ESPN Chessboxing

Comments

At least ESPN & ESPN2 are showing all World Cup games live. Also, I can't blame them given the USA's fiasco.
Posted by: Murali at June 23, 2006 18:19

Well there are known chess players who have a penchant for throwing punches. There are known pugalists who have a penchant for pushing pieces.

Let them chessbox!
Posted by: superfreaky at June 23, 2006 18:38

Aronian v Gormally: The Rematch. Publicity is already done!
Posted by: Ashish at June 23, 2006 21:07

Tate
Posted by: DP at June 23, 2006 22:23

Weightlifter Boris Kreiman? Oops, hold it, do they test for steroids in chessboxing? ;-)
Posted by: geeker at June 23, 2006 23:40

Unless he's a horrible patzer, my money'd be on Evander Holyfield.
Posted by: Herb at June 24, 2006 00:10

Speaking of soccer, today Argentina plays against Mexico. As a mexican, I have to say that our chances are near to nil...but hope is the last a thing a flustrated world cup watcher looses.
Posted by: santiago at June 24, 2006 09:02

Dunno about Holyfield. Among heavyweight fighters, Lennox Lewis (who recently held a chess exhibition in NYC) and the Klitschko (sp?) brothers are chessplayers. I wouldn't give Holyfield the nod against any of them, although Vitali, the better fighter of the Klitschkos, recently retired from the ring due to injury.
Posted by: geeker at June 24, 2006 09:29

I think both Lennox & the Klitschkos are supposedly about A-level strength (American rating-wise; strong club player strength, I suppose, for Europe (?)); anybody know if that's accurate? If so - or at least if they're about equal in strength - even though L.L. & Vitaly are both retired from boxing, they could finally duke it out over the chessboard...
Posted by: rcfchess at June 24, 2006 14:31

I about kicked in the tv last night when ESPN 2 was showing competitive DOMINOES. They were showing it just like poker. WHEN WILL WE GET CHESS?!? It cannot be because of interest because I have never heard ANYONE say, "Dominoes is cool." There are no dominoes movies. Heck, their pizza even sucks! At least chess has a pretty good cookie from Pepperidge Farms.
Posted by: Evan at June 24, 2006 19:28

America performed really badly at the World Cup in Germany because they had to use American players. Had they been allowed to import all their players from abroad as in the recent Olympiad, they would have done much better
Posted by: Jim at June 24, 2006 22:09

Not sure about the Klitschkos' chess playing strength. I think they played an exhibition against Garry Kasparov some years ago, which was covered to some extent on chessbase.com. ISTR that they played better than Boris Becker, but not at "A-level strength". Granted, not much of a sample to rate from.

Lennox Lewis seems pretty good. He had a strong showing in a recent NY exhibition "challenge". I have no idea of the level of his opposition, however.
Posted by: geeker at June 24, 2006 22:29

Lennox is a fan of chess, and he always says in interviews that boxing is like chess. Lennox would be perfect for the first chessboxing match in America in 2007. Problem is that not only is he a decent chessplayer, he's one of the best heavyweight boxers ever, so he'd likely dominate every match. Still he should at least try one match.
Posted by: Leto at June 25, 2006 03:17

Yeah, as if ESPN noticed that the NHL season was over.
Posted by: Colby Cosh at June 25, 2006 04:29

Looking forwaed to seeing Lennox Lewis in the ring with Jonathan Speelman. I bet Judit Polgar has a wicked right hook though.
Posted by: Jim at June 25, 2006 04:49

It's an interesting idea. One who is good at boxing will take a mental beating in chess, which can affect his boxing. One who is good at chess will take a physical beating in chess, which can affect his chess.
Posted by: superfreaky at June 25, 2006 15:04

When you consider all the punch-drunk ex-pugilists who end up with Alzheimer's, it doesn't look like chess and boxing are a good match.
Posted by: geeker at June 25, 2006 15:14

Some of us had very good intentions when sending you this. Thanks
Posted by: Tony West at June 25, 2006 21:04

Mig's on another long weekend it seems! : )
Posted by: Morrowind at June 27, 2006 13:08

I am reminded of an old Saturday Night Live. The guests were George Foreman and Bobby Fisher. Booby played e4, George counter with a right to the jaw. After was the interview -

SNL - George, were you going to respond the same way to 1 d4 ?
GF - No, I was gonna hit him with a left if he played d4.
Posted by: Harlock at June 28, 2006 14:07

"America performed really badly at the World Cup in Germany because they had to use American players. Had they been allowed to import all their players from abroad as in the recent Olympiad, they would have done much better."

What a ridiculous statment. Actually all of the participants for the US in the Olympiad were US citizens. We are a nation of immigrants, Jim, and just because they do not have "american" names like Jim and Bob do not make them any less american. Noone forced them to come here and play. They were not "imported" like most of the good beer in this country is.
Posted by: Mendrys at June 29, 2006 15:44

I was pleased at the Olympiad result and Nakamura's addition to the team. It was two years in waiting. I do believe there is a paradox in American society. People freely come in are called "Americans" after a few years residence, but you could live for 30 years in China or Japan and never be considered Chinese or Japanese. There is a cultural context that is very specific in these countries.

America does not have a definable culture which allows people to emigrate and adopt American ways of economics and consumerism. Many try to adopt names like Ellen, Joe, Chip and such, but that does not really make one more American. It only makes it easier to navigate the system. There are certainly advantages to having a loose concept of nationality, but many Russian players appear to choose one nationality or the other when it is advantageous.

Mendrys... I think you are disillusioned. If I go to the Ukraine and get citizenship in six years, am I any less Ukrainian than Sergey Karjakin? Of course I am... no doubt about it. Let's be honest. However, that does not mean that Russian players cannot make valuable contributions in America which they have done.

It is an interesting paradox, but I do believe the spigot of chess emigres will trickle if U.S. Chess does not improve.
Posted by: Daaim Shabazz at June 29, 2006 17:38

"America's" performance in the Olympiad tells us nothing about the strength or otherwise of American chess. Players are easily lured from abroad by big bucks. Unfortunately many are too weak in the face of hard cash and sell their birthright, i.e. their nationality, too easily.
There should be rules to stop this happening.
Posted by: Jim at June 29, 2006 21:00

"Unfortunately many are too weak in the face of hard cash and sell their birthright, i.e. their nationality, too easily."

Sounds like what the world needs is a good course on racial hygiene, eh, Jim? Otherwise even more people might buy into the wrong-headed, subversive notion that what matters most about you is what you become or are capable of becoming -- rather than where you (or your great-grandparents) came from.
Posted by: Jon Jacobs at June 29, 2006 23:23

Hehe. "Home-grown" American chessplayers (eg Patrick Wolff, Tal Shaked) leave chess because there's no money in it. But them damm furriners "are easily lured from abroad by big bucks."
Posted by: geeker at June 30, 2006 05:35

Daaim, disillusioned? I'm not sure what you mean by this. Perhaps you meant deluded? Actually, I am neither. Are you saying that the only to way to claim a nationality is to be born there? One must be careful when they starting thinking like this. It often leads down the slippery slope of xenophobia and racism. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way calling you a racist. I can't possibly know this. However, I have met too many people in this country who think that the only "real" americans are WASPS(white anglo-saxon protestants) and we would be better off if all others would just "go back to where they belong". This being said I am very grateful for the rich cultural diversity that our emigres have brought to us.
Posted by: Mendrys at June 30, 2006 09:41

Daaim, disillusioned? I'm not sure what you mean by this. Perhaps you meant deluded? Actually, I am neither. Are you saying that the only to way to claim a nationality is to be born there? One must be careful when they starting thinking like this. It often leads down the slippery slope of xenophobia and racism. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way calling you a racist. I can't possibly know this. However, I have met too many people in this country who think that the only "real" americans are WASPS(white anglo-saxon protestants) and we would be better off if all others would just "go back to where they belong". This being said I am very grateful for the rich cultural diversity that our emigres have brought to us.
Posted by: Mendrys at June 30, 2006 09:57

Pertaining to "chess boxing" I brought this subject up to some friends and they think it's hilarious. The contrast makes it almost interesting. I am still trying to decide who would be favored in such a match. A Strong chess player with some boxing skills or a Strong boxer with some chess skills. The decisive blow in a chess game could be the loss of a queen but no immediate checkmate but a decisive blow in boxing often ends up with someone unconscious on the mat.
Posted by: Mendrys at June 30, 2006 12:19

Racist? No, I utterly despise any form of bigotry. I am not talking about nationalism at all, but about the criteria for picking teams to play in international competitions; sports, games.
I thought that was obvious from what I said before, but the p.c. police are everywhere and constantly looking for offence. I am very offended by being alluded to as a racist.
Posted by: Jim at June 30, 2006 20:19

From Yahoo:

"one of the biggest sports phenomena of the past decade, despite spending most of my life in the Carolinas, NASCAR's epicenter. Consider this: The number of people who spend six or more hours a week following the sport has grown almost 20% in the last five years, to 75 million, according to market researcher Ipsos Insight."

75 m people spending 6+ hours a week????? And we few chess fans seem to begrudge ourselves whatever time we spend on chess.
Posted by: nazkar at July 1, 2006 02:16

I like it. play chess one round then pound then sand out of him the next.
Posted by: Glenn at July 5, 2006 01:19