Yes, it exists, and has been played professionally since 2003. It was conceptualized by lepe Rubingh- a Dutch performance artist and athlete- who may have been motivated by a comic piece written in 1992 which featured a sport event along the same lines. Although, I do wonder whether a 1979 martial arts film – The Mystery of Chessboxing – could be credited with the origins?
The first official competition was held in 2003 and my guess is that not many eyebrows were raised when lepe Rubing won it.
No – it does not involve competitors boxing and simultaneously trying to capture the opponents King piece. While that would be impressive, it’s not that complicated. It includes 11 alternating rounds of chess and boxing (detailed rules here). Now if that doesn’t sweat all your muscles – can’t imagine what will.
Without having played the sport- I’d imagine it must feel like a HIIT workout for the mind and body. You start off with chess and then get you adrenaline and heart rate pumping with boxing. However, four minutes later (one-minute break after each round) you are again forced to calm down and focus on the chess board. On and on it goes for 11 rounds; ending with chess. Unless of course you manage to knockout or checkmate the opponent before that.
Chess boxing has gained traction as a competitive sport and is popular in Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and surprise surprise…. India! Yes, cricket crazy India also has a chess boxing association. But on second thought maybe it’s not that surprising. India has had its share of chess champions – Vishy Anand, Konery Humpy – and Olympian boxers. The current amateur heavy weight world chess boxing champion is also an Indian – Jeet Patel.
I imagine that numerous studies have been carried out to understand how this sport impacts the mind and body. I can see some learning for high performance functioning and conditioning for sports and beyond.
In closing – If I had to pick a fictional character who would have been a champ at chess boxing- I would go with Sherlock Holmes- definitely a no-brainer.