Chess Boxing World Champion

I know this is old news and probably has already been hashed around the chess blogosphere, but I wanted to make a few comments on this.

The BBC did a wonderful job summarizing the event. You can view the video at YouTube. The BBC article can be read here. I particularly liked how the BBC author described the sport: "A sort of Rocky ... with rooks."

In a nutshell, David "Double D" Depto from San Francisco lost to Frank "Anti-terror" Stoldt in the seventh round by checkmate.

Did you know that 1,200 people showed up to watch this event? ("Chessboxing heavyweight wins by checkmate") I don't think ESPN carried this event, but the suits over there should certainly look into showing these matches. I know they've done a report on it (see below)


This could legitimatly open up chess to "mainstream" America. I know I'd enjoy watching more events like the "Double D" vs. "Anti-terror" fight.

If you haven't already, go to YouTube and seach "chess boxing" to see videos of some fights (along with videos about some oriental show called "Mystery of Chess Boxing").

And on a final note, I found this quaint video advertising some chess club.