Ahead of the latest explosive bout of Chessboxing due to take place for the first time at the Royal Albert Hall's loading bay or 'bat cave' on the 10th October, Run Riot are thrilled to catch up with Lucy Noble, Head of Programming and Education at Royal Albert Hall and Chessboxing Founder Tim Woolgar about which contenders look out for, one of the first ever competitive women’s chessboxing bouts, RAH's boxing history, the wonderful stuff going on in RAH's alternative spaces and what to look out for on the night!

So first off Tim, What can we expect from this instalment of the ultimate clash of brains and brawn?   
Chessboxing is exciting, high energy entertainment. The crowd gets caught up in the action and everything moves along at a cracking pace.  The line-up for this show is one of the strongest yet and it will be our most ambitious events ever, so just do whatever it takes to get hold of a ticket. The atmosphere of live chessboxing is indescribably good, you really have to experience it to understand what I mean but take my word for it, you never forget your first chessboxing show!

What (or who) should we be looking out for?
Look out for the headline bout between Dymer Agasaryan of Armenia and Jose Sanchez Amen of Costa Rica, both men have explosive power and fitness to burn.  Tim “CSI” Bendfelt the legal eagle from Hamburg will be in action too and is always great value.  We’ll see Ruthie “Pink Machine” Wright versus Paula Ralph in a Women’s flyweight contest, one of the first ever competitive women’s chessboxing bouts.   There’s also a bout between two of our crowd favourites Mike “The Bedfordshire Bull” Botteley and Biggles Bristol.

The RAH is a new venue for Chessboxing. Are you looking forward to holding the tournament in the loading bay?
Chessboxing is a futuristic sport and I’ve always dreamed of setting the events in unusual ‘underground’ locations.  It doesn’t come any better than the batcave of the Royal Albert Hall! (Yes know they call it the “Loading Bay” but seriously, it’s a batcave.)  It’s a stupendous venue, just perfect for a spot of chessboxing.


Lucy, I understand that one of your main responsibilities is programming in events outside of the main auditorium at the RAH, such as the events in the Elgar Room, and bringing new audiences into the Hall: Why chessboxing?  
The Hall has always been known for boxing and when it first opened boxing was a large part of its programme so it's great to be bringing it back in some form.  Chessboxing is rather quirky though and we love doing things that are unexpected of the Royal Albert Hall. As a charity, we look to provide maximum public benefit and the best experiences for all as well as encouraging new audiences into the building which I think this event will do. Also, it's taking place in our Loading bay which is a massive industrial space underground at the Hall. It's a unique space and I think will work perfectly for chessboxing.

Have you seen a bout before and are you looking forward to it?  
Whilst others in my team have seen it, I haven't... I wanted my first experience seeing it to be at the Hall. I'm so excited to see it and to see everyone's reaction...

How does it fit into your other programming?  
The Hall has always programmed a huge variety of events from rock and pop, classical music, tennis and other sports, circus, schools and educational events and this fits in perfectly with that diversity. I think this particular event will challenge people's perception of the Hall and demonstrate that we are venue that can hold all types of events.  Using the loading bay also opens up a whole new space.

It looks like you are supporting a lot of emerging talent and have a diverse range of events to look forward to this season, including late night jazz, stand-up comedy, classical coffee mornings and the popular HUSH event with Mary Epworth (we are huge fans of Mary here!). Please tell us more about your current season - could we have a few hot tips?
The non-auditorium season grows and grows and we have around 200 events outside the main auditorium each year, many of which are held in our secondary performance space The Elgar Room at a lower ticket price. We want to support new talent and give a platform to artists at the start of their careers as well as increase access to the arts through these diverse, lower priced events. Highlights of this Autumn are 'Rewired Live' on October 10th, a night of experimental music, and hush with Mary Epworth as you've mentioned on October 20th.  We've also got a new series called ' Inspired Word' starting with Scroobius Pip and PolarBear headlining the first event on November 21st.  Dean Chalkley brings his photographic exhibition here featuring many famous music artists from September 20- October 26. Saxophonist Yolanda Brown is doing a gig on November 17 as well as a music workshop with budding young musicians at an earlier date to support this- the amazing Emeli Sande is also doing something similar, a workshop with young people from the boroughs of Lewisham and Hackney as part of our Education programme which we're thrilled about as young people are getting access to the Hall who might not necessarily normally have the opportunity.....so there's so much to look forward to!

Tim, so since we spoke to you last August on the blog has chessboxing grown much?  
The sport is growing all the time, not just in London but around the world.  We are getting more people taking part and wanting to compete in our events.  The demand from people who want to come and watch seems to be increasing as well. This is why we are staging three events in the London between now and Christmas.

Are you any closer to getting recognised 'officially' by sport England?  
We are closing in on that but the criteria for Sport England include having a membership scheme of a certain size and it takes a bit of time to create this and administer something like this.  Nevertheless our membership is now established and getting bigger every month so we hope to be in a position to apply to Sport England next year.

Might we see you guys in the next Olympics?
Ha ha!  Maybe not the next Olympics, but you never know!

Thanks a million both for answering our questions - see you on the 10th October!

Find out more and get your tickets to Chessboxing at the Roayal Albert Hall on the 10th October here
London Chessboxing (Official site): londonchessboxing.com
Royal Albert Hall / Event Details / Tickets: http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/chessboxing/default.aspx
Facebook:

www.facebook.com/londonchessboxing

www.facebook.com/royalalberthall
Twitter:

twitter.com/LDNchessboxing

twitter.com/royalalberthall
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing