American fighter takes on German champ in Chessboxing

Press release

Number One Fighting Sport Meets
Number One Thinking Sport

German Champion Fights American for the World Championship in Chessboxing for the First Time On Saturday, November 3, 2007, David “DOUBLE D” Depto and “ANTI TERROR” Frank Stoldt will meet in Berlin. The fight for the world light heavyweight title will take place in the storage area of Tape, one of the most popular clubs in the city.

In Chessboxing, two different worlds from the sports universe meet which push their athletes to the limit, mentally as well as physically. Six rounds of speed chess and five rounds of boxing will take place alternatingly. In a maximum of eleven rounds, the decision will come either through K.O. or check mate.

For the first time in the history of this young sport, an American will challenge Europe’s best chessboxer for the world championship on November 3, 2007:

Coming from San Francisco, David “DOUBLE D” Depto is 30 years old, weighs 85 kilograms (187.4 pounds) and has fought in 30 boxing matches. His chess Elo rating is 1850. Professionally, the trained economist with an IQ of 140 is a manager of a large concern in the pharmaceutical industry.

“ANTI TERROR” Frank Stoldt comes from Berlin, is 36 years old and weighs 84.5 kilograms (186.3 pounds). He has previously fought in 25 boxing matches and was the kickboxing champion of Berlin. He has been an active chessboxer since 2005 and has a chess Elo rating of 2000. He is a police officer and is currently training police forces in Kosovo on behalf of the United Nations. He completed his boxing training in the truly authentic atmosphere of an Albanian boxing club.

Zoran Mijatovic vs 'Anti Terror' Frank Stoldt in April 2006

After former boxing heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis outed himself as a huge fan of Chessboxing, the WCBO, the World Chess Boxing Organization has continued to grow in international popularity and has attracted a large number of new athletes. This new sport is finding especially strong interest in the USA and Russia. The WCBO is preparing for its first international tour in 2008.

The chessboxing evening begins at 8:00 p.m. with two undercard fights. The first undercard fight will take place at the middle weight division: The reigning Prenzlauer Berg champion of the Berlin club cbcberlin, Sebastian Bauersfeld, 23 years old, 74 kg (163,1 pounds), with an Elo rating of 1750, will take on Jan Mielke, the champion of Cologne, 34 years old, 70 kg (154,3 pounds), with an Elo rating of 1600.

In the second fight at the light heavyweight division, Berliner Sascha Wandkowski, 28 years old and 79 kg (174,2 pounds), with an Elo rating of 1850, will take on Marc Breuer from Cologne, 35 years old, 81 kg (178,6 pounds), with an Elo rating of 1972.

The evening will be rounded out with a music and show program which the WCBO will create with its partner from the Berlin label and radio station Motor.de. As a special highlight, a sound score especially composed for chessboxing by top producer JunkieXL will be premiered. JXL is known for his number 1 hit remix of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” which was used for an advertising campaign for the 2002 Soccer World Cup. He also produced for Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Sepultura.

Playboy Germany did a many-page article and blurbed the story on its title

Both the Russian and the Bulgarian editions of Maxim carried major stories

• Official Chessboxing web site
• Chess Boxing: the Tokyo Fight (ChessBase)
• Chess Boxing World Championship (ChessBase)
• Chessboxing on ESPN, Playboy and Maxim (ChessBase)