You’ve got to be tough AND smart to be in this kind of sport as a match can be won in the ring, on the board, or by a combination of points awarded for both areas.

Originally created in 1992 the comic book  Froid Equateur, written by French artist and filmmaker  Enki Bilal, it became a reality in 2003 when the first live event of this hybrid sport was was organized by Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh.

Basic rules include alternating rounds of 4 minutes of chess with chess clocks, 3 minutes of boxing, and back to chess again for a total of eleven rounds unless checkmated or knocked out.

2008  World Champion Chessboxer, Russian math student Nikolaj Sazhin related the challenges of the sport through a translator: “For me the sport is very attractive and demanding and also in a kind of way spectacular. You have to be totally cooled down in chess coming out of the boxing round. The adrenaline is the problem.” He won his lightweight championship against his punch-drunk opponent fifth round of chess. Check out some video.

Chess Boxing at Artcurial in Paris from uberraum on Vimeo.