Matt 'Crazy Arms' Read 
-vs-
Tim 'Hippo' Woolgar 


St George's Day Chessboxing Tournament 2009 - 23 April 2009
Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London

In the amateur fight Tim Woolgar faced Matt ‘Crazy Arms’ Read. This contest was notable as the world's first ever Amateur chessboxing bout, where headguards and large gloves are worn as in standard Amateur boxing. It's far more difficult to stop your opponent with this level of protection, thus favouring the chessplayer. Compared to professional chessboxing, the combatants each have 6 minutes to make all moves instead of the normal 12 minutes. Each chess round lasts 3 minutes instead of 4 whilst each boxing round is 2 minutes instead of 3; so there is a maximum of 4 chess rounds and 3 boxing rounds. But it didn't take that long. In round 3 Tim Woolgar claims a win when Matt Read makes an illegal move, failing to defend his king from a long-range queen check. But both players have been briefed that the rules of chessboxing don‟t allow forfeiture after the first illegal move. So a delighted Matt „Crazy Arms‟ Read wins the world‟s first ever Amateur chessboxing bout!
W
L
Matt 'Crazy Arms' Read Name Tim 'Hippo' Woolgar
0-0-0 W-L-D 1-1-0
30 Age 47
200 cm Height 188 cm
77 kg Weight 98 kg
203 cm Reach 195 cm
1850 ELO 1400
England Country England
Welwyn Garden City, England Hometown East Ham, London
Islington Boxing Gym Gym Islington Boxing Gym
Professional Landlord Job London Chessboxing founder & director

Read wins via chess - disqualification (Round 3)

[Event "St George's Day Chessboxing Tournament 2009"] [Site "Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London, England"] [Date "2009.04.23"] [Round "2"] [White "Matt 'Crazy Arms' Read"] [Black "Tim 'Hippo' Woolgar"] [Result "*"] {An Amateur chessboxing bout so each player has 6 minutes for all moves. There is a maximum of 7 rounds: four 3-minute chess rounds spliced with three 2-minute boxing rounds.} 1. b4 {Matthew 'Crazy Arms' Read lives up to his nickname and plays the Orangutan Opening.} e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Be2 Be7 6. d3 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 Rc8 9. Nbd2 c5 10. a3 d5 $2 11. Nxe5 $1 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 {White is a pawn up.} Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. bxc5 Rxc5 17. Nc4 Re8 18. Rab1 b6 19. Rfc1 Rec8 20. Rb4 $4 Nd7 $2 (20... b5 $1 {wins a piece, a tactic both players miss over the next couple of moves. Bear in mind this is a 6 minute game where the adrenalin levels are off the scale from the prior round of boxing.}) 21. h3 $2 a5 $2 22. Rbb1 $2 Qe6 $2 23. Qd2 $1 b5 {Too late!} 24. Nxa5 Rxc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 26. Qxc1 g6 27. Qc8+ Kg7 28. Qc3+ Kg8 29. Nc6 Qa2 {The moves get rather random from now on. Woolgar is down to his last minute whilst Read matches his speed to keep up the pressure.} 30. Nd4 Qb1+ 31. Kh2 Qf1 32. Qd2 Nf6 33. Nf3 Qa1 34. Nd4 Qxa3 35. Nxb5 Qa8 36. d4 $2 Qb8+ $1 37. g3 {Here Read tried to first play the illegal Qa5. Woolgar stood up pleading for a win with his arms but Chessboxing rules differ from FIDE blitz laws. As there is a paying audience, it wouldn't be great if the first illegal move suddenly stops the contest. It's conceptually similar to a punch below the belt.} Qxb5 38. Qc2 Ne4 $2 39. Qxe4 Qb1 $4 40. Qxb1 {Black resigns in the final round.} 1-0