The sport of chess boxing was invented in 1992 by the French artist Enki Bilal, who thought it up for his comic book, Froid Équateur. The first chess boxing competition took place in Berlin in 2003. 

Chess boxing is a hybrid sport combining the two disciplines of chess and boxing – one mentally demanding, the other physically. The boxing rounds last three minutes and the chess rounds last four. The winner is decided by either knockout or checkmate. If neither of those are achieved, the boxer with the highest number of points wins.

Chess boxing is very popular in Germany, Russia, India and the United Kingdom.