English Chess Forum

Hi there all, I noticed today that there is a youtube channel dedicated to chessboxing and the coverage is quite professional. Has it suddenly risen in popularity or is it staying as some underground thing, which is certainly what it used to be. Anyway, here is the channel, which appears to suggest its on the rise.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessboxing

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:30 pm

Hi there all, I noticed today that there is a youtube channel dedicated to chessboxing and the coverage is quite professional. Has it suddenly risen in popularity or is it staying as some underground thing, which is certainly what it used to be. Anyway, here is the channel, which appears to suggest its on the rise.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessboxing

Mark, this is our very own 'Bedfordshire Bull', Mike Botteley, now retired from boxing, I think, but still going strong at Bedford Chess Club. You will see from this https://www.chessboxing.info/fighter/191220193056
that the sport was well advanced many years ago. Mike has certainly chessboxed in front of a crowd of more than a thousand.

Paul Habershon wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:53 pm

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 12, 2022 3:30 pm

Hi there all, I noticed today that there is a youtube channel dedicated to chessboxing and the coverage is quite professional. Has it suddenly risen in popularity or is it staying as some underground thing, which is certainly what it used to be. Anyway, here is the channel, which appears to suggest its on the rise.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessboxing

Mark, this is our very own 'Bedfordshire Bull', Mike Botteley, now retired from boxing, I think, but still going strong at Bedford Chess Club. You will see from this https://www.chessboxing.info/fighter/191220193056
that the sport was well advanced many years ago. Mike has certainly chessboxed in front of a crowd of more than a thousand.

Thanks Paul, I note that from the site there are quite a few registered players. It seems like chessboxing has crept up in popularity in recent years. Nice to see we've got someone local flying the flag for Bedfordshire.

There is no sport: there is no governing body and no professionals. It's just an occasional circus.

"There is no sport: there is no governing body and no professionals. It's just an occasional circus."

I tend to agree with that. I found two governing bodies, neither of which looks entirely convincing...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Che ... ganisation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Che ... ssociation

The latter is slightly more convincing as it has double the number of affiliates (4 instead of 2) and a living president.

I assume nobody has offered Lennox Lewis enough money to participate.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 12, 2022 6:26 pm

The latter is slightly more convincing as it has double the number of affiliates (4 instead of 2) and a living president.

...who is in fact the promoter

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 12, 2022 6:26 pm

"

I assume nobody has offered Lennox Lewis enough money to participate.

To be fair, although Lennox is known as being a chess player I'm pretty sure his chess skills wouldn't be needed to decide the bout - most professional heavyweights would comfortably be able to win bouts before the pieces were even touched.

"I'm pretty sure his chess skills wouldn't be needed to decide the bout "

That was my point - even if he didn't land a KO punch, his opponent would probably not be thinking straight for the chess.

Well, I watched a few and noticed the quality of the chess leaves a lot to be desired and the boxing too. But it does seem to have come a long way since it started out.

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 13, 2022 4:51 pm

Well, I watched a few and noticed the quality of the chess leaves a lot to be desired and the boxing too. But it does seem to have come a long way since it started out.

It's come all the way from being an annoying attention-seeking stunt - to be an even more annoying attention-seeking stunt.

Some of the same grifters came up with chess diving. See https://divingchess.com

Why not pick any unrelated sport at random and stick the word chess before or after, and hey presto, some 'journalist' will fill a couple of columns with your nonsense.

The BBC is a good bet. Why not contact Mike (usefull idiot) Bushell, who has become a specialist at promoting 'minority' (usually fake) sports.

27 Jan 2019 Erika Orsagova and Etan Ilfeld demonstrate Diving Chess with Mike Bushell from the BBC
https://youtu.be/cZ_xMgmm6ZY

Yes I saw the chessdiving thing too. They both appeal to some people but I am not one of them. Like you say, it's more a question of wondering what the next one will be.

Gerard Killoran wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 5:08 pm

Why not pick any unrelated sport at random and stick the word chess before or after, and hey presto, some 'journalist' will fill a couple of columns with your nonsense.

What are the related sports Gerard?

Because some things are designated "unrelated" neither means nor implies that there are other things that are "related", does it eh John

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:45 pm

Because some things are designated "unrelated" neither means nor implies that there are other things that are "related", does it eh John

Of course but I wondered if GK had some in mind.

Related sports are the ones where commentators can say, 'It's a game of chess out there!'