Last Friday’s Yellobric chessboxing fundraiser was a grand success. In the magnificent Victorian ball room, the Chelsea Old Town Hall, we saw some impressive athletes display their chessboxing talent. Thanks to all the generous donations Yellobric also surpassed the fundraising goal and all the guests got a sensational evening in return.
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
The first bout was a rematch between Matt ‘Crazy Arms’ Read and Yellobric director Gavin ‘Grievous Bodily Farmer’ Paterson. The game started relatively equal and Paterson got an good opening on the board. In the next road, it was clear that Paterson had been perfecting his jab and came out aggressively. But Read used his years of chess experience to build a big time advantage in the chess. In the ring, Paterson put on the fight of his life, cornering his tall opponent several times and landing heavy strikes. Making the first move after the bell, Paterson’s chess took a wrong turn and lost his Queen. Read quickly seized the chance and checkmated him.
Winner: Matt Read by checkmate in round 7
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
Our second fight was Karl ‘The Hustler’ Ouch against Toby ‘Sloby’ White. The latter had a height advantage, whereas the former had years of experience on the board. Realising his chess disadvantage, White was feeling his way into the game but came out swinging in the boxing. While Ouch tried to duck and weave through his punches, White landed several blows. Coming out of the ring, White decided to play for time, and did not make a chess move. Ouch, tired of waiting and trying to taunt his opponent, incredibly, started to do press ups next to the table. White was clearly looking for the knock out and landed big punches to the head, but his energy was draining quickly. In the next chess round, he tried to move in blitz chess style to out-manoeuvre Ouch. But Ouch was too experienced for him and White had too little time on the clock.
Winner: Karl Ouch bu time penalty in round 7
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
After the interval, Dymer ‘Beast Of Peace’ Agasaryan was up against Darius ‘Iron Man’ Gelezinis in an exhibition bout. Unfortunately one of the talents, Ricky Brown, was forced to withdraw after a motor accident, but in his place Gelezinis was happy to brave the chessboxing stage at the last minute. Debutant Gelezinis was several inches taller than his opponent but had less experience on the board. Agasaryan moved decisively in the chess rounds and quickly played the game in is favour. In the ring, both men showed good movement and struggled to land their jabs. Before long the match was over as Agasaryan went in for the chess end game and checkmated his opponent in round three.
Exhibition bout
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk
The main event was local favourite James ‘Chelsea Chainsaw’ Pope against George ‘The Bear’ Crespo. Both men were fairly evenly matched in both disciplines and the chess started with a slow pace, while both fighters made decisive moves. In the boxing Crespo’s smile taunted his opponent and Pope cornered him to land body blows. The next round, Pope started to advance and picked off more and more material of Crespo. In the boxing, Crespo used his slick movement to his advantage and dodged many of Pope’s attacks. Then on the board, Pope seized Crespo’s Queen. The latter knew he needed a knock out finish, but Pope continued his attacking stance and didn’t let Crespo anywhere near him. Crespo got in a tricky chess situation and after making an mistake, Pope swiftly moved in for a finish.
Winner: Pope by checkmate in round 7