Some people say chess is not evolving, that in the past 500 years, there has been no major change of rules, that computers have killed the game. To those who think like that, one can reply: When you have a perfect game, why should you change it? It is true that chess has not changed its rules in a long time, but that does not mean it hasn’t evolved. Today we are going to introduce you a new chess modality: Chess boxing.

As you already can imagine, chess boxing is a mixture between chess and boxing. The idea comes from the 1992 graphic novel “Froid‑ Équateur,” produced by the cartoonist Enki Bilal.

This artist was born in Serbia on October 7, 1951, but  moved to France when he was 9, where he became an artist. “Froid‑ Équateur (Equator Cold) is the third part of the “Nikopole Trilogy.” In this graphic novel, the hero is a man who performs chess boxing; he fights with his fists, but he also trains his mind by playing chess.

In 2003 this imaginative idea inspired a Dutch artist residing Berlin, Iepe Rubingh, age 33. He founded chess boxing and in Amsterdam 2003, he became the first World Champion under the name of Iepe or “The Joker.” Ever since, Iepe has dedicated all his efforts to promote chess boxing all over the world and he founded the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO), whose motto is: “Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board.”

The rules of chess boxing are simple: One round of chess, one round of boxing alternatively. Each player has 12 minutes to play the chess game. The match begins with a round of four minutes of chess, then they have a one‑minute pause and afterward they box for two minutes. This cycle repeats during 11 rounds maximum, six of chess and five of boxing.

On July 6 2007, I attended a chess boxing match celebrated in Berlin. The atmosphere was incredible. Several hundred people gathered in a small gym in an area of Berlin called Prenzlauerberg. I watched four fights, including one performed by children. Today I am going to present you the chess game I think was the most interesting. The contenders were David Steppeler, playing with white, and Sebastien Aubriot. It was a dramatic match. The chess game has nothing to do with games we normally present on this column–it is filled with fatal errors and is not professional chess at all. Don’t expect to find a good chess game here. The interesting part of it is to follow the mistakes as the fight goes on.

Carlos García Hernández