Right hook to left jaw. Checkmate.

Proponents describe chessboxing as the ultimate fusion sport for the body and the mind. For up to eleven rounds, a chessboxing match alternates between three-minute rounds of uppercuts and jabs, and four-minute rounds of studious, deliberate protection of your king.

Chessboxing is not a game for amateurs. Participants are required to have boxed in at least twenty matches, be less than thirty-five years old, and an ELO rating (used for measuring chess skill) of no less than 1800. If not sparring, training often involves running laps or hitting a sandbag, and then sitting down for blitz rounds of pawns, bishops and knights.

The world capitol of the chessboxing world sits firmly in Berlin: the 2007 Light-Heavyweight World Champion was none other than German Frank ‘Anti-Terror’ Stoldt. The Chess Boxing Club Berlin has been active since 2005, and since 2006 there have opened two schools who offer chessboxing programs to children. But moves are being made to expand into Russia and the Ukraine, where there apparently reside legions of experienced chessboxers.