Next Olympic Sport…Chess-Boxing?

"Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board." This is the slogan for the Berlin-based World Chess Boxing Organization. With official training clubs in Berlin, London and Sofia, Bulgaria; spokesman Andreas Dilschneider calls it “an intellectual fight club, and the biathlon of the 21st century."

The fastest sport on the rise (rivaling even the popular MMA), the WCBO has attracted the attention of ESPN coverage, and some of the fiercest boxers in the world, from legendary Lennox Lewis to newcomer Yuri Bagalov.

"If you don't know anything about chess-boxing it might seem a strange combination", says Dilschneider, "but if you think about it, in both sports there are many parallels." Just as you can be knocked out in boxing, "you can be in front in chess for 10 or 20 moves. You can build up a very strong position. You can be a very good player. But if for one moment you are not aware, and you make one bad move, the whole game is over."

In a chess-boxing exhibition, two fighters play alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The contest starts with a round of chess, followed by boxing round, followed by another round of chess and so on. The winner is determined by knockout, checkmate, or referee decision.

“Seems like logical path for me,” explains former Extreme Badminton Champion Yuri Bagalov, “I dominate Badminton. It become boring. I come to London to train at their club. I like idea of sitting down for whole rounds. I’m a little fat, yes? This sport is perfect for Yuri Bagalov!”

The chess-boxing combo traces its roots back to a 1992 comic book, titled “The Nikopol Trilogy”, in which the men of the future box on a chessboard floor.

“I don’t read comic books,” exclaims a visibly annoyed Bagalov, “maybe ask baby-man Sazhin.”

Bagalov is referring to the 2008 World Champion Chess-boxer, Russian math student Nikolaj Sazhin, Sazhin, 19, won the light heavyweight division after seizing his opponent's queen in the fifth round of chess.

"Bagalov is a fat blow-hard, and I will take his queen in two moves," Sazhin said, via a translator. "He cannot control his emotions. He is sloppy. You have to be totally cooled down in chess coming out of the boxing round. The adrenaline is the problem. "

Bagalov hopes to meet Sazhin in the ring in upcoming months. “I am ready,” states Bagalov, “I wait in London. I wait with my Natashas and Vodkas. He cannot dismiss Yuri Bagalov forever. When we meet, I will knock him out in first round, and when he is lying there, I will king his crown. That is correct, right? King his crown? In Russia, crown is circle like anus, you know? I will king it!”