
Chess boxing - paulbaumgart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing
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Jun8
I loved this idea of combining physical and intellectual combat.

The Wikipedia article for Go says:

Backgammon is a "man vs. fate" contest, with chance playing a strong role in
determining the outcome. Chess, with rows of soldiers marching forward to
capture each other, embodies the conflict of "man vs. man". Because the
handicap system tells Go players where they stand relative to other players,
an honestly ranked player can expect to lose about half of their games;
therefore, Go can be seen as embodying the quest for self-improvement—"man vs.
self".

So the pairing of boxing with chess is quite apt. Which physical games would
you choose for backgammon and Go?

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humbledrone
To run with the "man vs. self" idea, I would consider pairing a climbing
competition with Go.

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pavel_lishin
And Backgammon with Russian Roulette.

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cousin_it
Some years ago we invented this sport independently, but our version had three
components: boxing, chess, and alcohol.

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khafra
A round of shots after each round of boxing?

I think it could also be livened up by making the event simultaneous:
Attempting to avoid falling behind by more than 2 shots or letting your clock
run out on the chess game (presumably on a large, sturdy touch screen to let
you designate moves while wearing gloves) while dodging punches.

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ZeroMinx
Next chessboxing event in London is now on Saturday! If you haven't seen it,
you should. It's brilliant!

[http://www.londonchessboxing.com/PAGES/Events-%20Up&Comi...](http://www.londonchessboxing.com/PAGES/Events-%20Up&Coming.html)

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PanMan
I have read a long article on this (on paper, so no links). It explained that
even people who are good at both chess, and boxing, often have issues
combining them. The rush of adrenaline of the boxing interferes with the
thinking needed for the chess part.

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TomK32
Well, there's barely know Antichess, or Suicide-Chess
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichess> and I'd love to see a Anti-Chess-
Boxing.

"stop hitting yourself!"

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roel_v
There is a certain ELO rating required to participate; can anyone familiar
with chess tell me how difficult it is to reach this level? Is it something an
amateur can fairly easily obtain or does it really require significant talent
and/or study?

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greyman
If I googled it correctly, elo 1800 is required. I'd say with average chess
talent, it can take about 4-5 years of regular study and competitive play to
reach 1800. So taking your description, it's something between...but hard to
quantify since how quickly one advances in chess play levels is highly
individual.

~~~
roel_v
Yes it's 1800, sorry thought it was mentioned in the Wikipedia article but
didn't know it by heart. Well there goes my chance of ever becoming a chess
boxer then I guess :)

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stcredzero
There's an RTS called "Kung-fu Chess."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-fu_chess>

It would be interesting to see a game of speed-chess played on a rather large
field with 200 to 300 pound weights used as pieces. Another variant: speed-
chess on a large field where the pieces are soccer balls. This would lead to
tactics where the opponent is made to move a powerful piece like their queen
so often that they tire out and make a critical mistake.

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cies
i worked for the organization (www.showroommama.nl) that helped this artist to
realize this. it was a really interesting project!

the artist had a title battle in amsterdam back then, fighting an amature
boxing friend of his. after a heavy battle, the artist, iepe, won by the flag
on the chess clock.

funny fact: "kung fu" has sometimes been called chess-boxing, as there was so
much tactics to it.

~~~
stcredzero
There's also a real-time strategy game based on chess called "Kung-Fu Chess".

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-fu_chess>

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mfukar
I prefer Tressling.

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sliverstorm
Is that like wrestling, only with Tessla coils?

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tcarnell
ha ha ha!!! ...woah! I just found the Tresling page: <http://tresling.org/>

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Vivtek
Well, the people in the picture at the bottom of that page sure do look like
they're having fun!

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loewenskind
Is anyone doing any kind of analysis on if players chess play begins to suffer
as they take more shots to the head?

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coryl
No analysis necessary, getting hit in the head is bad for your
health/concentration.

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roel_v
Well we don't know without analysis... Health concerns are mostly long-term,
and there's no definitive answer on how much getting hit in the head is
required for permanent brain damage. Re: concentration, I'm even less
convinced; maybe it's not the getting hit that is bad for concentration but
the switch between mental/physical activity. Or maybe concentration improves
with more adrenaline.

~~~
whimsy
No definitive answer? Surely there are plenty of boxing champions and football
players for data on this.

~~~
roel_v
Yes, for boxing champions, but even there it's hard to say what is caused by
the boxing and what is caused by genetic factors. People often say 'look at
Ali!' but there's no way to tell if it's really because of the boxing. But
more importantly, note that I said 'how much getting hit in the head is
required'. See e.g.

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502093035.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502093035.htm)

<http://www.bmj.com/content/335/7624/809.full>

Both from 2007. First one says that amateur boxers do get brain damage, second
one says they don't. (there are the top google hits, I looked into this deeper
about 5 years ago; at that time there was very little research done, let alone
consensus.)

Point being, the question is: does getting hit in the head pose linear risks/
I.e, simplified, do a number of cells die for each punch or kick to the head?
Or does it require a certain threshold of damage for there to be any cognitive
effects?

I don't compete in any sport but I've trained plenty of full contact sports
over the last 10 or 15 years. I've been punched and kicked in the face _a lot_
, with and without gloves, been knocked out briefly once, been choked out
several times. Still my head/brain has taken nowhere near the amount of
punishment a pro or even good amateur fighter gets; my brains gets plenty of
time between trainings to recover. I can never know for sure if my training
has caused brain damage, and if it did, in what form that will manifest itself
(or has already, maybe), but I don't have reasons to believe it affected my
cognitive functions. Maybe it did and the damage caused decreased
intelligence, making me believe that it didn't :)

