Frank Stoldt has just been crowned world champion of a unique hybrid sport: chessboxing. It is being touted as the ultimate in physical and mental combat.
After parrying the American's punches in the ring, Stoldt, a policeman known to his fans as "Anti-terror", clinched the light-heavyweight title with a checkmate late in the seventh round.
The rules of the game are simple. Bouts are composed of a maximum of 11 alternating rounds of chess and boxing, with checkmates or knock-outs resulting in instant victory.
Fighters can also triumph if the boxing match is stopped by the referee, or if their opponent times-out at the chess board.
Chess rounds last 4 minutes each, and each player has a maximum of twelve minutes to make all their moves.
If there is no winner after 11 rounds of punching and castling, victory is awarded to the fighter with the most points in the boxing ring.
As a superior boxer with little knowledge of chess may well be able to pound his opponent into oblivion in the first boxing round, only fighters who reach a minimum chess standard are allowed to compete.
The sport has already developed a strong following in central and eastern Europe, and the WCBO plans to expand its appeal next year with exhibition events in Los Angeles, Paris, Prague, Zurich and Moscow.
Video: LiveLeak
Source: Telegraph
Tags: Chessboxing | Frank Stoldt | Chess | Boxing
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