#Chessboxing

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 Newsletter | Steph’s Packed Punch

If you want to save money on your mother’s day gift, you know which terrible 80’s TV show they’re bringing back (it’s Challenge Anneka) or your following The Big Poo Review (yes that really was an episode) you were probably watching Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 last Friday week. Rubbing shoulder with D-listers like Denise Van Outen, Alan Johnson and turd experts alike, three of CBN’s finest demonstrated the sport to a national audience and even managed to get Steph in the ring as well. The show got in on the St Patrick’s Day bashing and included a Guinness cake shaped like a leprechaun’s hat, a full troop of Irish dancers and Steph herself showing Flatly-eque skills during the introduction of the show.

The show also included Anneka Rice running through the set looking for Steph’s Packed Lunch and cracking jokes about sound man Dave’s massive boom. CBN’s Gavin Paterson was plucky enough to chat on set with the jump-suited heart throb, “When I was 10 I watched you paint Happisburgh lighthouse in Norfolk, it could do with another lick of paint to be honest.” Rice replied, “Well that’s lovely dear, in my eyes you’ll always be a 10 year old boy, what the f*^k is chessboxing?”

If you have nothing better to do you can watch the full episode HERE.

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PODCAST EP115: Andre “Glendzman” Glenzer

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Andre joins us fresh from a sparring session where he has been training against opponents half his age in order to prepare for his fight against Shayan “Shah” Zarine Dolab. Andre will be playing with the white pieces; however, he doesn’t expect that to make a huge difference given the relative chess ratings of the combatants.

The podcast looks back at the pandemic and what that mean for training and staying fit. Getting back to a level of fitness was tough for everyone but Andre feels he is now back to pre-pandemic levels. Andre also played a few games of chess online during the pandemic with chessboxers from London.

Andre has been studying his opponent but isn’t going to be drawn into any trash talking (unfortunately)! He has been impressed with Shayan’s heart and that he in not afraid to box forward. The pod discusses Shayan’s technique and how it has changed over time. Andre has done some combat sports outside of boxing, but boxing is his passion and he has been honing his skills over many years.

Andre has fought in London twice and got as close as possible a third time but contracted Corona virus and was unable to leave his hotel room in London to fight Matt “Crazy Arms” Read in March 2020. Andre’s chessboxing career also incudes a fight with Mike “The Bedfordshire Bull” Bottley 10 years ago. Andre calls out Mike to fight again and reminisces about their fight and how good Mike was in the ring. All he could hear was his wife screaming for Andre to “hit him!” The British audience started chanting Andre’s name during the bout despite his German heritage, that’s when he knew he was in the right place.

The podcast get a little musical Easter egg from Andre half way through, I wonder what that could be?!

From the pandemic chess tournament and his chessboxing career Andre can be seen to be quite a trappy player. This is typical of his chess and how he plays in real life. Andre also plays very quickly and often his opponent will be drawn into playing too quickly and make a mistake. Shayan isn’t into his chess theory but is a savvy street player with a lot of experience in the chessboxing ring, more than Andre.

Andre lives in Essen, Germany and works as a cyber defence consultant for the public sector, a busy guy. He has seen a big spike in cyber threats since the start of the Ukraine war. Many other chessboxers work in the field of AI which is increasingly being used to secure cyber space but Andre’s advise is to focus on the simple stuff in order to stay safe.

Andre has trained with the Berlin Chess Boxing Club but he lives 4 to 5 hours away so he hasn’t been able to do that for too long. Perhaps if Andre can bring back the belt to Essen he could head up a chessboxing club there.

The podcast talks about Mogul Chessboxing and the impact on the sport or whether some of the show was even chessboxing. They speculate about the likelihood of Ludwig doing another show and whether Iepe Rubingh would have been happy to see a playstation as part of a chessboxing show. We are ready of the next show in LA and Andre is keen to fight!

Andre believes that this chessboxing fight will not end in the first round of chess especially now that there is a new rule giving the defeated chessboxer the chance to knockout their opponent in one round of boxing. Also the boxing referee will be able to give time penalties for foul play in the boxing.

Andre’s favourite chocolate bar is still Twix!

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PODCAST EP114: Matriarchal Cows

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Matthew “The Minotaur” Coldwell and the WCBA Mens Light Heavyweight Campion Richard “The Razor” Frazer.

Richard has finally achieved the retirement fight he was looking for beating Dan “The Tax Man” Mayfield is a spectacular headline bout in Christmas 2022. Richard discovered a fork on the king side which lead to a forced mate in two moves. Dan was the favourite in the chess and managed to press his advantage in the opening which Richard wasn’t expecting. Struggling to maintain a poor position it looked all over for Richard in the early stages. After a couple of boxing rounds Dan had gassed himself out and his chess level dropped, allowing Richard to come back into the match.

Who is the better chess player? Richard believes Dan is but not after two rounds of boxing which played out in the bout. Richard believed that Dan’s boxing had improved and he came out with a furious anger – did that impact on his chess game? Dan in the last podcast claimed to have “won the boxing”, referee Reinaldo giving him it on points; however, it also transpires that Reinaldo also told Richard the same. The pod discusses what Chris Eubank would have done in the same situation.

Find out how Matt is preparing to fight Dashiell “Demontime” Shaw who has a much stronger chess rating and the colour draw could be crucial to how the bout develops. Matt was sparring David Jarmany and managed to catch one of David’s overhands with his nose which promptly exploded. David is 104kg and Matt is 88kg so that additional weight may have made the different to his exploding proboscis.

London chessboxers went out to Paris the previous weekend and were lucky enough to be given tickets for Intellectual Fight Club. All the bouts were exceptionally well matched and the production was immense. Richard trained with Valentine and was impressed with his boxing. Val and Xavier were good enough to take us for beers on the Saturday after the show. Sergio La Veque was impressive as always and made short work of his opponent.

Matt sells high quality audio equipment including CD (Compact Disk) players. The equipment is expensive but worth it for your Bentley. Matt’s favourite chocolate bar is a Boost because they’re properly fifthly.

Pod talks about the women’s bout between Ruth “Insanitea” Slattery and Danlei “Pengting” Zhu. It also looks back at the amazing women’s bout in December between Marie and Juliana. Andre “Glenzman” Glenzer has already scored two wins in London, one in the first round of chess, is up against Shayan “Shah” Zarein Dolab. Gerry “The Pacemaker” Anderson from the Islington gym will be fighting Maarten “Machine” Kamerling and high quality boxing bout is expected.

Matt is questioning Dash’s fitness and Richard claims he has retired. However, he would fight Ludwig Arnhem for sure.

What does the pod think about Dan’s cow analogy?

Shout out to Matt Thomas from the US as well as Gui, Val and Xavier from the Chess Boxing Paris.

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WCBA EUROPEAN MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE CHALLENGE

WCBA EUROPEAN MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE CHALLENGE

Shayan “Shah” Zarein Dolab vs Andre “Glenzman” Glenzer

UNDERCARD

Gerry “The Pacemaker” Anderson vs Maarten “Machine” Kamerling
Matthew “The Minotaur” Coldwell vs Dashiell “Demontime” Shaw
Ruth “Insanitea” Slattery vs Danlei “Pengting” Zhu

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Chessboxing Newsletter | Stealth Chessboxing

Despite getting around 4 million views on YouTube the rest of the Internet appears completely unaware of Ludwig’s Mogul Chessboxing Championship. In a growing rift between influencers and reality, ChatGPT said when asked about the event:

“I apologies but I am not aware of any specific event or organization called “Ludwig’s Mogul Chessboxing Championship.” Is it possible that this is a fictional event or one that hasn’t happened yet?”

Eye witnesses claim that the influencer event took place IRL at the Galen Centre in L.A. in front of over 1,000 people. However, speculation is rife that these people were generated using CGI and are fake accounts masquerading as humans. Nikki Holgate, an individually-rendered NPC from Barking commented, “It’s a great gig, I just turn up with my fake boobs and slim waist, occasionally wave and open my mouth like I’m cheering.” Now that Nikki has over 10 million followers from cleaning her flat whilst wearing a novelty hat she is expecting to get a call up for the next influencer event. “I’ve upgraded my software so that I can produce inane streams of consciousness almost indefinitely, I’ll give any influencer a run for their money. I like chessboxing, it’s great.”

Ludwig, allegedly trialling a brand new business model, has claimed the event as a huge successes reporting that it only lost $200,000. You can watch the full 5 hour stream HERE.

Image by Wikicommons

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PODCAST EP113: ChatGPT

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Francesco Silvestrin‘s ring name “The Brainiac Bruiser” was created by ChatGPT. What does Dan “The Tax Man” Mayfield argue about with his Grandma at Christmas? We learn that Dan also attended the famous Allendale town whiskey tar barrels festival at new year.

Felix “Intense” Li – fears and kind at the same time. Francesco had a kebab diner with Felix after their match – yum. Francesco was boxing backwards and handled Felix well managing the distance between them despite Felix having the upper hand for most of the boxing. We also learn how the spotlight and the nerves effected his performance.

Dan’s intro song was Heaven is a Place on Earth, Max “Jocktalk” Gershfield’s entrance theme. Let’s up that Max isn’t too pissed off and wants a re-match – there can only be one fake 80s man? Arguably Dan vs Richard ‘The Razor’ Frazer was the best fight of the night with a dramatic checkmate but is there honour in chessboxing? Not according the Dan Mayfield. Once again Dan claims that our referee Reinaldo Dominguez gave him a win on boxing points. Cow chat, the pod draws parallels between matriarchal cows and The Tax Man.

Who will win chessboxer’s chessboxer? Francesco voted for Andrew ‘Komodo Dragon’ Haworth and Gavin agrees. They were both extremely impressed with his improvement ahead of his fight in May. Dan voted for Matt ‘Crazy Arms’ Read, he has done so much for chessboxing.

Headline bout between Marie ‘Killer Queen’ Obegi and Juliana ‘Kick Ass Baroness’ Baron was a fantastic fight and brutal in parts. It also included one of the best entrances from Juliana, you can see the whole fight HERE. Also discussed on the podcast is Tommi ‘TNT’ Mantysalo vs Anthony ‘Toto’ Bourached, how that fight developed as Tommi grew into the boxing rounds. Will Francesco do it again? It took a lot out of him physically, emotionally and temporally.

Will Mayfiled fight Gershfiled or would Frazer be a better match for Max in the first instance. Yet again Dan claims he beat Max on the boxing, he is undefeated in boxing apparently.

Francesco’s favourite chocolate bar is a Kinder Bueno. Dan doesn’t eat chocolate any more, just beef organs.

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PODCAST EP112: Dina Belenkaya

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Trash talking and smackdown chess. We catch up with Dina ahead of her showdown with Andrea Botez this Sunday in LA.

Dina on Youtube: @TheBelenkaya

Dina on Twitch: @thebelenkaya

Dina on Instagram: @dinabelenkaya

Dina on Twitter: @DinaBelenkaya

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PODCAST EP111: Killer Queen Marie

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“Killer Queen” Marie was brought up in Paris and her family is from Lebanon. An artist, she has asked a member of her studio to draw a full sleeve temporary tattoo in order to strike fear into her opponent – Mike Tyson style.

Marie has a soft spot for Beagles and she shows an sensitive but principled side when talking about
the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

What are her tactics – knockout her opponent, simple. Marie and Gavin talk frankly about the aims of the boxing element of the sport and how it can be possible to beat a much stronger chess player if you can impose yourself in the boxing.

Beagle Freedom Project: https://bfp.org/

Marie’s Art Bio: https://ichantgallery.com/marie-obegi-biography

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