The bell rings and two men who have spent the last three minutes trying to knock each other out must sit down to play chess.
This is the sport of chessboxing, alternating rounds of chess and boxing, won either by checkmate or knockout and it’s been providing Londoners with an unlikely source of community.
A night of chessboxing was hosted at Scala in King’s Cross on Thursday 8 October, but for chessboxer Anthony Bourached, 33, there is more to the sport than the fights.
“The core cultural value of sport is building a unique community,” he said.
“It encompasses a lot of what I love about the chess community and extends it a bit with an extra element of physicality and theatrics.
“The community is a very open minded group of people.”
Fellow fighter Thomas “Sex Appeal” Veale, 38, agreed, explaining that the big fights are secondary for him.
He said: “I’d do it without the event, it’s just the cherry on top.”
Bouts are often enriched by performances, which can include costumes, music and strobe lighting, and for Bourached this is an important part of it.
“That blur of chess and boxing somehow gives out a theatrical character,” he said.
“You’re getting something that’s greater than the sum of the parts.”
Despite the element of performance, chessboxing is a real, physical sport – Bourached left with a black eye after a recent bout in Paris.
Ben “Babyface” Wilson, 25, who took up the sport in January this year, felt that a sense of fun was an inherent aspect of chessboxing.
He said: “There’s always going to be that more lighthearted element to it.
“It is a funky concept combining chess and boxing, these things couldn’t be more different.”
While chessboxing has a strong presence in London, Wilson hopes it can spread to other major cities in future.
He said: “It will always be a niche sport but it’s a shame that there isn’t a place to chessbox in Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds.
“There are enough numbers there and people who would love to join the chessboxing community.
“Community is really important, that’s what it’s all about.”
Wilson stressed, however, that fighters still take the sporting aspect seriously.
“People say that it’s brain v brawn but both sports require great performance psychology,” he said.
Dina Thorslund, the undisputed bantamweight world champion in boxing, showed the sport’s wider reach as she came to Scala to compete in her first chessboxing match.
She won the fight against fellow Dane and radio personality Peter Falktoft.
Featured image credit: Jude Hogan
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