IEPE THE JOKER 1st WORLDCHAMPION
This was the real thing, no holds barred. Iepe the Joker vs. Luis the Lawyer, Germany versus Holland. The two WCBO-title candidates were supermotivated to sweep their opponent from the board and the ring. Iepe 'The Joker' (29) in everyday life is a well known artist in Berlin. His opponent Luis 'The Lawyer'(30) is a lawyer in Amsterdam. The two Chessboxers each weigh 75 kilogramm, had been doing hard work training for months, and couldn't await fighting for the title of World Champion at the Amsterdam pop-temple 'Paradiso'.see photos Paradiso was packed with around 800 people. The atmosphere was great, people were curious and willing to see the unexpected. It was in the air that something new was happening. The crowd was diverse: people from both chess and boxing world were present (officials, players, chess- and boxlovers), as well as young and nightlife people and people from the artworld. A nice blend of people which was exactly the idea: to bring together certain worlds and cultures that are seemingly different, but then again have more in common than one would think.Iepe (1,80m) was coached by the two Germans Jan Schulz (chess) and Holger Prokot (boxing); Luis (1,85m) had support from the Netherlands by the Vice World Champion in Kickboxing Richard van Altena and chesstrainer Herre Trujillo. The match had two faces: Iepe was much better in boxing than Luis who seemed somewhat paralysed by the tension – overconcentration probably. But Luis was better than Iepe in chess: Luis with the white pieces allegedly punished Iepe for his opportunistic play, and had the advantage of one piece and two pawns. His problem: time. It took him too much time to win his chess game. This added to the drama. People knew Luis could win his chess game with a few more moves, but he didn't make it.
Chess commentators Harmen Jonkman and Dennis de Vreugt informed the audience about the game. The audience could see the time on a big screen as well as the digital chessboard. During the match you could feel the tension in the air. The cheering of the crowd reached a peak of 106 db at the 10th round, which is a boxing round. Who would win, chances in the hands of both players.
The drama came with the boxing: the fact that Luis 'just' needed to survive the boxing. But he got quite a few hits. The referee gave him two counts to eight to make sure he was okay (a third eight counts would have mean technical knock-out and the end of the match). But Luis survived the boxing and had one more round of chess left to win the world title – but alas, mind and body refused to make the right moves in time...
Iepe the Joker won in the 11th and last round of the match. Luis the Lawyer ran out of time and his flag fell.
