Schachboxen1

Chess Boxing

By Andrew kuchis

  • The Invention of Chess Boxing

    The sport of chess boxing was invented in 1992 by the French artist Enki Bilal, who thought it up for his comic book, Froid Équateur.

  • First official Chess Boing match is held

    The first chessboxing competition took place in Berlin in 2003. That same year, the first world championship fight was held in Amsterdam in cooperation with the Dutch Boxing Association as well as the Dutch Chess Federation.

  • The WCBO or World Chess Boxing Organization is formed

    In late 2003 after the success of the first public chess boing match and world championship, the sport decided that they needed a centralize covering body. this governing both would be the WCBO

  • Iepe Rubinghi- World Champion

    Iepe Rubinghi of Netherlands won the World Championship Class Middleweight, in Amsterdam against Jean Louis Veenstra of Netherlands.

  • First World Champ

    Two years after the first world championship, the first European Chess Boxing Championship took place in Berlin on October 1, 2005. in this fight Andreas Dilschneider was defeated by Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev when he resigned in the 7th round (chess), crowning the latter by being the first European Chess Boxing Champion.

  • First light heavyweight Champion

    In 2006, 36-year-old Frank Stoldt, who was a former UN-Peacekeeper in Kosovo and Afghanistan, qualified himself to fight for the title after a 7 round victory. Frank Stoldt went up against the American David Depto in November 2007 in Berlin to fight for the first world championship title in the light heavyweight division. Frank Stoldt defeated Depto in the 7th round and thereby cemented Berlin's status as the leading city in the chessboxing world becoming the first German world champion.

  • the Chessboxing community began to grow globally at an even faster rate

    In 2008, chessboxing clubs were founded in London and Krasnoyarsk.

  • Nikolay Sazhin- World Champion

    Nikolay Sazhin of Russia becomes a World Champion for the Light heavyweight class, in Berlin against Frank Stoldt of Germany.

  • International Chess Federation gives credit to Chess Boxing

    Chessboxing first received credit from the International Chess Federation FIDE, in April 2008; its president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, took part in a chessboxing demo fight in Elista.

  • Chessboxing in America

    Created in 2009, the Los Angeles Chessboxing Club was the first of its kind in the United States and was directly followed by the New York Chessboxing Club in 2010.

  • Leonid Chernobaev - World Champion

    Leonid Chernobaev of Belarus becomes World Champion Class: Light heavyweight, in Krasnoyarsk against Nikolay Sazhin of Russia.

  • First international Championship Fight

    The WCBO's Championship was initially held in Berlin and then later world championships taking place worldwide, the scene at the London Chessboxing Club grew where chessboxing events take place on a regular basis.

  • First international club matchup

    In 2011, the first international club matchup took place with Berlin and London in the ring—London came out the winner with 2:1 won bouts

  • Continued expansion of Chessboxing

    In 2011, the WCBO and with it the global chessboxing community made the biggest leap forward in its development to date with the foundation of the Chessboxing Organisation of India and its expansion in Asia, including China and Iran.

  • Expansion to Italy

    The Italian Chessboxing Federation was founded in 2012.

  • WCBO goes Pro

    As of May 2013, The WCBO is responsible for organizing all of the professional chessboxing fights worldwide and for the organization of the Chess Boxing World Championships.

  • The process of turning chessboxing professionals reached a milestone

    The 2013 World Championship in Moscow was the first chessboxing event organized and marketed by WCBO.

  • Continued growth

    Early 2014 saw more Chessboxing events than in any other year, with more than 245 fighters varying in both age and weight class, taking place

  • London hosts 3 championship fights

    Chessboxing events in 2015 were produced by London Chessboxing under the WCBA

  • India loves Chessboxing

    Chessboxing has also become more popular among young, poor women in India where the sport has been seen as an alternative to traditional roles

  • Team USA at the Chess-boxing Amateur World Championship

    Boxer and entrepreneur Matt Thomas of Atlanta, GA will be the first-ever American to represent Team USA at the Chess-boxing Amateur World Championship. The world’s best amateur chess-boxers will head to Kolkata, India. Twenty-eight-year-old Thomas, who will be accompanied by Kevin Vaughn-Carber of Iowa, will fight in the cruiser-weight division (85-90kg). The two will join over 120 competitors from thirteen different countries.