Chess boxing in Berlin

I suspect that deep down I am really not a city girl - I'm too much of a nature lover (and no, city parks don't cut it, however nice they may be). But one great thing about living in the city is that I can discover new cultures (microcultures? subcultures?) right outside my door. Last weekend we somewhat randomly ended up with free tickets to an event that previously I didn't even know existed: chess boxing. Although I am neither a fan of chess or boxing, I found the whole thing completely entertaining and amusing.

Basically, chess boxing involves alternate rounds of chess and boxing, each round lasting 3 minutes. It goes for 11 rounds, and is over when someone either gets a check mate or a K.O. In the case of a tie after all the rounds, the fighter who has more boxing points wins the fight. Let me tell you what it was like.

• In the audience, a strange mix of super fashiony people (who in my mind think of themselves as high society - men in all black suits, women with aggressively high heels), plus nondescript chess fans and typical Berlin hipsters.
• In the middle of the boxing ring, two shirtless, sweaty, muscle-y looking guys, hunched over a chess board. This makes me giggle.

• What also made me giggle: chess as a spectator sport. Mostly because I don't know how to play chess. The chess moves were projected onto a big screen above the ring, and there was a lot of gasping and yelling when somebody did something stupid.
• The boxing was not actually that hard for me to watch...I wasn't really sure going into it. When it was getting a little too brutal for me, I entertained myself by watching others in the audience - a lot of the women were clutching their hands in front of their face and making perplexed grimaces. 
• In the first round there was one clear chess geek whose strategy was to get to check mate as soon as possible and simply survive the boxing rounds. This worked quite well for him against an opponent who was clearly a boxer who knew nothing about chess. One thing I learned on this evening: it's easier to get a check mate than a K.O. All the fights were decided on the chess board.
  

Our conclusion after a night of chess boxing was: chess boxers are on not necessarily particularly good at chess, nor particularly good at boxing (though this Berlin event was no world championship).  Do I need to go back next time? Probably not, especially if I have to pay for the 20€ ticket. But it was a completely entertaining night out. Plus, now I can add this to my life list of "obscure things I have done." (Not actually sure what else is on that list, but now I want to start it...)