On Nov. 15 Chess club and Boxing club joined together to create an event that was both strategic and also exhilarating. A battle of brain and brawn was on full display as the two clubs put on the Chess Boxing event at St. Olaf.

The event consisted of three matches, two resulting in checkmates ending the fight and one with a boxing match being the factor that ended the fight. The event was orchestrated within the Lion Pause and consisted of two fighters playing four minutes of chess, then boxing for three minutes within the wrestling ring. While the fighters played chess, there was a video projection showing on the Pause screen of what was happening on the board.

The first fight of the night consisted of a back-and-forth battle of chess and boxing with the battle concluding in a checkmate. The next fight followed suit, with the battle only ending after a checkmate, but when it came to the last fight of the night, it was a different story.

The final fight of the night consisted of a strategic chess game that ended in a pause instead of a checkmate. This then resulted in the two competitors fighting it out in the boxing ring four times. In the end the judges stated that the fight was a draw and the checkmate of the night won the final fight of the night.

On the whole, the event was full of excitement. The unique lighting, fog machines, and committed members of the boxing and chess club made the event all the more fun. As a person who did not know the rules to either chess or boxing, I still found this event to be an interesting event to go to. Everyone in the room could see how much effort it took to be constantly strategic both in the boxing ring and on the chess board, and it was exhilarating to watch.

This event also showed how much people on campus know about chess, which was interesting to find out as someone who thought that the game wasn’t common knowledge. This was an event that seemed like the start of something wonderful, and hopefully something that will stick around for a long while.