Chessboxing Victory for Leveque and Lizarraga

Chessboxing Victory for Leveque and Lizarraga

Report by Rajko Vujatovic

Chessboxing combines the ultimate mental and physical sports, with alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The position on the chessboard is preserved between chess rounds, so checkmate or knockout wins – whichever comes first! Each player has 12 minutes on his clock for all moves, so there is a maximum of 11 rounds: six four-minute chess and five three-minute boxing rounds.

The night’s line-up consisted of a heavyweight contest between Sergio “The Phoenix” Leveque and Tim Woolgar; a middleweight bout between Spain’s Daniel Lizarraga and Germany’s Sebastian Bauersfeld; and a rookie fight between Englishmen Johnny Higginson and Rob Gillies.

More fantastic pictures on this and previous chessboxing events can be found on the website of photographer James Bartosik.

The Heavyweight Bout – Leveque wins by checkmate in round five

White: Sergio “The Phoenix” Leveque vs Black: Tim Woolgar

The headline international bout was between English heavyweight champion, Tim Woolgar, and the colossal Italian, Sergio “The Phoenix” Leveque.

Chess master Leveque (pictured above with coach Gianni Burci) prepares for his chessboxing debut, marking the final step in his recovery from a horrendous motorbike accident in 2005, when doctors doubted he would ever walk again. Leveque has a clutch of boxing fights under his belt and has played in Italy’s premier chess league; with a chess Elo rating of 2059, he was the favourite to win by checkmate!

Englishman Woolgar, who was also promoting the event, stepped in as a replacement a month before the fight, when Leveque’s scheduled opponent had to withdraw for personal reasons. Woolgar’s Elo has doubled from 800 to 1600 in the past two years, and is still on an upwards trajectory.

Since establishing chessboxing in London two years ago, Tim Woolgar has arguably done more for the profile of UK chess than anyone since Nigel Short challenged Garry Kasparov in London for the 1993 world title! This latest event achieved global media coverage on countless national TV networks, and chess organisers should be encouraged to creatively leverage off this success to raise the profile of the game in the mainstream media.

The game that followed was an excellent example of how the quality of the chess moves mirrored events in the preceding boxing round. Leveque drew the white pieces, which in chess bestows an advantage similar to the serve in tennis. He played the dangerous Wing Gambit to try to smash Woolgar’s French Defence. Woolgar, unfamiliar with the gambit, wisely declined the pawn. Both men were satisfied at the end of the opening chess round; Leveque had a positional advantage, whilst the out-rated Woolgar was ahead on the clock and had successfully defended against being quickly wiped out with the black pieces.

The chess set and furniture were then removed from the middle of the ring and the boxing commenced, when the Italian was slow to warm up and the more agile Woolgar had the upper hand. Then back to the chess; Woolgar solidified his position, frustrated his opponent and even ended the round on move 17 with the slightly more pleasant position, after Leveque failed to exploit Black’s dark square queenside weaknesses. But then Leveque got into his flow, and before the bell he caught Woolgar with a nasty right hook. The Englishman stayed on his feet but was still disorientated at the end of the round. His first move back at the board was a grave error which Leveque punished with bloody carnage uglier than anything ever seen in a boxing ring. The Black king denuded of its defences was checkmated on move 28. Game over!

Leveque,Sergio(2059) - Woolgar,Tim (1600) [C00]
ChessBoxing, London, 13.03.2010 [Rajko Vujatovic]

The following ChessBoxing game is an excellent example of how the quality of chess moves mirrors events in the preceding boxing round. Despite being heavily outrated by the colossal Italian master, Sergio "The Phoenix" Leveque, Englishman Tim Woolgar improved his position after having a better initial boxing round, but the reverse happened after he suffered a setback in the second boxing round. Each player has 12 minutes for all moves. There is a maximum of 11 chessboxing rounds: six four-minute chess rounds alternating with five three-minute boxing rounds. 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4!? The Wing Gambit against the French Defence shows White's aggressive intentions; he is willing to sacrifice a wing pawn to remove one of Black's central pawns. 4...Nc6. Woolgar smells a rat; he is unfamiliar with the gambit and declines the pawn. A great pychological choice which makes the Italian use up a lot of time deciding how best to proceed. Accepting the pawn with 4...cxb4 gives a murky position after 5.a3 Nc6 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 White's pawn wedge on e5 gives compensation for the pawn, and play may continue 8...f6!? 9.Bd3 fxe5 10.dxe5 Qc7 11.Qe2 Nh6! unclear.; 4...c4!? is rare but I see nothing too wrong with this way of declining the pawn.

5.bxc5 Bxc5 6.d4 Bb6 7.c3 Bd7. 7...f6 is an interesting concept; however, Woolgar's coach advised him to keep the position closed to make it easier to play. 8.Na3 Nge7 9.Bd3

9...h6! A necessary and profound preparation for castling. The routine 9...0-0? is fascinating as it would be met with the standard 'Greek Gift' sacrifice 10.Bxh7+!! Kxh7 11.Ng5+ Kg8 (11...Kg6 12.h4! gives a devestating attack against Black's naked king, and threatens to win the queen with 13.h5 Kh6 14.Nxf7+ Kh7 15.Nxd8. After, for example, 12...Qc8 one of many ways to continue the attack is 13.Qg4 (13.h5+ Kh6 14.Qd3 Nf5 15.Nxe6+ Kh7 16.Qxf5+ Kg8 17.h6 fxe6 18.Qg6 also wins) 13...Nf5 14.h5+ Kh6 15.Nxf7+ Kh7 16.Qg6+ Kg8 17.Ng5 Rd8 18.Qf7+ Kh8 19.h6 Nxh6 20.Rxh6+ gxh6 21.Qh7#) 12.Qh5 with a mating attack. 12...Re8 13.Qh7+ Kf8 14.Qh8+ Ng8 15.Nh7+ Ke7 16.Bg5+ Nf6 (16...f6 17.Qxg7#) 17.Bxf6+ gxf6 18.Qxf6#; 9...Na5 is objectively best, but such ideas come only with grandmasterly experience of the French Defence. Woolgar has been taught not to move a piece twice in the opening, and that a 'knight on the rim is dim'.

10.Nb5 Bc7. End of round one (chess) leaves the higher rated Leveque with the better position but not the knockout blow he's looking for. Woolgar gets the better of boxing round 2 and then back to the chess! 11.0-0 a6 12.Nxc7+ Qxc7 13.Re1 0-0 14.Bf4? This is the wrong diagonal for the bishop which belongs on a3 to exploit the weakened queenside dark squares. Black now has a fine position. [14.Ba3!+/=]

14...Ng6 15.Bg3 Na5! 16.Rc1 Nc4 17.Qe2 Bb5! End of round three (chess). Woolgar finishes the chess round having expertly regrouped his pieces and outplayed the Italian master. Brilliant stuff from the underdog! 18.h4

18...h5?? Moments after being on the receiving end of a vicious right hook, Woolgar begins the chess round with a blunder! Although he played this move in seconds, he later reported that he felt he was thinking about it for a very long time! 18...Na3! exchanges White's dangerous light-squared bishop, without which any kingside attack is merely illusory. Black has a queenside positional advantage after 19.Bxb5 axb5! 19.Ng5! Black has no good defence to Qh5, threatening Qh7 mate! From this point on, the carnage on the chessboard is as ugly as anything ever seen in a boxing ring! 19...f6 20.exf6 gxf6 21.Bxc7 fxg5 22.Bxg6 Rf7 23.Qxh5 Rc8 24.Bxf7+ Kf8 25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Qxc8 gxh4 27.Bh5 Bc6 28.Qd8#. Sergio Leveque wins by checkmate in round five. 1-0. [Click to replay]

The crowd gasps at the sight of blood on the board


Joe Riley used to coach the legendary Mike Tyson

Joe now imparts his expertise to the slightly smaller-framed contenders at the London ChessBoxing club. “I saw that checkmate a mile off”, he said. “Tim should have forced the exchange of light-squared bishops, and then he’d be laughing, since White has no attack.” It’s always so much easier being a kibitzer!

As always, the interval entertainment at a chessboxing event was itself worth the ticket price! Finnish Hula Hoop artiste Tiina Tuomisto performed mind-boggling contortions, whilst gyrating the hoops about her person in a paradoxical arrangement of orthogonal planes. Hula chess queen Jennifer Shahade should take note!

Then Count Indigo showed us what he could do with his vocal chords. The Count is
reputedly related to surrealist artist Salvador Dali.

The Middleweight Bout – Lizarraga wins on boxing points victory after 11 rounds and a chess draw

White: Daniel Lizarraga, Black: Sebastian Bauersfeld


The middleweight clash featured two highly toned athletes, “The Man From Pamplona”
Daniel Lizarraga (right) against Berliner Sebastian Bauersfeld.

Bauersfeld was born to be a chessboxer – his grandfather was a chess master whilst his father was a former GDR boxing champion. Furthermore, he has a lucky name – Bauersfeld means ‘pawn square’ in German, literally ‘farmer field’. Lizarraga was looking for his second chessboxing victory. At his debut in December 2009, he narrowly defeated Bauersfeld’s stable-mate, Sascha Wandkowsky, by a points decision which went to the wire.

In the most tense match of the night, Lizarraga played the Fantasy Variation against Bauersfeld’s Caro-Kann. The chess advantage swayed back and forth – as soon as one fighter obtained the advantage, the other would doggedly defend until fortunes swayed. The tension ratcheted up every round and the crowd avidly followed the chess on the big screen.

Finally, the chess referee (and your author) declared a draw in round 11, when after a gruelling 76 moves, both fighters were each left with only a rook and king. [Click to replay the chess game]

Interspersed with the chess were five enthralling boxing rounds, where attack and defence ebbed and flowed just as in the chess game. Without a knockout, and with the chess a draw, the boxing points decision was awarded to Lizarraga.

Bauersfeld (left) is the first to congratulate the Spaniard, who
proudly returned to Pamplona with victory and a black eye!

Lizarraga,Daniel (1650) - Bauersfeld,Sebastien (1650) [B12]
ChessBoxing, London, 13.03.2010 [Rajko Vujatovic]

Each player has 12 minutes for all moves. There is a maximum of 11 chessboxing rounds: six four-minute chess rounds alternating with five three-minute boxing rounds. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3. The Fantasy Variation! Lizarraga loves gambit play, but Bauersfeld is a solid guy who prefers to avoid complications. 3...dxe4 4.fxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.Nf3 Bh5 9.0-0 Bg6 10.Qe1 e6 11.Bg5. 11.e5! is a thematic idea, when White is clearly better after 11...Nfd5 12.Ne4+/–. 11...Be7. End of round 1 (chess) 12.Ne5??

White makes an error the first move after the boxing. 12...Qc7?? Black thinks...and thinks... but incredibly doesn't notice he can win a piece! Those punches really must have an effect! 12...Qxd4+! 13.Kh1 Qxe5 would win a pawn & knight, thus leaving White 4 whole points ahead. 13.Bf4 Bd6?? 14.Nxg6! hxg6 15.e5! Nh5 16.exd6 Qd7 17.Ne4 Rd8 18.Nc5 Qc8. End of round 3 (chess) 19.Bg5? [19.Nxe6!! fxe6 20.Bxe6 is curtains for Black!] 19...Rxd6 20.Qe3 Nd5 21.Bxd5 Rxd5 22.c4 Rd8 23.Rf2 [23.Bxd8!] 23...0-0 24.Raf1 Rd6? End of round 5 (chess) 25.Bf4? White is having a touch of nerves, and finding it troublesome to finish his opponent off. [25.Be7!] 25...Rdd8 26.Ne4 Rd7 27.Nd6 Qb8

28.Bg3?? [28.Nxf7! Nxf4 29.Ne5+-] 28...Nxg3! With this move, the tables are turned. 29.Qxg3 Qxd6 30.Qxd6 Rxd6–/+ 31.Rd1 Rfd8 32.Rfd2 c5 33.d5 Kh7 34.Kf2 Kh6 35.Ke2 Kg5 36.Rf1 f5 37.Kd1? [37.Rfd1-/+] 37...exd5 38.cxd5 Rxd5 39.Rxd5 Rxd5+ 40.Kc2 b5 41.Re1 Rd7 42.Re5 Rc7 43.Kd3 c4+ 44.Kc3 a6 45.Kb4 Kf6 46.Rd5 Rc6! A beautiful consolidating move to defend Black's weaknesses 47.Rd2 End of round 7 (chess) 47...g5 48.Rf2 g6 49.h3 Ke5 50.Kc3 Rd6 51.Re2+ Kf4 52.Rf2+ Kg3 [52...Ke3! 53.Rf1 Rd3+ 54.Kb4 Rd2-+] 53.Re2 a5 54.a4 Rd3+ 55.Kc2 Rb3 [55...b4!] 56.axb5! Rxb5 57.Kc3 Rb4 58.Rd2 f4 59.Rd5 Rb3+?! [59...Kxg2 60.Rxg5+ Kxh3-+] 60.Kxc4 Rxb2 61.Rxg5+ Kh4? [61...Kh2!!-+] 62.Rxg6= a4 63.Ra6 Ra2

64.g4?? Kxh3. 64...fxg3!–+ I have played both players and can vouch they know the en passant rule. Crazy time confusion and a huge shot of adrenaline in the bloodstream leads to chess excitement that's unique to chessboxing. That's why the crowd love it so much! 65.g5 Kg4 [65...Rg2!] 66.g6! a3?? 67.Kb3 [67.g7!!+-] 67...Ra1 68.Ra8 Kg3 69.Rb8?? Kf3?? Black was running extremely low on time. [69...Rb1+-+] 70.Rd8 Kg4 71.Rg8? End of round 9 (chess) [71.g7!] 71...Kg5 72.g7 Kg6 73.Rf8 Kxg7 74.Rxf4 a2 75.Kb2 Rg1 76.Kxa2 Although Black had 20 seconds remaining compared to White's 3 minutes, the chess referee steps in and declares the game a draw in round 11. The fighters hug each other. Then the boxing referee gives his points decision on the preceding 5 boxing rounds. And the winner is... LIZARRAGA!!!!!! 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

The Rookie Bout – Higginson wins in round 7 (chess)

White: Rob Gillies Black: Johnny Higginson

The welterweight rookie encounter was between two chessboxing enthusiasts.

TV producer Rob Gillies (right) was making a programme on his chessboxing adventure, as well as raising money for ‘The Railway Children’, a charity which helps runaway children. Johnny Higginson (left) is political editor of London’s Metro newspaper, and last year interviewed Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his residence, 10 Downing Street, prior to the G20 conference in London. Higginson has also written a satirical play, ‘Stiffed!’, on the UK’s political Expenses Scandal, which will run in London’s Tabard Theatre from 14 April 2010, in the run-up to the general election.

Both Higginson (pictured above) and Gillies were on the lower rungs of the competitive chess ladder. This was fantastic for the general public, who could easily understand what was going on by simply counting the pieces.
As usual the fight started with the chess; Gillies was White and played an unorthodox opening attack with his queen. If 2.Qh5 were to lead to a quick checkmate, it would go down in history as The Boston Dome Attack! Higginson, however, thwarted those ambitions by chasing the queen away. After further adventures over all corners of the board, the excitement peaked in round three when Higginson carelessly lost his queen but recaptured it a few moves later with a cunning trick – he had disguised his queen’s bishop as a big pawn! From covering Westminster’s political machinations, he has clearly learnt how to get himself out of a scrape!

Then back to the boxing, where the fitter Gillies showed plenty of pluck against the
taller Higginson, knocking him down in round four.

In round five, Higginson gained a decisive advantage on the board with a knight fork and was destined to queen a passed pawn. Gillies knew he needed a KO in round six and came close to doing so when an exhausted Higginson ran out of steam. But the parliamentary journalist survived and mopped up chess victory in round seven. Higginson will undoubtedly have something interesting to talk about the next time he meets the Prime Minister! Click here to replay the game.

Gillies,Rob (800) - Higginson,Johnny (800) [C00]
ChessBoxing London, 13.03.2010 [Rajko Vujatovic]

This game is a real curiosity in a duel that showed more twists than an Agatha Christie novel! Johnny Higginson is the talented young political correspondent of London's Metro newspaper, whilst Rob Gillies is a successful TV producer. Both gentlemen are keen casual players new to competitive chess, and had taken up the chessboxing challenge to make all their moves in 8 minutes. This was accelerated chessboxing with a maximum of 7 rounds: 4 chess rounds and 3 boxing rounds. 1.e4 e6 2.Qh5 An eccentric opening from TV producer Gillies, who was making a light-hearted documentary on his chessboxing initiation. 2...g6 3.Qf3 d5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Bd6?

6.Bxd6? 6.e5! is a nice fork. 6...Qxd6?? 7.d4?? [7.Qxf6!] 7...0-0?? For several moves, both players remain blissfully unaware that White can win a piece with Qxf6, whilst Black has ...Nxe4 at his disposal. 8.Bb5 c6 9.Ba4 b5 10.Bb3 Na6 11.Ne2 Nb4 12.0-0 Ba6 13.Nf4 dxe4! At last... Black notices the danger before White! 14.Qe3 Ng4 15.Qxe4 End of round 1 (chess). 15...Rae8 16.c3 Nd5 17.Nd2?? Nxf4! The wily political correspondent wins a knight. 18.h3 Nf6 [18...Ne2+!! is an advanced combination for this level, but could've ended proceedings after 19.Qxe2 Qh2#] 19.Qf3 b4 20.Nc4 bxc3?? 21.Nxd6! In the chaos, Black blunders his queen. 21...Ne2+ 22.Qxe2?? White offers to return the favour. 22...Bxe2! The Black bishop looked like a big pawn on the wings, but now comes into its own. 23.Nxe8 Bxf1 24.bxc3?? [24.Nxf6+! keeps White well ahead since the capture comes with check.] 24...Nxe8 25.Kxf1 Nf6 26.Ba4 Rc8 End of round 3 (chess). After an extraordinary melee, the chessboxing gladiators have reached complete material balance. 27.Rb1 Ne4 28.c4??

28...Nd2+! The final turning point nets a rook. From this moment on, Higginson hammers home the advantage. 29.Ke2 Nxb1 30.Bc2 Na3 31.Bd3 a5 32.f4 f6 33.d5 cxd5 34.cxd5 exd5 35.Ba6 Rc2+ 36.Kd3 Rc5 37.Bb7 g5 38.fxg5 fxg5 39.Kd4 Rc4+ 40.Kxd5 h5 41.Kd6 Rc2 42.Bd5+ Kg7 43.g4 Rc3 44.gxh5 Kh6 45.h4 gxh4 46.Bf7 h3 End of round 5 (chess). 47.Bd5 h2 48.Ke7 Rc1 49.Kf8 h1Q 50.Ke7 Qxd5 51.Ke8 Re1+ White is close to being mated so resigns. Johnny Higginson is the winner! 0-1. [Click to replay]

Pictures by James Bartosik

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