London wins the title!
Clenched fists, concentrating heads, and feverish fans. For the first time in the history of chessboxing, two groups faced off: The Chess Boxing Club Berlin (CBCB) vs. the London Chess Boxing Club (LCBC), the two first and oldest chessboxing clubs in the world. Six hundred spectators followed the match excitedly, and the mood was terrific from start to finish. London and Berlin each won one of the two undercard matches. The main event was a strong and forceful fight in the ring and on the board until the 7th round.
The star of the night and absolute fan favourite was clearly Berlins Nils Becker (born 1988). With an outstanding Elo rating of 2144 and stamina in the ring, he claimed victory in the second undercard match for Berlin!
Overview of the Bouts
First undercard match: Alex “The Snake“ Troll (CBCB) vs. Tim Bendfield (LCBC)
The first bout of the evening was an even match in the first rounds and was at a high level of chess. Tim Bendfield, playing white, was able to use positional pressure in a Benoni structure in the third round of chess. Alex “The Snake“ Troll looked to seize the upper hand in boxing and was able to win the fourth boxing round on points. In the fifth chess round, Tim countered with an outstandingly played deflection sacrifice and moved to attack the king. Alex saved himself in the sixth boxing round but could not manage a knockout. Right at the start of the seventh chess round, Alex had to sacrifice his queen to avoid checkmate, and he resigned. That made it 1:0 for London.
Second undercard match: Nils “the Berlin Bull“ Becker (CBCB) vs. Nick “the Show Stopper“ Cornish (LCBC)
The second bout could hardly have been more dramatic and was won in the 9th round in chess by the star of the Berlin Chess Boxing Club. Here, too, the match went back and forth in the first rounds, as Nils put the pressure on Nick Cornish with his defensive chess strategy. Nick countered that in boxing and won points in the 6th boxing round. In the 7th chess round came the preliminary decision, when Nick, after an exchange of queens, lost his knight at C5. With only 39 seconds left on the clock, Nick put everything into a knockout in the 8th boxing round, which Nils bravely countered. In the 9th round, the timeout brought Berlin back into the game: Berlin-London 1:1.
The Main Event: Lukasz “Frog Kosowski“ (CBCB) vs. Daniel Lizarraga Rivas (LCBC)
The last bout of the night had to prove who is ahead, London or Berlin! The Berlin newcomer Lukasz “Frog Kosowski“ faced off against the experienced Daniel Lizarraga Rivas. Lukasz started out nervous in chess and had already suffered significant losses by the end of round 1. With experience in over 80 amateur matches, Lukasz dominated Daniel in the first boxing round. Daniel, hopelessly outmatched in boxing, tried again and again to clinch to keep from being knocked out. In the third round came the next surprising turn of events: Daniel, impressed by the many hard punches he had had to take, used his queen, but still had the substantive advantage. In the 4th boxing round came the first-time penalty for Daniel for clinching. Lukasz clearly dominated in the ring but could not manage a final knockout. In the 5th chess round there was another wild exchange of blows. Two moves before checkmate, Lukasz saved himself in the 6th boxing round. Despite a knockout, Daniel managed to make it into the victorious 7th round of chess. Twenty seconds into round 7 came the checkmate for Daniel and the London Chessboxing Club.
With that, the little brother from London surprisingly triumphed over the Chessboxing Club Berlin in his first major bout. In the ring, Iepe Rubingh and Tim Woolgar already arranged a rematch next year in London.
The next major chessboxing night is 10th September in Londons Scala: www.londonchessboxing.com
More information: http://londonchessboxing.com/
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