Tag: EVENTS

October 11 – International Chessboxing ‘Crazy Horses’!

LCB_Crazy Horses_Poster v1.5

International Chessboxing ‘Crazy Horses’!

HOT FOOD AVAILABLE IN THE FOYER

Saturday, October 11th 2014 at Scala, King’s Cross

THREE TITLE BOUTS

WCBA European Title : Sergio Leveque (Ita) V Darius Rolkis (Lit)

WCBA Women’s UK Title : Zena “The Technician” (UK) V Maya “The Magician” Hayes (UK)

WCBA Middleweight Title : Dymer Agasaryan (Arm) V Kalidas Bagato (Lit)

PLUS UNDERCARD

PLUS

DJ BUSHMAN, IM MALCOLM PEIN, LIVE CABARET AND AFTER PARTY!!!!

VIP tickets include a generous supply of free cocktails as well as a private bar and viewing area.

Food and drink available all night.

Doors: 6.30pm  Entertainment from 7.30pm First Bout 8pm Last bout 10.30pm Closes 2AM

 

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May 22 Oracle Chessboxing Gala – the results

On Thursday May 22 the very first Chessboxing Gala took place in the City of London. The black-tie dinner show was hosted by Oracle Cancer Trust to raise money for head and neck cancer research. Highlight of the night was of course the entertainment, provided by our team of first class chessboxers that all put on the fight of their careers.

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June 14 – ‘The Italian Job’ International Chessboxing Spectacle

June 14 The Italian Job poster

New fight announced!

Terry Marsh    vs   Chris Powell

Click here to find out more!

We’re back at the Scala nightclub with a special night of entertainment featuring the ultimate England V Italy showdown, chessboxing followed by a late night live screening of England’s opening game of the World Cup Finals against Italy in Brazil.

Demonstrate your love of all things Anglo-Italian enjoy the most spectacular chessboxing night of the year then watch the match live on the big screens at our after-party but please remember; “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”

On team England we are proud to have Karl ‘Hustler’ Ouch. While residing in Swansea, Wales he is excited to represent England against Giuseppe Grasso from Italy. With his extensive experience of both disciplines Grasso might cause a shift in Ouch’s winning spree. With his impressive Elo rating of over 2300, Ouch is expected to try and out play his opponent once more on the board. Will Grasso have enough experience to make a dent in the Hustler’s record?

We also see the return of George Crespo, who already has two fights under his belt in this season alone. Currently living in London, Crespo will come out for England with the Italian Raffaele Nigro as his opponent. Both fighters have a high standard of boxing so we are predicting to see some quality boxing moves for this exciting chessboxing bout.

Plus undercard and cabaret interval!

Venue: Scala, Kings Cross, London

Doors open: 7pm
Chessboxing: 7:45pm – 10:30pm
Football live kick-off: 11pm

Closes: late

 

Get your tickets here!

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May 16 Yellobric Fundraiser – the results

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.

Matt Read

By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk

Gavin Paterson

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

Toby White

By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk

Karl Ouch vs Toby White

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

Dymer Agasaryan

By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk

Dymer Agasaryan vs Darius Gelezinis

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

James Pope

By Justinas Vabuolas © www.fabulousimagery.co.uk

George Crespo

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

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Come join us tonight for the sensational Yellobric fundraiser!

Want a night out you’ll never forget?

Come join London Chessboxing and Yellobric TONIGHT for a sensational evening of entertainment, chessboxing and more!

Tickets will be available at the door (cash only) and there will be food and drink all night.

The event will be held at the magnificent Chelsea Old Town Hall on King’s Road, a beautiful ballroom built by the Victorians.

Funds raised at this spectacular event will go to Yellobric, a charity which supplies reading materials to children in sub-Saharan Africa. For only £75 Yellobric can supply a whole library of books and help empower the future generations.

Doors open at 7pm, the event starts at 8pm and finished around 11pm

For more information and the line-up click here

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Haunts and hit movies at Chelsea Old Town Hall

While pictures say more than a thousand words, photographs come nowhere near to telling the whole story of the magnificent Chelsea Old Town Hall.

The beautiful Victorian hall, built in 1885, didn’t go unnoticed by some famous filmmakers. With its splendid original oil paintings, elegant marble columns magnificent chandeliers, the Chelsea Old Town Hall was used several times as a backdrop for box office hits.

 

Scroll down for a Chelsea Old Town Hall ghost story!

Juggernaut – 1974

Juggernaut

Many of the scenes on board the Britannic luxury cruiser were filmed in the corridors of the Chelsea Old Town Hall. The film’s director was Richard Lester.

Empire of the Sun – 1987

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This film by Stephen Spielberg was nominated for six Oscars and won three BAFTAs.
During the shoot, the Spielberg fell asleep in the main hall and one of the building porters actually woke him up and asked him to leave because he thought he was a rough sleeper.

 

Up The Junction – 1968

Up The Junction

A film by Peter Collinson.

 

Ghosts in Chelsea

The Chelsea Old Town Hall is clearly a special place with its rich history and impressive architecture. Some have even claimed that it is haunted. The venue manager who has worked there for over 20 years has heard and seen many strange things and peculiar incidents.

One event in particular has sparked his believe there might be something weird going on at this place. A waitress was once said to have had a conversation with an man dressed as an admiral. But the next moment he was nowhere to be seen again and seemed to have disappeared…

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Whether you fancy yourself a ghostbuster or not, do you really need another reason to come join us at Chelsea Old Town Hall on Friday May 16? How about the promise of a chessboxing spectacle raising funds for an amazing cause, Yellobric!

Get your tickets here now:

 

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Report: International Chessboxing – Season’s Climax December 14

By Myriam Dijck

After having one of the most exciting years in chessboxing so far, 2013 was concluded with a worthy season climax chessboxing spectacle. The crowd was as keen as ever to see some of their favourite fighters enter the ring and take on the chessboxing challenge. Here are all the highlights of the night in Scala and the blow-by-blow results.

After a swinging warm up from Count Indigo, the night kicked off with a fight between Jorge ‘Huggy Bear” Crespo and Nick ‘Showstopper” Cornish. The stats of both fighters showed a close match-up on paper, but in the fight it became clear they employed quite different tactics.

Crespo, being strong on the board, opened aggressively attacking Cornish with his rooks. The next round, in the boxing, Cornish gained the slight upper hand by landing some heavy shots and punishing Crespo with a more measured attack. Back to the chessboard, Crespo failed to cut through Cornish’ defence and started to lose valuable minutes on the clock.

Next round, Cornish managed to control the centre of the ring and while Crespo was lagging behind in the board, he wasn’t able to make up for it in the ring. In the next round of chess, Cornish upped his pace, going for the attack, but Crespo kept his defence strong, picking off his opponent’s pieces one by one. Cornish’ queen, who had been standing unused in the corner, finally came in action. Crespo was not only threatened by Cornish’ moves, he was also running out of time.

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Back in the ring, Crespo needed to go all out to secure a win, but Cornish – who was still doing the cleaner work – never looked threatened by him. Back on the board, Crespo’s time was against him. As Cornish was mounting several bold offences, Crespo’s chess became increasingly desperate with many of his pieces locked in behind a line of pawns. Crespo’s time was quickly ticking away and as his clock hit, zero he lost the bout. Winner Cornish, improved his record to 3-2. Despite showing an improved jab and some better head movement, Crespo suffered a 3rd consecutive loss and he will have to go back to the drawing board to snap his losing streak.

With only one fight under his belt and an Elo rating of 1300, Richard ‘The Razor” Frazer had much to make up for against his veteran opponent Tim “CSI” Bendfeldt. The German, with an Elo of over 2100 went into the game with a comfortable winning record of 4 wins, 2 losses.

In round one, Frazer took the upper hand. Despite Bendfeldt’s chess experience, he quickly lost two key pieces, including a bishop. In the ring, during the next round, Frazer was confidently taking the upper hand over Bendfeldt who was struggling with his footwork, getting peppered with shots and often found his back against the ropes.

Back on the board, Bendfeldt built up a comfortable time advantage to over 2 minutes. While he was building up a solid defence, it looked like he was also trying to run out Frazer’s clock. The next round, Frazer went back to maintaining the boxing edge, landing strong right hands, again pushing Bendfeldt against the ropes. Bendfeldt appeared to be playing a style of rope-a-dope, staying on the defensive, trying to avoid Frazer’s shots.

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In the following chess round, Bendfeldt quickly secured the initiative and checked Frazer’s king. Frazer desperately tried to counter Bendfeldt’s trap but Bendfeldt moved in for the final blow and check mated his opponent with one last manoeuvre. Frazer lost on the board in round 5.

After a spectacular intermezzo of entertainment with the hoola hoop girls, the night moved on to evening’s main event. Popular newcomer James “The Chelsea Chainsaw” Pope was matched up with chess virtuoso Karl “The Hustler” Ouch with twice Pope’s Elo rating. Ouch, born in France started his game with a frantic pace and forced an early check. His attack was blocked however by Pope who rapidly found himself falling behind on the clock against his opponents swift pace.

In the ring, Pope was adamant to make up for the shortcomings on the board, and opened with high volume punches. In his haste, Pope throws a shot to the back of Ouch’s head and is warned by the referee. Ouch, who is now doing the cleaner work and landing the better shots, quickly adapted to Pope’s explosive tactics. In the excitement, Pope appeared to land an illegal head but, prompting a second warning from the ref in one round.

Ouch vs Pope December 2013 Chessboxing Season Climax

Back on the board, Pope looked indecisive and was both behind in time and chess pieces. With bold attacking moves, Pope began to dominate the board, but appeared to be losing his pieces. Back to the ring, Pope started opening up with some heavy shots, forcing Ouch up the ropes. Pope was just laying on the leather, beating his opponent to the punch as Ouch tried to keep range and survive the round.

During the following chess round, both fighters looked exhausted from their fast paced boxing. Ouch was far ahead on the board, and had a significant time advantage and appeared to be running out his opponent’s clock. Pope, with all his pieces stuck in the corner managed to ward off some of Ouch’s attacks. With only 27 seconds on the clock, he just survived the round and it was clear he would be looking for a knock out to take the win.

The fighters both opened with brief exchanges and repeated clinching. The frantic pace of the last round and their aggressive styles quickly began to show on their faces, however Ouch – likely sensing victory on the board, began to open up and landed the heavier and faster shots against an exhausted Pope. The round ended, without a finish, and Pope knew he was about to lose on time. Ouch was trying for a final check mate, but it was the clock that ran out first. Ouch won by time penalty in round seven. Despite his loss, Pope made a strong debut and looked elated after his first chessboxing fight and a thrilling finale.


Overview of the results from “International Chessboxing – Season’s Climax”

George Crespo Vs Nick Cornish. Winner – Cornish, Time Penalty

Richard Frazer Vs Tim Bendfeldt – Winner: Bendfeldt, Checkmate

Karl Ouch Vs James Pope – Winner: Ouch, Checkmate

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The Wild Bulls, October 2013 – Report

by Naqib Qazi

A night of drama unfolded on Saturday night as International Chessboxing took centre stage at the Scala in London’s Kings Cross.

A boisterous crowd was treated to an evening of cabaret, pomp and sheer chessboxing excitement.  The event saw top-class talent from across the globe, pit their might and wit against each other in a night of  incident and controversy that will live long in the memory with four bouts that pushed the boundaries of mental and physical prowess to the limit.

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Brown (left) establishes and early advantage

The encounter between Singapore’s Bryan Woon and Yorkshire’s Ricky Brown was the pick of the bunch – a battle that left the Scala crowd gasping in disbelief. The boxing rounds between these two gladiators were action-packed  but evenly matched throughout and the winner was always going to emerge from the rounds of chess – or so it seemed.

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Woon seeks an opening

Both competitors established an early defensive strategy but by round 5, the clock was ticking against Brown with the Yorkshire man having less then 4 minutes on the clock versus Woon’s precious 7 minutes.  However despite the superior time difference, Brown looked to have ground out an advantage which the Singaporean did well to resist.

Then in round 7, Woon began to take control, regaining a queen, as he put Brown on the back foot. The Singaporean was now in complete command and with his eyes fixed  on glory he seemed certain to secure an incredible checkmate win. But at the last moment, calamity! With scant material on the board Brown found himself with no legal moves and not being in check, the referee called for the game to finish in a stalemate.

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Honours even

The Scala crowd looked on in amazement at what they had just witnessed, Woon somehow scraping a draw from the clutches of victory. It was however the most appropriate of outcomes – the entire contest, boxing included, was a well fought out game of strategic chess. There was no clear winner in the majority of the rounds as each man countered and probed waiting for the other to slip up.

So whilst both combatants will no-doubt be disappointed with the result from a personal perspective nobody deserved to lose a contest that will be remembered long after Saturday night, and that will go down in the annals of chessboxing history.

 

Tim Woolgar, founder of London Chessboxing said : “ It was an superb effort from both fighters and I hope to persuade Ricky and Bryan to come back for a  rematch next year.  The Wild Bulls show was an incredible night with four great bouts encapsulating everything the sport is about.  We had  great boxing and some great chess and above all we had a superb atmosphere with the crowd really getting involved and adding their voice to the proceedings. 

 “Chessboxing combines serious sport with a seriously entertaining night out. You have to see to believe and once you’ve been to one night of chessboxing you’ll be hooked for good!”

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The critical moment:  Ouch (right) finds the right move to defeat Tim Woolgar in an high-class game

 

Chessboxing returns to the Scala later this year on December 14th.

 

Fulls results from “The Wild Bulls”:

Karl Ouch V Tim Woolgar: Winner, Ouch by checkmate.

Ricky Brown Vs Bryan Woon: Draw.

Shem Lopez Vs Steve Philp: Winner, Lopez by TKO.

Richard Frazer Vs Jorge Crespo: Winner, Frazer by checkmate.

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George Crespo (left) looks on as Richard Frazer wreaks destruction among the white pieces

 

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