Tag: Paterson

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

empire-of-the-sun-movie-poster

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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Chessboxing Season Opener April 12 – Report

 

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Read (left) vs. Paterson

Matt “Crazy Arms” Read vs Gavin “Grievous Bodily Farmer” Paterson 

Kicking off the event was a fight between debutant Gavin “Grievous Bodily Farmer” Paterson and veteran Matt “Crazy Arms” Read. Starting on the board, Paterson made a highly unorthodox Catalan opening with his g-pawn, seemingly putting Read off his stride immediately and the opening was relatively equal, despite the difference in experience.

In the next round, Read used his signature long jabs and Paterson took some punishment but avoided much due to his slippery movement and quick feet – when not chessboxing Paterson plays in midfield for his local football team.

Back on the board, Paterson’s solid opening came to a breaking point when he exchanged light-square bishops, leaving his King vulnerable. He then made things worse by exchanging queens and through miscalculation, giving up a Knight in the process. In the next round Read tried to dominate with his reach but Paterson, clearly the fitter man, was able to slip inside at will and punish his taller opponent.

Round five came and Read’s experience of the club chess circuit began to tell and by the bell had established a crushing advantage. Paterson faced an impossible task under severe time pressure with just seconds remaining on his clock. Determined not to surrender without a struggle he opened Round 6 in in blitzkrieg style and managed to corner Read several times but was not able to find the KO finish he required.

Result: Read won by time penalty in round 7

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Brown (left) vs. Crespo

George “Huggy Bear” Crespo vs “Slick” Ricky Brown

The second bout of the evening was between Ecuadorian George “Huggy Bear” Crespo and “Slick” Ricky Brown from Yorkshire. Crespo, has fought in more than twice as many chessboxing bouts as Brown and also had a slight height advantage.

Once the bout got under way Crespo seemed paralysed by nerves as he allowed his opponent’s Queen to decimate his army almost single-handed. Both fighters displayed excellent boxing skills but Crespo was unable to turn the match around. The avalanche of falling pieces continued and Crespo could do undermine against Brown’s experienced ring craft.  By the fifth round Crespo’s naked King was in a hopeless position and toppled his King to avoid further punishment.

Result: Brown won by submission in round 5

 

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Richard “The Razor” Frazer vs Eduard “The Eagle” Lleshi  

After an exciting interval show supplied by the abundantly talented Hula-artiste Lisa Lottie, the evening continued with Eduard “The Eagle” Lleshi from Albania, facing Richard “The Razor” Frazer from London.

This proved to be one the most exciting contests in chessboxing history, with both contestants showing amazing resilience and courage across 11 breath taking rounds.

Starting on the board, Lleshi moved his pawns into a defensive position on only the white squares turning his side into a game of draughts – an unusual opening. Frazer who had moved his pieces in perfect harmony, saw that the black squares were left undefended and aimed his attack at this weakness.

In the ring, despite this being Lleshi’s first chessboxing appearance, he turned out to be a fierce opponent for Frazer. Hitting out hard at the start of every boxing round Lleshi gained the upper hand. However, Frazer did not panic and switched the advantage around during the latter half of the rounds despite occasional vicious outbursts by his opponent.

On the board Frazer was clearly the better player. While trying to solve the puzzle as to how to move into an end game, he gradually picked off his opponents pieces. This weakened Lleshi’s position and his King got stuck in the middle of the board.

As the bout wore on Lleshi’s powerful outbursts took their toll and his energy started to slip. Frazer cut through Lleshi’s vigorous boxing style and used his reach to good effect.

Then Frazer manoeuvred his Queen and Rooks into position to mate his opponent but just as he was about to finish the game, Lleshi’s time ran out and the bout was settled by time penalty instead.

Result: Frazer won by time penalty in round 11

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Woolgar (left) vs. White

Tim “Hippo” Woolgar  vs Toby “Slowby” White 

After a cancellation by Nick “Showstopper” Cornish, Tim “Hippo” Woolgar offered to step into the ring to fight against debutant Toby “Slowby” White from Priddy in Somerset. White drew the White pieces (conveniently!) and opened with an orthodox King’s pawn advance.  Woolgar responded with his favourite French defence.  White made an early blunder enabling Woolgar to capture a central pawn and cut through White’s defences.

In the boxing it was Woolgar who was the most defensive and he allowed White to come forward with powerful, swinging punches. Using his considerable experience Woolgar moved White around the ring absorbing attacks with a resilient defence,  only occasionally responding with a long right of his own off the back foot.

Back on the board, Woolgar managed to keep his cool and simplified the game, creating an outside passed pawn which White was powerless to block. White played for time forcing another round but leaving behind a hopeless position.

It was only a matter of time before Woolgar would produce a checkmate realising this White gave all his energy in the next boxing round and again, layered on the punches.  Woolgar’s defence held solid and in the next round finished the game efficiently. A great display of boxing by White in his debut and a brave performance from chessboxing founder Woolgar.

Result: Woolgar won by check mate in round 5

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