500 as he embraces his opponent. 'He's a much better chess player,' replies an equally sporting Mr Buhari. Regulars in the crowd say they find watching chessboxing (between men or women) much more fun than either sport alone.
The first chessboxing bout took place in Berlin in 2003, organised by a Dutch performance artist, Iepe Rubingh. Five years later a breakaway British faction got going. Chessboxing's popularity has steadily risen despite this split, helped by a surge in online chess during the covid-19 pandemic and a hit TV show, 'The Queen's Gambit'.
Britain has hosted the most bouts and is home to some 200 regular chessboxers, estimates Gavin Paterson, a promoter. Britain was also first to introduce a grading system, similar to the belts awarded in judo or karate. 'British chessboxing has been much more successful [than its contintenal counterpart] because it took lessons from boxing and wrestling in the way it presents the sport,' says Mr Paterson.
On the Saturday morning before the Scala fight a dozen chessboxers gather at Islington Boxing Club, the British home of chessboxing, to exert both their minds and bodies. Four boards are set up beside a boxing ring. Training consists of rounds of chess alternating with intense exercise or sparring. The challenge comes from attempting a cerebral activity while fighting for breath. A pounding heart, let alone a few punches to the head, can leave you disoriented. The training session features tips like ensuring you take your turn in chess just as the next boxing round begins, so your opponent's clock is running when you return to the board, where some 80% of matches are decided. 'The boxing impacts the chess and vice versa,' Mr Paterson says.
This seems to attract those who want to be seen as Renaissance Men, and to help nerdy types gain confidence. Samy Shoker, an Egyptian grandmaster ranked in the world's top 1,000 active chess players, beat Germany's André Glenzer at the Scala to take the WCBA European middleweight title. Preparing for his chessboxing debut improved his physical condition, says Mr Shoker, a lean 37-year-old who entered the ring wearing a pharaoh headdress.
The fighters risking their big brains in the ring are not doing it for the money. None was on offer at the Scala, in contrast to the €500,000 ($565,000) purse at the Fide World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships, a chess contest due to take place weeks later a few miles away. As one of the volunteers at the Scala event puts it, chessboxing runs on 'pride and idiocy'.
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