A chess grandmaster will become a prizefighter as a Norfolk farm hosts the first-ever festival of chessboxing - a bizarre sporting battle of brains and brawn.
The appearance of Simon Williams has "sent shockwaves through the chess and chessboxing world alike", according to the organisers of Chox Con 24, being held at the Worstead Estate on July 5 and 6.
The highly-rated grandmaster is known across the world as a chess commentator and online streamer, with more than 80,000 followers on YouTube.
Fans are flying into Norfolk from as far afield as the USA and Brazil to watch him fight in a chessboxing bout at the farm, near North Walsham - where a traditional barn has been converted into a sporting arena to welcome a rowdy crowd this weekend.
Opponents will enter the ring for alternate rounds of speed chess and boxing - with the board game becoming increasingly mentally challenging as the physical battle takes its toll. The winner is decided by checkmate or knockout.
Gavin Paterson, whose family runs the 2,000-acre estate, is a chessboxing enthusiast who is now involved in running promotion company Chessboxing Nation.
He said the appearance of Surrey-based chess legend had generated global excitement around this weekend's event.
"Simon Williams is a top chess player, not just in the country, but in the world," he said. "There is only a handful of people in the world who are grandmasters, so to find one who is capable and willing to get in a boxing ring is not very easy at all.
"Most of his fans are international and he has something like 80,000 followers, so we are hoping to have a very large audience online.
"I have been working with him quite closely on his development. I have sparred with him a few times myself, and he had a natural level of competency having done combat sports as a child. Although this is a big lifestyle change for him and he has come on a lot."
The event includes a weigh-in on Friday evening before the headline chessboxing bouts on Saturday.
For more information see the event website at https://rb.gy/47sryl. The bouts will also be live-streamed on www.youtube.com/chessboxing.
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