The championship forms an unusual combination of chess and diving in England the world

The chess part is like regular chess, but played in a pool with a submerged board and magnetic pieces. Each player must hold their breath as they make their move. If they go up to catch their breath, that means it’s their opponent’s turn.

10 players participated in the championship held at the swimming pool of the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London.

“I thought it was easy, but it definitely wasn’t,” said one of the players, Zarine Dolab.

“Trying to see the pieces and stay down is really hard, especially when you’re playing a long game, making 30/40 moves, and going up and down is a marathon,” Dolap said.

After 4 rounds, 33-year-old Polish Michal Mazurkiewicz became the champion after defeating Alain Decker of South Africa.

Talking about the skill involved, Mazurkiewicz said, “60% chess and 40% other skills in swimming, like keeping your body under control, your pressure and your breathing.”

This unusual championship is the creation of American Eden Ilfeld. The board game master, who now lives in England, started playing chess at the age of 4 and was competing in tournaments at the age of 10.

He came up with the idea of ​​diving in chess because he thought it would be interesting to add a body part to make the game a little more fun.