Chessboxing: Brain vs. pain Prematch video - Must watch!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

We are sure there are two kinds of people in the world.

• Those who will look at this video and say, 'Wow, this is pure art!'
• Those who will look at this video and say, 'Crazy!'

The video is titled 'Chessboxing: Brain vs. pain Prematch' and is about an upcoming chessboxing event in Iceland. But, first, the background.

Two world-class competitors will battle it out in a boxing match in Iceland on Friday, with throngs of screaming fans cheering them on. In one corner will be Bjorn Jónsson, 42 years old but wily in his ways and with a devastating reach advantage over his opponent. Daniel Thordarson is a young, hard-nosed fighter and former Icelandic middleweight champion.

After weeks of anticipation, these two rivals will finally meet head-to-head to see who punches harder, who has the desire to outlast the other, and whether the Tarrasch Defense can sufficiently counter a Queen’s Gambit.

Thordarson and Jónsson are 3-D digital artists at CCP Games, a major videogame outfit in Iceland, and the two friends will actually be facing off in a traditional chess-boxing match at the seventh annual EVE Online Fanfest convention in the capital city of Reykjavík. You can read more at this link.

The press release for the event states: Witness the ultimate test of mind and might at the Laugardalshöll Convention Center, as members of the CCP Dev Team compete in the chessboxing match of the year right square in the middle of EVE Fanfest.
 

Will brains beat brawn? Will youth triumph over age? Find out at Fanfest 2011 or by watching the free live stream of the event at http://www.fanfest.eveonline.com. This one-of-a-kind event will take place on Friday, 25 March at 2000 GMT.

:)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Retired police officer's chess crusade against crime

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

The New Haven Independent has profiled this retired cop who has come up with a unique chess mission!

Stacy Spell is a New Haven police officer - now retired from work but not from doing good in his neighbourhood. He spent Saturday playing chess right in the middle of the square at Derby and Norton across from the Dunkin’ Donuts where two shootings( including one homicide have occurred) since December!

“Once we take ownership, we can address the crime problem,” Spell said. The neighborhood has seen a recent spike in drug-related crime. In December a murder took place at the nearby eatery. In mid-February two people were shot as bullets flew at the same location.

Spell recently became chairman of the West River Neighborhood Services Corporation (WRNSC). He vowed to “take back” the neighborhood, to use the chess terms that he often employs.

“While our crew is out here, [people] are not doing the drug dealing,” he said.

He pointed out the casual manner in which a young man dressed in gray had recently been at work perhaps 20 yards from the chess match in front of Mother’s Restaurant.

“There are two young men practicing their entrepreneurial skills, with the wrong product, in front of us. He did it right in front of me [before]. Now they know I’m watching.

Since he’s a chess lover, Spell has decided on that game as one alternative option for the neighborhood. It’s competitive in a way that may appeal to young men. The pieces are at war, as it were. But it’s safe, a make-believe war.

So Spell plans to be playing in the spring and summer every Saturday. Regularity is key, he said.

“The main thing is modeling,” added Spell, a 27-year police veteran who has lived for three decades in the neighborhood. “I’m trying to mobilize people, not just twice a year [for the cleanups], and I’ll be out here every Saturday. We’re going to occupy the space.”

You can read more here. Call him the chesscop!

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com