#Chess

PODCAST EP124: Jack ‘The Reaper’ Sheard

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“Like Geoffrey Dama squeezing a fish in the corner of the ring”, that is how cool Jack was under pressure during Oktoberfist 23. The podcast catches up with academic Jack Sheard after his victory agains Oliver Ye.

Negligence in cricket, Jack is re-training as a solicitor. If you hit a dinger what happens if you damage someone’s property or hit someone? Other life choices include how and why Jack purchased a cape. Where better than to wear the cape along with his fantastic moustache.

Jack wanted to play a safe opening and this allowed him to feel his way into the chess. On the boxing however Jack felt Oliver was nervous and therefore came out aggressively in the boxing and hold the centre. Jack’s dominance slipped in the first round with a slip of his feet leaving him on the canvas. Jack’s high guard worked well, Oliver for some reason seemed reticent to go to the body until the last round of boxing. Jack’s stance reminded Matthew Coldwell of a secretary bird with his high guard and upright body position.

Jack’s discovered attack gave him a bishop advantage following a queen exchange. Then it looked like Oliver had allowed Jack to trap his rook behind Jack’s pawn structure but an inspired bishop cover allowed Ye to trade rooks with a bishop fork rather than go a rook down.

Jack volunteers with chess in prisons and this is how Jack discovered chessboxing while working with chessboxing legend Matt Read. Chess in prisons is a charity that teaches chess to inmate and Jack was able to put together a team from prison to compete in the International Prison Chess Competition. Many of those involved in this charitable venture where at the event to support Jack and Matt – you can support chess in schools and communities HERE.

The second round of boxing saw jack move into the boxing with confidence knowing that he as a piece up; however, Ye had other ideas and came out guns blazing for the first 30 second which seemed to jack like an eternity. Shout and tributes to Ollie who never stopped fighting even though he was a piece down which he eventually recovered in the end game. Jack was a little careless, although arguably Ollie’s boxing performance lead to Jack’s blunder losing his bishop and the advantage than went with it. Oliver pushed Jack all the way and eventually went down by checkmate.

The pod reflects on bout 3 with Dele Martins celebrating his check mate too early – what showman. The highlight of the show was the final bout, heavyweight – the word was that it was a foregone conclusion but Matt Coldwell had other ideas.

A big thank you and shout out to Jake Cutting who described Jack as, “Like Geoffrey Dama squeezing a fish in the corner of the ring” – he was so calm. Shout out to Taylor for her support during the bout as well as everyone at Chessboxing Nation.

Christmas drinks on the 2nd of December at The Shaftesbury Tavern at 3pm. 20% discount off our merch with this LINK.

Image by Pawel Gawronski

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PODCAST EP123: The Minotaur

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On the podcast this week we have the WCBA British Heavyweight Champion Matthew ‘The Minotaur’ Coldwell and chessboxing legend Matt “Crazy Arms” Read looking back at Oktoberfist 23.

Bout 4, Nicolay ‘Pawn Star’ Ramm vs Birk ‘Busi Boy’ Ruud will be featured on NRK, national Norwegian TV next year and the pod discuss this show and the format. Graham Norton meets Top Gear meets Takeshi’s Castle. You can watch the episodes of The Wonderful World of Sport on the NRK website HERE. One of the shows included drinking 4 pints while running a mile, fireball football and pea shooting. Nicolay believed that chessboxing wasn’t not only the weirdest sport he has done but also the best.

Oktoberfist had everything you could want in a chessboxing event. Matt’s bout had a sing-a-long intro and the drama of the final chess round checkmate. Pete equipping himself very well for his first bout, Matt’s ribs took a pounding. Second bout was very tasty with a huge volume of punches and Jack’s secretary bird technique. Neither fighter taking a step back during the bout and Oliver showing some great boxing and brining the fight to Jack once he went down on the chess. Dele is a born showman with a sculpted body to match. Yordan climbed Kilimanjaro as part of his training and was recovering from altitude sickness to make the fight. Yordan managed to weather a hook which resulted in him biting through his mouthguard and the chess was impacted considerably by action in the ring. What about the pre-celebration celebration, make sure you take a look at the clip on youtube.

Bout 4 saw Birk deliver a backflip mid-boxing round, but nothing could compare to the last bout however when the heavyweights went to war. Matthew had never played David at chess but the first time they spared David exploded his nose and left him on the canvas. Matthew calls out commentator Matt Lunn over his criticism during Matthew’s opening. David’s tactics were to come out of the blocks in the first boxing round all guns blazing, a strange tactic considering his much higher chess rating. The tactic was high risk and perhaps it was a result of his position after the first chess round which was poor. Matt weathered the storm well and maintained his technical boxing style even though he was put through the ropes.

Matthew was trying to show David that he wasn’t shaken and the pod discusses the mind games played between the two competitors. In the ring Matthew took a standing 8 count, the image of this podcast shows this moment. However, in the chess Matthew has his bishops pointing at David’s king, doubled rooks and looking good on the board. David then had a standing 8 count, both fighters looking exhausted before the drama of the next chess round when David sacked a porn to then deliver a devastating knight fork turning the tables. Having lost his advantage on the board Matthew enters back into the ring to face David again, both fighters in the centre of the ring trading blows. Eventually Matthew broke through landing a flurry of blows and David had nothing left to give before the towel came in.

Shout out to Nicolay, Birk, Victoria and Nils from NRK.

Image by Pawel Gawronski

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PODCAST EP122: Birk Ruud (Repeat)

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Olympic gold medalist Birk Ruud will be taking on TV personality Nicolay Ramm this Christmas as part of the NRK TV production Wonderful Worlds of Sports.

We catch up with Birk on his training camp in Austria on Stubaier Gletscher preparing for the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup the following week. He is training everyday for the World Cup and for his chess game and his professional training team has also included boxing in his regime. He is able to enjoy the chess on tour because he is playing in person with his best mate.

Birk is a professional freestyle skier and he won an Olympic gold medal in the first ever big air competition in the olympics. For his first trick he arrived at the jump switch (backwards) and performed a triple cork 1440 (5.5 rotations) with mute grab. How does Birk know when to release his hold and land his jump? It’s a combination of muscle memory and air awareness. He started working on his air awareness when he was only 3 years old.

Birk was able to spar with his opponent Nicolay Ramm under the tutelage of Emil “Valhalla” Meek. Meek was able to teach the basics of boxing and they even got a chance to spar with Meek. Birk was surprised at how technical boxing was but he feels that he had an advantage, his father and brother taught him some technique when he was younger.

Birk is about 10 years younger that Nicolay but he thinks it will come down to the chess. He believes that it will be hard for either of them to achieve a knockout given they aren’t experienced boxers but Gavin points out that is can and regularly does happen. When they played chess against each other he felt under a lot of pressure and Nicolay came out on top over a number of games.

Birk has a mental coach that he uses depending on how he is feeling coming into a competition. He is also into mindfulness and he finds the mental challenge of chess difficult but absorbing. Discussion moves onto tactics and how Birk can make boxing advantage impact the chess rounds. Birk will play a safe opening and move slowly to make sure he gets as many boxing rounds as possible. Toby White is known for a late flurry in the boxing round to try to unbalance his opponent ahead of the next chess round – will Birk use the same tactic.

Birk’s ring name is “Busi Boy” because he is a busy guy! It’s a mantra and reflects how Birk lives his life, taking every opportunity possible. NRK TV channel is making a costume for both Birk and Nicolay but he is going to try and be himself. The entrance is a chance to get into the head of your opponent, will Birk try to intimidate Nicolay with his entrance?

Birk knows that Nicolay is nervous for the match, confident in the chess but nervous for the boxing which has given Birk a boost. Nicolay is probably more fit that he is letting on because he is training for all the other episodes of the show.

What is Birk’s favourite chocolate bar is Kvikk Lunsj!

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PODCAST EP121: Oliver ‘The Revolver’ Ye

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What did Oliver have for breakfast? We get to know Oliver ‘The Revolver’ Ye ahead of his bout against Jack Sheard. Oliver prefers to manage his range to make sure he can land his jabs without being hit where as Jack prefers to fight inside and isn’t afraid of being hit on the way in. Jack actively shows his aggression the ring like Marc ‘Essex Bomb’ Sidwell. Jack has a slight edge on the chess with 1o0 point advantage, they have played once and Jack was victorious. Jack teaches chess in prison, maybe that’s where he get is poker face from.

Oliver is playing black and is planning to react to Jack, doesn’t sound like he has much of a plan? He wants to be flexible in his approach.

Oliver’s diet include an ice cream bar, cookies and cream and then has a meal in the evening – possibly a chicken bake. Could Ollie pick up a sponsorship with the ice cream bar manufacturer. When he’s not chessboxing he loves gaming but now that he has a job with a bank he has less time to do it. However, he has been playing spell chess on chess.com which includes power ups and spells. The pod talks about 960 chess, Fisher Random chess as well as 4D chess.

Oliver is a relationship manager at a large bank so his job is taking people out to lunch but he is yet to get a company credit card unfortunalty. Maybe the next client night out could be a chessboxing event?! A number of this co-workers are coming in to cheer him, in fact his whole department is coming in.

Shout out to Double Jab amateur boxing club where Ollie is training. Mention for Gerard ‘Ripper’ Reilly, could he be matched against the winner? Ollie is also looking forward to seeing Matt and David fight because they are such strong chess players and they are also in the heavyweight category.

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PODCAST EP120: Nicolay Ramm (Repeat)

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TV personality Nicolay Ramm is taking on an olympic gold medalist and professional sportsman, find out how he is approaching the bout.

Nicolay is a TV personality, presenter, comedian and journalist. Making a show called the Wonderful Worlds of Sports. Nicolay travels all over the world competing in the strangest sports he can find with a Norwegian celebrity and #chessboxing happens to be one of those sports. The 8 episodes this season includes sports in New Zealand, Indonesian and various places in Europe and of course London. He believes that chessboxing is the strangest sport on the list including a sport in Indonesia call fireball where they play football with a lit drinks can full of flammable liquid.

Jovanka Houska will be commentating on the show bringing another Norwegian connection. Nicolay is also fighting a fellow Norwegian, a professional sports man called Birk Ruud. Nicolay saw Birk without his shirt off whilst sparring the other day and he was intimidatingly ripped! Nicolay has a day job and his fitting his training in and around it whereas Birk has simply asked his professional team of coaches to include 2x boxing sessions every day. Nicolay is also training for all the other episodes and right now he is doing strength training, running and swimming for the world championships in ice swimming. Following the training session they had together Birk’s comment was that “Nicolay is quite slim for such an old guy!”

Nicolay has been training with Matt “Crazy Arms” Read on the chess as well as using chess engines to analyse his game. Chess is the only hope for Nicolay in the bout, or so he believes, he is focussing hard on the chess. The pod discusses other ways Nicolay can get thought he boxing rounds by using tactics like clenching rather than outboxing Birk. Nicolay’s tactics in the boxing is to stay alive! and get as much time on the chess board as much as possible.

Nicolay’s specialism is that he is tough but unskilled which fits in with his ring name. There has been some considerable thought going into the entrance and the stylist department of NRK have been working on something fun but we will have to wait to see how that looks. Both Nicolay and Birk are showmen so there is a lot of excitement about their entrances.

How has chess developed in Norway on the back of Magnus Carlsen’s success? NRK now follow chess regularly and it has become main stream. The Fisher random championship happened recently with Lawrence Trent commentating. Lawrence is fighting in LA and preparing for his fight against GM Aman Hambleton. The pod discussed Mogul Chessboxing and the likelihood of Magnus Carlsen commentating as well as the impact on chessboxing.

Nicolay will be playing chess with the Four Corner Club as well as training at Islington Boxing Gym and taking part in our production workshop with Kate Gilbert Talks.

What is Nicolay’s favourite chocolate bar?

Message for Birk is that Nicolay is a 33 year old dad, please take it easy! Nicolay is looking to get a checkmate in round 4, except that is a boxing round ?!?!! Haha

Shout outs to @nicolayramm @Birk_ruud @jovankahouska4 @davidhowellchess @fourcornerclub @kategilbert.talks @magnus_carlsen @ludwigahgren @amanhambleton @LawrenceTrentIM @Lawrence.trent @nrktrondelag

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PODCAST EP119: Minotaur vs Demontime

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Both Matt ” Minotaur” Colderwell and Dashiell “Demontime” Shaw had their first fight in March this year and Matt will be headlining on the next show, Oktoberfist 23.

Matt ” Minotaur” Colderwell has already won a massive trophy beating 72 entrance in his local chess tournament. He is hoping to add the WCBA British Heavyweight title belt to his trophy cabinet. Dashiell “Demontime” Shaw joins the pod from sunny Cornwall with a glass on red, enjoying a well earned rest after his victory over Matt in the last event.

Matt is a technician producing high-end audio equipment for the rich and famous. Dash is a civil servant in the department of leveling up. Did Demotime live up to his name, how quickly was he moving his pieces? During their chess game Matt was attacking down the king side but the break eventually came on the queen side. Matt missed a chance to bring his knight into a better position after an initial retreat. He was unable to cause Dash many practical problems and the passive nature of his play allowed Dash to move rapidly and dominate the game. You can see the whole game on the chessboxing database HERE.

In preparing for the bout Matt and Dash played each other twice resulting in a win each. Dash praises Matt’s blitz game and as someone who knows his theory. Listen hard chess nerds, the chat moves into overdrive – discussions of the
Ulvestad Variation, reverse Venco, Ruso gambit and the Benoni.

Dash doesn’t believe that the boxing impacted his chess but he did suffer from pre-bout nerves. Playing chess in the ring was a daunting prospect, but once he made it pasts his intro and off the stage his nerves melted away and he was able to focus on the chess. He even enjoyed Matt’s ring walk.

Matt appeared to be a natural showman and admits that it was the most fun part of the evening. Matt was trying to be as terrifying as possible to undermine Dashiell’s confidence but it only made him stronger, rising to the occasion in a big way. Dash’s confidence was so high in fact, we saw him doing a head wobble in the second round of boxing.

Matt’s boxing was active with good variation in what he was throwing but Dash seemed to weather the storm well. Dash was worries about Matt’s reach advantage and planned to cover up, keep a high guard and allow Matt to throw the majority of punches, counting with an overhand. Round 2; Matt started throwing more to the body, under Dash’s high guard. Matt landed a sweet uppercut resulting in a grunt from Dash following which he didn’t walk back to the correct corner. Matt was waiting for Dash to drop the ball in the chess but it never happened.

Dash did manage to give Matt a leg wobble and one point but could follow up to press his advantage. There was goading on both sides, Matt smashing his gloves together after each overhand from Dash.

It was a complete chessboxing bout, the intros were great, the chess was high level and the boxing was entertaining. Dash manages to catch the Ruth vs Danlie fight which saw them trading a lot of punches. Dash was supporting Gerry but he met his match against Maarten. Shayan went down to Andre and it was a shame it finished so quickly with quite a cheap tactic in the end. Andre was able to get a lot of activity on the board and made it very difficult for Shayan who wasn’t able to make his good start in the boxing count.

Shout out to Dele Martins who cornered Dash and is fighting on our next show on the 7th of October. Dash was also greatfull for advise from cornerman Ralph. Ray Barrow and Caz from his local boxing gym trained Matt even though they had no idea what was happening in the chess. Dash mentioned how effective their advise was given how hard he found the second round.

Matt’s favourite chocolate is Montezuma dark chocolate and also a Boost – absolute filth. No chocolate for Dash, he’s maxing out on the sea food down on Cornwall…

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PODCAST EP118: Maarten ‘Machine’ Kamerling

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The podcast catches up with Maarten ‘Machine’ Kamerling following his victory in London in March. Is he the nicest guy in Chessboxing?

Maarten is fresh from a sketchy club in Amsterdam, showing his friends from Canada what the city has to offer. Was Maarten’s friend even more relaxed that than even him? The pods assesses whether or not Maarten is the most relaxed guy in chessboxing and how stressed Gavin was at the event in March. The fight was Maarten’s first experience of London and the first chess boxing show he has seen or been to in London even though he was made aware of chessboxing via London Chessboxing. Even thought he as the outsider from the Netherlands everyone made him feel right at home.

How do you engender a accepting and welcoming culture in a sport like chessboxing? From Tim Woolgar to a natural filter that mean only a certain type of openminded person is likely to attend a chessboxing event of session. How does Maarten see chess boxing develop in the Netherland? He is organising a fight in Amsterdam in September so watch out for information about that.

Maarten is a freelance marketeer for international businesses including handwriting robots?!! There is a huge market available for chessboxing and the pod talk about the LA and how entertaining it was. Maarten was a boxing referee for some of the bouts. Ludwig Ahgren produced the show and he was able to keep the show fast moving and engaging at all times. Matt Thomas was a commentator on the LA show and Maarten could be commentating in Amsterdam as well as possibly fighting.

What was it like to be part of the LA chess boxing production? Maarten arrived jet lagged and was shocked a seeing people doing meth on the subway! The whole show was incredible and over the top, bigger, better and more outrageous than anything else. The arena was huge, at the Galen Centre with massive screens and a huge audience on line.

The pod goes on to talk about Maarten’s fight with Gerry Anderson which is posed on www.chessboxing.info. Maarten was relaxed going into the middle game but lost his rook and was annoyed with himself not Gerry going into the boxing with an aggressive facial expression to match. There are a few other boxers who have a very angry face whilst boxing including Mark “Essex Bomb” Sidwell. Because of the chess he had to come out strong in the boxing to ensure that he got the win. Gerry is a tough guy and he’s from Glasgow, one of the toughest parts of the UK. Gerry was understandably disappointed that the fight was stopped but it seems that most people agree that it was the right decision.

The pod reminisces about Horse Attack’s outing in London where he took on accomplished chessboxer Nikita “The Razor”. Both fighter showed exceptional boxing skills, Sakari going down on the board via checkmate in the end. Maarten is fighting in Paris and looking forward to seeing Gui deliver another event. Maarten was ribbing Gui at the LA event asking if he was taking notes. Maaten may or may not be coming out to Aqua’s Barbie Girl.

Where did the chant of “Chess, chess, chess” come from? It’s now being hear at different chessboxing event and UFC apparently. Who is the Berserker and why is he like he is, come and body paint the Berserker at our next event!

CBN are back at The Dome on the 7th of October with two Norwegian celebrities including Birk Rudd, an olympic gold medalist. Birk may be more chilled than even Maarten. CBN are looking to do something with Nordic Chessboxing and planning an event in 2024.

What us Maarten’s training regime, how does he manage to maintain such a physique? Find out on the pod… also what is his favourite chocolate bar? What does Maarten like about London and Britain?

A big thank you to Maarten for fighting on the show and we hope to see him again soon.

Shout out to Matt Thomas and Nordic Chessboxing!

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Oktoberfist 23 | 7th October 2023 | British Heavyweight Title Fight

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This October chessboxing will be taken to another level as Olympic gold medalist Birk Ruud takes to the ring. Ruud will take on TV personality Nicolay Ramm and the bout will be the centre piece of an episode of the show Helt Ramme Sporter. The show features Ramm taking on celebrities at unusual and obscure sporting events but he will have his work cut out against the super fit 23 year old olympian. Headlining the event will be a heavyweight title fight to shake the foundations of the World Chessboxing Association; David “Northern Powerhouse” Jarmany takes on Matt “The Minotaur” Coldwell, both with a ELO in excess of 2000 with power to match. Jarmany’s previous opponent “The Bulgarian Beast” Yordan Yordanov will be back in the ring taking on debutant Dele Martins in what is tipped to be a fascinating strategic boxing match between these two heavyweights. As if that wasn’t enough, we also welcome into the ring for the first time two feisty, fisty welterweights so evenly match it’s bound to be a bout for the ages.

Of course we have our usual expert commentary team and all the pizazz and excitement you expect from chessboxing in London. Get you tickets now, the show is almost certainly going to sell out.

WCBA British Heavyweight Title Fight

Matthew ‘The Minotaur’ Coldwell vs David ‘Powerhouse’ Jarmany

Celebrity Bout | Olympic Gold Medalist

WCBA Norwegian Cruiserweight Title Fight

Nicolay ‘Pawn Star’ Ramm vs Birk ‘Busi Boy’ Ruud

UNDER CARD

Nicolay ‘Pawn Star’ Ramm vs Birk ‘Busi Boy’ Ruud

Dele Martins vs Yordan ‘The Bulgarian Beast’ Yordanov

Jack ‘The Reaper’ Sheard vs Oliver ‘The Revolver’ Ye

Pete ‘The Heat’ Keetley vs Matt ‘Crazy Arms’ Read

Tickets for our 7th October show now on sale HERE.

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Chessboxing – try it out!

PODCAST EP117: The Whole Ruth

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This week the pod is joined by Ruth “Insanitea” Slattery and Richard “Berserker” Evans-Lacey. Originally Ruth’s ring name was going to be “Ruth, the whole Ruth and nothing but the Ruth” but it was deemed to be too much of a mouthful.

We learn how other combat sports have a ring girl but in chessboxing we have a ring piece, the Berserker! Ancient chess sets like the Lewis chessmen used to have a berserker in the position of the rook today. A berserker was a type of crack viking warrior that uses to charge into battle wearing nothing than animal firs. They would work themselves into a frenzy by consuming magic mushrooms before battle. That’s wear the word berserk comes from.

Chessboxing is a lot more intense when you are in the moment. Although it looks relatively straightforward from the outside but is a totally different experience in first person. Ruth managed to get a standing 8 count until Jack, Ruth’s coach told her to “F*$ing hit her!” Ruth was thinking about the boxing whilst playing chess which broke down her concentration. It took a while her muscle memory to kick in.

Richard was fighting Andrew “The Pawn Slayer” Smith who was a much better chess player. Andrew gives chess lessons in the training session which give an idea of the gap in ability. Richard opened with the London System in an attempt to make the chess game as boring as possible. However, Andrew managed to off-foot him with his first move.

Ruth suggested that the chess commentators should have to do a round of chessboxing so that they perhaps aren’t so damming in their comments. Although the commentators were not impressed with Richard’s chess, importantly he didn’t mess up and was able to play through to lose on time. He managed two and a half rounds of chess and two rounds of boxing which he was very pleased with. Where was Richard’s speciality hook flurry? Apparently Andrew simply moved out of the way before it could be deployed.

The pod discussed the optics of the first fight, what a great way to start the show. It is agreed that Matthew “The Minotaur” Coldwell is a total legend and loved the event, he can’t wait to fight again. His opponent Dashiell “Demontime” Shaw was nervous before the fight but clearly enjoyed himself. Richard talks candidly about his facing up to the challenge of a physical fight, something he has carried with him for several years. Richard was able to prove to himself that he can fight.

Richard and Andrew rehearsed their WWE style contretemps to set up the fight in the minds of the audience. Andrew had stolen the Berserker’s mushrooms and then provokes the fight by pouring the mushrooms on the floor.

Richard points out that Maarten “Machine” Kamerling was carrying a lot of hotness advantage – “Bloody hell, did you see his muscles!” It looks like Richard will have to get in the man-crush line behind Matt “Crazy Arms” Read. The worst thing about Maarten is that he’s not only talented and good looking but an incredibly nice guy.

The pod discusses what the different weight categories mean in terms of punching power and the dangers of boxing.

Congratulations to Andre “Glenzman” Glenzer, the new WCBA European Middleweight Champion. Commiserations to Shayan “Shah” Zarein Dolab who had the edge in the ring but wasn’t able to defend Andre’s king-side attack successfully in the chess. Andre flew to London in March 2020 only to contract covid meaning he was unable to fight. His previous fight was won in the first round of chess so it was fantastic to see him finally take to the ring. The pod also discussed a new rule change meaning that there will always be at least one round of boxing in any bout.

Will they get in the ring again? Find out at the end of the pod what the Berserker and Ruth though of the replacement berserker (Gavin). This October we will have an Olympic gold medalist fighting on the show – get your tickets!

Shout out to Kate Gilbert.

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PODCAST EP116: Danlei Zhu

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Danlei “Pengting” Zhu talks about her victory in St Patrick’s Day Bash 23.

Danlei was born in China, brought up in Bristol and living in London across the river from Gavin in Canary Wharf. The podcast was recorded just after the London marathon and Ruth, Danlei’s opponent ran the marathon the year before – road work is how she stays fit. Danlei picked up an ACL injury so she swims to keep fit and loves her “bone conduction headphones” where she can listen to music while she swims.

Danlei is a metal trader in the city including precious metals such as gold. Sadly she doesn’t own any gold but she can give you tips on when to buy. The pair discuss the Brink’s-Mat robbery and how it relates to Canary Wharf and the docklands, much of which was developed using the stolen bullion. The heist took place in the 1980 when £26 million in gold was stolen form Heathrow airport, in fact, it was so much gold that as soon as it was stolen it was worth £27 million as the markets moved once the news was out. Although some of the gold was recovered most of it was laundered by purchasing the docklands around Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe. You can watch the dramatisation here on the BBC.

Danlei heard about chess boxing via a google search before heading down to Islington Boxing Club for a training session. Somehow Danlei managed to get onto a short film which won a Louise Theroux competition. Soon enough she found herself in a chessboxing event in front of one of the best chess boxing crowds around. Danlei found the waiting and build up more nerve racking than the actual fight. Luckily she was on first, along with her mates in the audience helped to settle the nerve.

The fight itself followed a well trodden path of initially good chess, with high intensity boxing rounds taking there toll on both players. Danlei wasn’t prepared for the loud music in headphones which she found distracting. The music is played in the headphones so that neither fighter can hear the commentators. The chess was very even, slow and attritional until the middle game when Ruth contrived to get her bishop trapped going a piece down. Danlei missed a rook on pre and the time pressure resulted in the last mistake of the game when Danlei was able to back rank Ruth. You can find the entire chess game at www.chessboxing.info.

During the boxing rounds Ruth did well to weather a flurry of combinations including a repeated shovel hook from Danlei which resulted in a standing 8 count. Danlei was dropping her left hand on occasion and Ruth was able to land several overhands. Both boxers had good punch volume, could Danlei go for 3 minute rounds next time? Maybe if she holds up on the beers and the burgers.

What is Danlei’s favourite chocolate bar? She has a soft spot for Tony’s Chocolonely – shout out to Tony!

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Chessboxing Classes: https://chessboxingnation.com/classes

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Tag: #Chess

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