We’ve jokingly said “Checkmate” right before we’ve watched a knockout scene from one of the boxing greats, but did you know that chessboxing – a hybrid of the contact sport and the old school board game – is actually a thing? Toronto director David Bitton has every intention of letting you know all about the sport that already has a serious cult following in his upcoming documentary, Chessboxing: The King’s Discipline.
The sport was actually invented in Berlin and was inspired by the graphic novel Froid Equateur (Cold Equator) by Enki Bilal, which explains why it’s much better known on the other side of the pond. Chessboxers have to be both skilled boxers and chess players if they stand any chance of winning, since the sport boils down to 11 rounds: six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing. It’s brains and brawn together at last!
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Bitton’s documentary takes viewers inside the world of chessboxing and features interviews with everyone from chessboxers, pro boxers and chess masters to behavioural therapists and sociologists to get better insight into this fairly new phenomenon. About 95% of the film has been shot, but Bitton’s still looking for funding for the post-production of the 90-minute film.
Check out the Kickstarter page for the film to see how you can help him knock this film out of the ring and into theatres.
