Chess is normally known as a peaceful and relatively mental sport. With a single board, and two skilled players, you can expect an average chess game to last 10-60 minutes. Boxing on the other hand is known as a more physical sport. The main goal of boxing is to knock out your opponent, which creates an intense and fast sport. Lepe Rubingh was the first person to think about mixing the two, and creating a sport unlike any other.

A chess boxing match consists of up to eleven alternating rounds of boxing and chess sessions, starting with a four minute chess round followed by three minutes of boxing and so on. Between rounds there is a one minute break, which is used by the two competitors to change their gear.

Matches can be won from either the chess game coming down to a checkmate or forfeit, or the boxing ending in either a stoppage or point decision. The boxing rounds are scored as per a normal boxing match on points. Unless the chess game has seen a conclusion, and this is very rare in the sport, then the game will go to count back on boxing points. In the event that the boxing is a draw then the win will go to the player playing the black chess pieces.

The basic idea in Chessboxing is to combine the most popular thinking sport with the most popular fighting sport into a mixed sport that demands the competitors both mentally and physically. Combining the sports makes both of them separately harder than they were before, by making you box before having to concentrate and focus on a board game.