Chess Boxing, Cricket Monopoly and other New Sports

Chess boxing is a hybrid sport which combines boxing with chess in alternating rounds. The sport began when Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, inspired by fictional depictions by French comic book artist and filmmaker Enki Bilal, organized actual bouts. Chess boxing is now growing in popularity. Participants must be both skilled boxers and chess players, as a match may be won either way.

A match consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of boxing and chess. The match begins with a four-minute chess round. This is followed by three minutes of boxing, with rounds of chess and boxing alternating until the end.^[1] There is a one minute break between rounds. Speed chess is used, a form in which each player has a total of only twelve minutes for the whole game.

Competitors may win by a knockout, achieving a checkmate, by the judges’ decision, or if their opponent’s twelve minutes of chess time is exceeded. If a competitor fails to make a move during the chess round, he is issued a warning and he must move within the next 10 seconds. Repeated warnings may result in a disqualification.

After the success of Chess Boxing it was clear that other groups would get in on the act. Thus was born Cricket Monopoly. The fusion between the classic action game and historical board game was an obvious first choice.  The English weren’t going to play second bat (nice pun uhh?) to the Dutch and French. For centuries well dressed upper class aristocracy have gathered to the court at Lords for the battle of the fittest. For those unfamiliar with the most intense game on the planet, let me explain that cricket is played with two teams of 11 players. While one team fields the area and bowls the cricket ball – two members of the opposing team gallantly defend their wickets while the remaining 9 players devour  tea and crumpets while simultaneously shouting  vulgar remarks at the players. At 1:00 P.M. sharp everyone breaks for lunch, in order to get away from the scorching midday sun.

Here are some other ideas for sports fusion:

Office tennis. The participants are a frustrated office work and a obstinate fly. For more exciting details see my post Game Set and Swat.

Bed Racing:

The sport of Bed Racing has been embraced by the people of the North Yorkshire Town of Knaresborough, who hold the annual Knaresborough Bed Race. The first race in 1965 was only open to Army, Navy and American Marines, but now the competition is open to anyone.

The competitors race in teams of six, plus one on the bed. Each team must provide their own bed, decorated in the theme for the year. The bed runs on four wheels, but also need to be able to float, as explained below.

The 3km run race begins and ends at Conyngham Hall. About halfway through the run, the teams face the one-in-five gradient climb to Castle Top before it’s back down the hill and toward the final challenge – crossing a river.

Beer Pong, also known as Beirut, is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams and multiple cups set up, in triangle formation, on each side.  There are no official rules, the rules may vary widely, though usually there are six or ten plastic cups arranged in a triangle on each side. Each side then takes turns attempting to shoot ping pong balls into the opponent’s cups. If a ball lands in a cup, then the contents of that cup are consumed, and the cup is either placed aside or reinserted into the triangle. If the cup is reinserted and the other team knocks the cup over, it is removed. If the opposing team throws the ball into an empty cup, they must consume the contents of one of their cups. The first side to eliminate all of the opponent’s cups is the winner. 

Rubber Duck race: This is becoming the in thing these days around the world. A charity organizes a run rubber duck race  in which hundreds or thousands of rubber ducks are dumped into a river, pool, or other body of water and then floated down a race course marked off with buoys. The first one to float past the finish line is the winner. Quack!Quack!

Extreme Ironing: 

People who play this unsusual sport go to a remote location and iron clothes! They call themselves ‘ironists’, and get a thrill from taking their ironing board, unplugged iron and some of their wrinkly clothes to some extreme places and photograph themselves doing it. Such places that they have reached include extreme altitude, underwater, hanging from cliffs, and on top of vehicles.

Underwater Rugby: This game  is played underwater in a pool with a depth of 3.5m to 5m and goals (heavy metal buckets with a diameter of about 40 cm) at the bottom of the pool. Two teams (blue and white), each with six players (plus six substitutes), try to score a goal by sending the slightly negatively buoyant ball (filled with saltwater) into the opponents’ goal. It is a fast and exhausting game; therefore, the subs replace their players on the fly. The ball may be passed in any direction but must not leave the water. It “flies” about 2m or 3m before water resistance stops it. This makes good tactics and good (three-dimensional) positioning essential.