the idea was started in 1992 by cartoonist enki bilal, and a match of chess boxing was a big story part of his graphic novel "froid équateur". iepe rubingh, a dutch artist, was took the idea from bilal's book and started the sport in the spring of 2001. rubingh decided that the method of play in the book, a boxing match with a chess match after, was not very good. rubingh made the rules so a round of chess would come after a round of boxing.