Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Chess boxing

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 118 posts

Re: Chess boxing

#101

Post by TimTheTinker »

lambdadmitry wrote: post #82
Pxtl wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.... of course the champ is Russian. Seriously, the only way this sport could be more Russian would be if they somehow added a vodka-drinking contest round.

That's pretty racist, just so you know.

I’m sick of that label/epithet getting tossed around. No it isn’t. Racism is a prejudiced attitude towards individuals on the basis of their ethnic or national origin. The comment demonstrates none of that.

Seriously, is the world really a better place if we can’t laugh at one another and especially ourselves?

Moreover, it sounds to me like the commenter is showing a decent level of respect (or sportsmanlike admiration) towards Russians in general.

Re: Chess boxing

#102

Post by V-2 »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #61
navalsaini wrote: post #60

I like playing chess and working out. So I combined chess and workouts. There are several variations, * Do X crunches every 2 or 3 moves. * Do X pushups/pullups/situps/skipping/etc every 2 or 3 moves. Disclaimer: I am also creator or a chess variation halfchess.com

What a great game! I lost of course. I like that it makes the next game easier, and that you can play with eight or ten pieces. Did you try with six?

I won fairly easily. The engine is quite weak, it falls for basic tactics (is it custom made?). But, obviously, I assume that's not the point... it's just fun to play :) For a chess player it feels kind of like 2048. Plus, I guess, good exercise for some endgame training.

Re: Chess boxing

#103

Post by sacado2 »

dbasedweeb wrote: post #43
twic wrote: post #14

An operating theory of chessboxing i have heard is that it's really, really hard to play chess very well at all once you've been punched in the head. As such, chessboxing is essentially boxing, with extended breaks between rounds, during which the contenders happen to play chess.

In the words of David Mitchell (paraphrased) Mike Tyson would be a very good chess boxer given that after the first boxing round, his opponent would be unconscious.

And AFAIK, that's the reason why the first round is a chess round.

Re: Chess boxing

#104

Post by sacado2 »

kqr wrote: post #56
miranda_rights wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true. I've also heard that it increases trauma by making a hit hurt less, because the fighter is able to keep going instead of being bothered by more superficial issues (e.g. cuts/bleeding).

That is essentially why boxers wear gloves. In no-gloves boxing, the head is rarely a target because it hurts the hands so bad. But the audience likes to see knockouts, sp gloves come on. I find it distasteful to design a sport around giving a person a knock on the head hard enough that their brain releases control over their body for a while.

Doesn't hurt that much if you punch correctly (and they don't teach that in boxing classes because you always wear gloves), but very dangerous if you don't punch correctly (as in broken wrist, meaning the fight is over for you - not a good idea in a real fight - and anyway you will be handicapped for several weeks).

But then, open-palm strikes are very effective and virtually riskless for the attacker. If you are good at it, you can at the same time strike the opponent's chin and put your fingers in his eyes, but here we are obviously way out of sport's territory and way into aggressive self-defense / violent street fight.

Re: Chess boxing

#106

Post by sacado2 »

boffinism wrote: post #69

I've seen a few chessboxing matches. The thing about boxing is that it's very rare to end by KO (especially at the level of your typical chess-boxer), so it would normally be decided on points. However, because it's speed chess they're playing, and adrenaline is high, it's fairly hard to get all the way to the final round without a checkmate. So every single match I've seen has been won by the better chess player, an…

Anyway, an opponent necessarily runs out of time before all the rounds are over.

Re: Chess boxing

#108

Post by dboshardy »

Anecdotally, I play chess much worse when resting between sets in the gym than when I'm sitting at my desk or on my couch. After a few profoundly stupid moves while playing chess during workouts, I remembered hearing about chessboxing and it making a whole lot of sense given what had just happened to me.

Re: Chess boxing

#109

Post by mstade »

airstrike wrote: post #8
wimagguc wrote: post #7

I went to see one of the championship finals a few years ago, and it is excellent fun. There are two built-in moments which are bound to be awesome: (1) when the box round is over, tension is through the roof, and the boxers are sat down around a chess board with classical music on, and (2) when two steps before a chess mate, the about-to-lose guy has three minutes to beat out all the smart from the opponent. Best sp…

> (2) when two steps before a chess mate, the about-to-lose guy has three minutes to beat out all the smart from the opponent. LMAO... I hadn't thought of that angle... This may have single-handedly convinced me that this the best spectator sport ever

I can confirm this sport is excellent from a spectator standpoint. I also went to see some championship (I think) fights in London a few years ago and having never seen it before I was very skeptical. After the event however, I raved about it to anyone willing to listen – still do, evidently!

Re: Chess boxing

#110

Post by Bartweiss »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #48
_sdegutis wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were days when I had time to exercise for 2-3 hours straight, and I figured I would save time by trying to write some code or invent some app in my head while doing jumping jacks and other workouts. After a few hundred of them, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the counting and making sure my form was okay, and after a while even that took a lot of effort to focus on.

That's the exact reason that I enjoy going to the gym and exercising, especially intervals and other high intensity exercise without long breaks. It's a great way to shut off from work and other things in life for a while. At least for a while, none of that matters, because you're more concerned about your immediate situation. It's the same reason that I enjoy hiking and hunting. No point in worrying about your bills…

There was a great moment recently in Alice Isn't Dead. I wanted to chop it down, but I can't do it justice that way:

There’s this saying, right, wherever you go there you are. And it’s true, there’s no destination far enough that your own faults won’t follow. But what I think the saying misses is that other cliché: it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Because while it’s you who leaves a place, and you who arrives in a place, right? It isn’t necessarily you in between. The you who sits on the road is a different you, one with far less responsibilities. One whose choices have been narrowed down to which exit to stop at, what music to listen to for the next 100 miles. It’s freeing, being taken out of yourself and replaced by this road version. And yes, it’s tiring when you arrive and your worn out, stressed self has to step back into her place, but those moments in between? Those are worth it. Those road hours are the one bit of freedom we get, and the reason we feel like that is because they take away most of our freedom. Sometimes the less options we have, the more free we feel.

I used to be pretty skeptical about the various "constant connectivity is making us miserable!" stories, because my relationship with the various boogeymen listed didn't match the descriptions. I don't compulsively check email, refresh instagram for new likes, or generally let apps send push notifications at all.

These days, I think those stories have real merit, except they're too narrow in their view of the problem. For me, the itch isn't "I should check Facebook", it's the simple knowledge that at any time I could pay bills, order a gift, read a textbook, or otherwise get things done. It used to be that if you were at work or the bank, that's what you were doing; now you can cash a check from the office or finish work from the line at the bank. Even while you're being productive, there's no narrowing of scope to relax your thoughts.

There are lots of tricks to help that, but nothing has ever beaten hiking and climbing for simply forcing me into the present.

Post reply on HN