Bitoon writes: "October 31st, 2013 marked 3 years since I went on my first filming trip to Europe and this whole chessboxing documentary adventure began for me. (It also marked 3 years and two months since I got mugged on the street and had all of the camera equipment I needed for the shoot stolen from me, but that’s a story for another blog).
"Hitting that milestone is making me a little reflective, so thanks to London Chessboxing for giving me some space to get all nostalgic n’ stuff.
Caught on camera: Guerilla film-maker David Bitton in typical pose
"Going into that first shoot, I had made a conscious decision not to put myself in the film, which was a common trend in documentary made popular by Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock. I felt this would be the wrong way to go for this film, not only because I had no interest in being in front of the camera, but also to help differentiate it from the many news reports that had been done on chessboxing, in which a smug reporter would come to a chessboxing event to make light of the “Crazy people doing silly things.”
Bitoon says, "Having been attracted to the idea of chessboxing myself, I felt a kinship with those “crazy people,” which is why as a filmmaker I was much more interested in getting to know them, in the hopes of understanding why they care about it so passionately. The best way to do that was to let them tell their own story, rather than be a presence in the film myself."
Bitoon, "The big risk with that kind of documentary is that being fully reliant on the subjects to tell the story it can take years to shoot, and at the end of it there’s no guarantee that there will even be an interesting story to tell. Just because I’ve decided to make a documentary doesn’t mean that anything significant would happen, but chessboxing fascinated me and I was preparing myself to be in this for the long haul."
"Little did I know, the chessboxing world was about to catch fire when I came along – as a director, all I had to do was to recognize the story that was forming and then be in the right place at the right time with cameras rolling to capture it. Being based in Canada, thousands of kilometers from the nearest chessboxing club didn’t make that job particularly easy, but three years later I’ve managed to document a story that has all the dramatic ups and downs of a scripted Hollywood film, told from the point of view of the people who care about this sport the most and who are fascinating characters in their own right."
"Or at least that’s what it will be once I’ve finished editing it. Right now it’s just a shapeless mass of footage – 256 hours worth at last count. Cutting that story together and bringing it down to 90 minutes will be no small task, but thanks to everyone who supported the Kickstarter campaign last July that raised over $35k for the project, I’m now able to finish up the last bits of shooting and get that editing work underway."
Bitoon says, 'Big thanks to everyone who helped me get this far, and to the chessboxing community and fans for being patient. I promise that in the end, it’ll be worth the wait."
Time to get to work, signs of David
To keep up with the progress of Chessboxing: The King’s Discipline, you can follow David on Twitter @PineappleProds, Like the project’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ChessboxingTKD or sign up for the newsletter on his website: www.anonymouspineapple.com
Chess Boxing Features in 'Photo of the Day' Pick on Russia & India Report News Website
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
There is a very special bond that India and Russia share which includes chess! Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has said that he was greatly influenced by the Russian system of chess, and recently, even praised Russian chess in the McKinsey Essay. So, we were happy to find this 'Photo of the Day' in the Russia & India Report news website today! Happy chess surprise!
Nikolay Sazhin (L) of Russia competes against Italy's Gianluca Sirci during their heavyweight World Championship chessboxing match in Moscow November 28, 2013. Chessboxing alternates between a round of chess and a round of boxing in three minute intervals, and demands the most of its competitors, both mentally and physically. Picture taken November 28, 2013. Source: Reuters
Latest BBC Chess Boxing Video with Christian Parkinson
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Chess boxing is a hybrid sport combining the mental workout of chess with the physical challenge of boxing. Opponents play a four-minute round of blitz chess, followed by a three-minute round in the ring, alternating between the disciplines until one player is checkmated, or knocked out. In the latest installment of the BBC's Live the Story series, Christian Parkinson visited a North London chess boxing club to test his mettle in the ring - and on the board.
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
A man sits dazed in a chair at the centre of a boxing ring at London’s Royal Albert Hall, staring over a chessboard that is slanting away from him.
In his hand, wrapped for the fight he is also losing, is a pawn. Sweat gathers around his noise-cancelling headphones, which are blasting classical music so he can’t hear the announcer, a chess Grandmaster, prognosticating his impending defeat.
The pawn is buying time, precious seconds to recover before a blonde ring girl in a black one-piece signals the next round — boxing, this time.
Across from him is Sean Mooney, a man who’s been to the peak of Everest and back, a Cornell University product who failed to catch on in Major League Soccer but completed a triathlon with two weeks’ training on a bet.
He’s also Canada’s first chessboxer, about to win in his debut.
Bachelorhood in Britain has its perks, but on a Friday night in London, Mooney is far away from those temptations.
He’s training for a sport he’s punch-drunk in love with: Chessboxing. It’s exactly what it sounds like, alternating rounds of chess and boxing. Winners are decided by knockout, checkmate or if they run out of their allotted chess time. Six four-minute segments of chess and five three-minute boxing rounds make up a fight.
To train, Mooney, now 28, spent his Friday and Saturday nights in the 12 weeks leading up to the October bout taking chess lessons in the unlikeliest of places — a dingy gym with the sole purpose of training men to induce pain, especially to the head.
Chessboxing requires brawn and brains. One fighter is in Mensa.
“It’s kind of like people trying to break stereotypes,” Mooney says in a late-night phone interview from his London home. “It’s nerds trying to get back at the bullies who beat them up, and jocks trying to discard the dumb jock myth.”
On the sidelines with his omnipresent camera is Toronto filmmaker David Bitton, hard at work on Chessboxing: The King’s Discipline.
Since 2009, he’s been to the major hotspots of the sport: London, Berlin and Los Angeles. He has chronicled the sport’s growing pains, with distinct factions debating every element including whether chessboxing should be one word or two.
“Whenever I tell anyone about chessboxing, that’s never the end of the conversation,” Mooney says. “Everyone’s instantly like, ‘What is that? Tell me more, I need to know.’ . . . (It) locks people in instantly.”
That might be an overstatement. First impressions often tend to be along the lines of: “You’re not serious, are you?”
“You can see they’re really desperately trying not to smile because they don’t want to offend me,” said Andy Costello, a 220-pound mixed martial arts fighter who was “outed” as a chessboxer in front of Quinton (Rampage) Jackson.
Rampage didn’t poke fun. In fact, he also likes chess, Costello says. The same goes for boxing giants Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao.
Costello’s son is another story: “He calls me a chessboxing clown.”
“As far as I’m concerned, (chessboxing) has two identities. . . . It’s a really legitimate attempt to test brains and brawn. At the same time, it’s so much fun to watch.”
The London club that hosted the October fight between Mooney and pawn-wielding Bryan Woon is trying to make a go of it. Other clubs, notably in Berlin, are more strict about enforcing rules that limit the field. Costello knows few fighters who meet the World Chess Boxing Organization’s listed requirements: at least 20 amateur bouts and a chess rating of 1,800.
This is, after all, a sport inspired by a 1992 graphic novel (Enki Bilal’s Froid Equateur), with the first fight held in 2003 in Amsterdam. More than a few beers were served the night the WCBO was formed.
David Depto, the only Mensa-certified fighter to throw his mug in the ring, says athletes are still learning the rhythm of chessboxing. The key, he says, is treating each boxing round like it’s the last. Wearing opponents down doesn’t work when there’s nearly six minutes of recovery time between rounds. He also tries to be the one to make the last chess move to buy time while his opponent waits, adrenaline pumping.
Bitton, meanwhile, has had a front-row seat. “It’s the genesis of something new, which is exciting,” says the filmmaker, who will soon edit his documentary after raising $35,000 on Kickstarter.
Clubs are starting to pop up in China, and India recently held a tournament with 180 competitors. Costello says he’ll fight again, and Mooney has signed on for another bout in London, likely in the spring. The future of the sport is unknown. For now, chessboxing is buying time, pawn in hand. (Article by Jeff Green)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here's an interesting chess boxing video from Paris to light up your Sunday. The match took place between Leonid “Granit” Chernobaev and Frank “Anti-Terror” Stoldt on February 1 at the Gallery Artcurial, Champs-Elysées, Paris. The live commentary was by Grandmaster Jean-Luc Chabanon with the recording by Chess & Strategy. A nice report is there in newspaper L’Equipe.
London Nightclub Video: Choose Chess, Boxing or Sexy Hula Hoop Swinging!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
A few clips from a Saturday night at the Scala nightclub and London's Chess Boxing scene. The video is by the very talented Macauley Peterson. After the sexy hula hoop-swinging, the chess starts about 1:38 minutes!
New Chess Craze: Folks It's Chess Boxing! Would You Try it?
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
Now chess boxing seems to be really catching up. In fact, even Al Jazeera has a nice video report on chess boxing in London. It is being viewed as the ultimate test of both mental and physical strength - amongst humans that is ;) Al Jazeera's Jessica Baldwin reports from London's Royal Albert Hall: Audiences are growing and organisers are predicting a new craze!
Do you really think you could try chess boxing? Or, just want to stick to chess?
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
CBS News has a nice chess news story from London. It is about chess boxing. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips took a closer look at chess boxing with a fine report.
"It involves 34 men, 64 squares and one ring -- and you have to see it to believe it." On one side of the ring, there's Andy "The Rock" Costello. You wouldn't want to be his punching bag.
On the other side of the ring, there's Nikolai "The Siberian Express" Sazhin, who never met a blini he didn't like. They're both a new kind of fighter.
They don't just try to knock each others' brains out: They also use what's left of their brains. The two men will battle it out over the chess board, wearing headphones so they can't hear the crowd shouting moves. Then they'll box each other in the ring.
Chessboxing is 11 alternate rounds. It's three minutes of chess, followed by three minutes of boxing. You can either win by a knock out or by checkmate, which ever comes first.
"I think the contrast of seeing two people playing chess and then hitting each other, either of them in isolation wouldn't be comedic," Costello said. "But when they're alternated it is (pretty funny)."
However, he stated it isn't funny when you're the one fighting. Costello is a 6-foot, two-inch, 210-pound former cop. He was also a child chess prodigy who played for his English county at the age of 10. Chessboxing is the sport he's been waiting for all his life.
"It's more fun if you're kind of doing the pounding," he said. "But there's no guarantee of that ... The pounder undoubtedly has more fun than the poundee."
The other fighter, Sazhin, is now a real estate agent in his native Siberia. He was on the Russian youth boxing team as a teenager. He's been playing chess for 10 years. Costello and Sazhin were the headline bout on this card that drew an overflow crowd to this London venue.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We found this nice story about chess boxing coming to America.
Standing eight, or is it checkmate? Article by: SCOOBY AXSON , Columbia News Service
The unique European sport of chessboxing, which combines the cerebral board game with bouts of punching, is looking to score a foothold in the United States.
Pick your poison: If you had a choice of how you lost a competitive game or sport, how would you prefer to get your brains bashed in? Literally or figuratively?
Mostly an overseas phenomenon, the cult sport of chessboxing is making its way to the United States. Matches start with two opponents seated at a table in the middle of a boxing ring, leaning over a chess board, dressed to fight, but without their gloves. After a four-minute round of chess, the table is removed, the opponents put on gloves and fight for three minutes. After that, it's back to chess, up to 11 rounds. There is a one-minute break between sports to allow the opponents to change gear.
"For me, getting punched really focuses the chess. It's like doing math at the end of a gun," says Los Angeles Chessboxing Club founder Andrew McGregor. "You have to find a solution to what's on the board."
McGregor, 32, estimates that it takes about nine months of training to become a competent and successful chessboxer, and that the sport helps to sharpen survival skills and build a strong mental focus. He says he is the North American champ, although he admits there is no functioning regulatory body or commission that awards championships. Since its inception in January 2010, the L.A. Chessboxing Club and its members have wanted to create commercial appeal, with the hope that they can eventually offer prize money to combatants.
Chessboxing's roots trace back to 2003 in Germany, although the idea came from a French novel, "Froid Equateur" ("Cold Equator"). The book chronicled a chessboxing match that lasted more than four hours, inspiring the creation of the World Chess Boxing Organisation, based in Berlin, and created buzz after being featured on ESPN in 2006.
Matches are won during the chess portion by checkmate, exceeding the 12-minute chess time limit, or retirement of an opponent. Once opponents are back on their feet, a knockout or a referee's decision determines the winner. If the chess game ends in a stalemate, the opponent with the higher score in boxing wins. If there is an equal score, the chess opponent playing black wins.
"The adrenaline and sometimes the receiving of a heavy blow to the head means that you'll have to calm and re-center yourself a bit first before beginning the chess again," says Peter VanCouvering, 25, who works as a chemist when he isn't chessboxing.
Competitors are placed into light, middle and heavyweight divisions, but because there are so few chessboxers, fighters are sometimes mismatched in weight.
"It's also imperative that people with similar experience on the boxing side compete for safety's sake, as you don't want a mismatch from pugilistic experience because that drastically increases the risk of serious injury in the ring," says McGregor, whose ring nickname is the Fightin' Philanthropist.
McGregor is a photojournalist, owner of a nonprofit organization called the Tiziano Project, stands 6 foot 9 and weighs around 285 pounds. He says he spends most of his free time scouring the boardwalks, gyms and chess parks of Southern California looking for people willing to learn a new game.
He finds promoting the sport difficult because it's hard to find people with an interest in both activities. But he says that while chessboxing might not be universally known, it can become addictive for those who try it.
One contest was staged at a Venice, Calif., art gallery to raise money for his nonprofit, with the audience dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos. But not all matches are held in such luxurious circumstances. Matches have also been held in movie theaters and in a barren room with a concrete floor and walls, with about 100 half-drunk spectators.
VanCouvering is an experienced competitive chess player, but before his first chessboxing match he says he only had two or three hours of boxing training. His first opponent had at least 10 years of martial-arts experience. During the match, VanCouvering, who says he had a 40-pound advantage, dropped his opponent with a left hook to the kidney. But it was his chess skills that prevailed.
"My opponent had some chess experience and had good instincts, but couldn't keep up with me. I started breaking down his king's defenses and with a nice sacrifice, set up an unstoppable mating attack. In the fifth round (third round of chess), I finished him off," VanCouvering says. "He did catch me flat-footed with a triple jab to the head that had my head buzzing even an hour after the match was over. There was no prize money, but the cheering was nice."
McGregor, who learned about chessboxing while on a photo assignment in Europe, is doing everything he can to promote the sport. He is involved in setting up competitions and teaching classes with the goal of spreading the sport to the big cities of America. His next goal is to eventually cater to younger athletes and women.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Are you ready for the London vs. Berlin chess boxing event on Friday?
Chessboxers Lukas "Frog" Kosowski (L) and Daniel Rivas Lizarraga (AFP, Johannes Eisele)
Chess-boxing: High-brow bruisers clash for bragging rights
Ryland James (AFP)
BERLIN — They may be from the opposite ends of the sporting spectrum, but the worlds of boxing and chess will collide on Friday to decide whether London or Berlin has the toughest and smartest sportsmen.
Dubbed the Battle of the Cities, Berlin takes on London in Germany's capital with three fighters from each metropolis to square off in chess-boxing -- the sport which combines the strategy of chess with the power and fitness of boxing. You can read the full AFP story at this link and our www.chessblog.com preview also:
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
A chess boxing match in Berlin, 2008
Hi Everyone,
Do you know muscle is not the only thing that can make you win at chess boxing?
Chess boxing is not as time consuming as regular chess
Chess boxing is now being taken seriously around the world
And, chess boxing recently returned to Berlin after a world tour as its founder prepares to pass the baton to the next generation.
It actually started in 2003. "It's the competition, it's the fact that you combine physical combat and psychological combat," explained novice chess boxer Jeronimo "the Chief" Barbin, in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
"Boxing is the number one physical sport and chess is the number one psychological sport and to combine both is complete. You are a complete human being."
The idea was conceived by Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, who goes by the stage name The Joker, and was inspired in part by a cartoon depicting a chess boxing match. Developing the rules and format further, Rubingh and the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO) have created a system that fully integrates the two disciplines.
"A chess boxing fight goes over 11 rounds - you have six chess rounds and five boxing rounds," explained Andreas Dilschneider, a chess trainer at the Berlin Chess Boxing Club. "Rounds are alternating, so first you have a chess round of four minutes then you have a boxing round of three minutes and so on."
Here is this nice write-up about chess boxing in Germany. Here are nice videos on World Chess Boxing. You'll love the videos.
Don't be shy about contacting me
to share women's chess news
or to propose collaboration
Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
"For me, getting punched really focuses the chess. It's like doing math at the end of a gun," says Los Angeles Chessboxing Club founder Andrew McGregor. "You have to find a solution to what's on the board."
