The rules are straightforward. One round of chess, one round of boxing. Alternate until there is a checkmate or a knockout. The first time you hear it, it sounds like a joke. The second time, it starts to make a strange kind of sense.

Chessboxing asks something unusual of its competitors. The ability to absorb punishment and then sit down and think clearly. To move between states, from the controlled violence of the ring to the stillness of the board, sometimes within seconds of the bell. Chessboxing makes that tension the whole point, and watches to see which one breaks first.