Chess boxing is a sport most people have never heard of. Competitors alternate rounds of chess and boxing and win by knockout or by checkmate, whichever happens first.
Even the players admit that they doubted the sport was real when they first heard about it.
“I thought it was, like a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit. It was so absurd to me that someone would combine these two things,” says Matt Thomas, a chess boxing world champion.
Tomorrow, Sunday November 16, tune in to @60minutes on CBS for the story on Team USA Chessboxing including my 1-on-1 with @thebillwhitaker !
For those who don’t know, after winning the NY State Chess Championships a year ago, I had a new goal in mind. I took up boxing in order to compete at the World Chessboxing Championships in Serbia this past September.
It was quite the undertaking: learning one of the world’s most difficult disciplines, putting myself in a situation wherein my opponents would be trying to knock me out ASAP (not wanting to go back the board of course!), and overcoming ankle surgery that landed me on crutches just a few months before Serbia.
Chessboxing features alternating rounds of chess and boxing until checkmate or knockout, but in the rare case of my quarterfinals matchup against the 2024 gold medalist, it can also be decided by a draw in the chess and judges’ decision in the ring — all the credit to my opponent! It was such an honor for him and I to be given the co Fight of the Year award.
I had the greatest experience with such incredible teammates (tune in tomorrow), and will be back again next year. The list of people to thank is endless, but especial shoutouts to @movingwithmat who brought me into this sport and @boxing_coach_juan who turned me into a machine in no time. I appreciate everyone on Team USA so much <3
Clips of my fights on the most recent post @fm.wgraif
When 60 Minutes first heard about chess boxing, we thought it was a joke. It is not. Competitors alternate rounds of chess and boxing, and can win by knockout or by checkmate, whichever happens first. This Sunday, travel with us to the World Chess Boxing Championships.
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Thrilled to be returning to the Association of @ringsidephysicians Annual Conference to give an update on the Future of Chessboxing since my last speech with them in 2024. We are also piloting a @unitedchessboxing partnership centered on collecting and sharing research about neurological data and state change management across combat sports. Big things to come in the worlds of brain and brawn!
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Six years ago this week, our Founder Iepe Rubingh passed away. This week, we hosted the European Championships in Istanbul, @ifc.officiel 7 in Paris, and the Chess Hall of Fame released a Chessboxing exhibit in St. Louis, USA. We hope our old friend is looking down proud of how far his sport and community has come.
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Thanks to the hard work of the wcbo board, @chessboxingturkiye , @ifc_tv , @unitedchessboxing , and the amazing community of chessboxers that made this possible. Chessboxing Forever!
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Team USA Tryout Tour continues this month. Follow along here and fill out the form on our site to stay in the loop with cities we are stopping in and fighters who have earned their spot!
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Big thanks to the sponsors helping to make this tour possible @moonpay@nymzo.world@takedownshop@wwwchesscom
You’ve never seen a title fight like this before. ♟️💥🥊
Two of the hardest competitive sports in the world converge as @unitedchessboxing hosts its Team USA tryouts at @outboxnyc .
The best of both worlds collide as current team members @thegambitman and @jamescantychess fight to defend their spot, with special guest WGM @jenshahade making an appearance.
Leaders of the tryouts, deathly skilled in both boxing and chess, will go on to compete in the Chess Boxing World Championships in Serbia later this year. Stay tuned for more hard hitting action!
📸: @_gabewright
🎵: vianova - Melanchronic
#chessboxing #usachessboxing #chess #videography
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Team USA Tryout Tour 🤝 @jenshahade Thinking Sideways (new book out NOW)
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Huge thank you to the @newyorkchessboxing community who came out, and the 6 fighters who flew in from Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington DC, Connecticut and Miami for the tryout. Our talent for Team USA this year is going to be on a whole new level for the sport!
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New weekly training led by @fm.wgraif and @boxing_coach_juan on Tuesdays at 7pm at @outboxnyc with every first class free!
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We could not have pulled off this event without our incredible partners at @moonpay / @nymzoworld / @takedownshop / @wwwchesscom - thank yall so much!
