The Chess.com staff has been popping up all around the world not too long ago and members of the staff spent final Friday and Saturday selling chess to combined martial arts (MMA) followers in a crossover at UFC X.
Hosted on the 200,000 sq. foot Las Vegas Conference Heart, UFC X was a two-day, immersive fan expertise the place attendees gained unique entry to UFC (Final Preventing Championship) legends corresponding to Dustin Poirier, Holly Holm, and Daniel Cormier, loved reside stage programming, and, for some, the chance to “knock out” Collegiate Chess Founder Joe Lee within the psychological equal of MMA, blitz chess.
The chess activation included a large chess set and several other event boards, and the house served as a hub for ticket holders to return and check out their expertise, play towards associates, or attempt to win prizes for defeating Chess.com employees members.
Whereas UFC and chess would possibly appear to be an uncommon crossover, a number of prime fighters have an affinity for chess and have beforehand drawn parallels between the strategic facets of the 2 sports activities. Former UFC fighter Mark Hunt as soon as stated the next in regards to the royal recreation: “With chess, there’s so many various strikes and you can also make one improper transfer and it units you again a couple of instances. It’s precisely like combating.”
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling can be a chess fan and he took this one step additional when he filmed a YouTube collaboration with the web’s chess trainer IM Levy Rozman, aka GothamChess.
UFC Welterweight Randy Brown, who was featured on the occasion, can be a chess fanatic. Not too long ago, he took up classes with FM James Canty III, which you’ll observe within the video under.
Provided that an estimated 605 million individuals worldwide are stated to play chess usually, it’s no shock that the sport ebbs into different sports activities. Chess.com has already collaborated with The Nationwide Soccer League (NFL), Main League Baseball (MLB), and several other basketball gamers and footballers for the reason that chess increase of 2020.
This crossover with the UFC is merely the start of a string of potential partnerships that can be explored between the sports activities as we transfer one step nearer to determining which sportsperson is the perfect at chess. Different chess-playing UFC champions are Ilia Topuria (present), Israel Adesanya (former), and Tony Ferguson (former).
