Former Olympic Gold Medalist and Heavyweight Champion of the World Lennox Lewis has a passion beyond the sport of boxing. Since he was a kid, Lewis has been an avid chess player. The retired boxer, who had a 41-2-1 record in the ring, now challenges gamers to "knock him out" in an online chess match at online casual gaming site King.com. Anyone who thinks they have what it takes to match chess wits with the former champ can log on between 4:30 pm and 6 pm on Tuesday May 23. Any gamer who beats Lewis will receive $1,000 and a document that certifies that they "knocked out" the champ. Lewis warned me that he's very aggressive when it comes to chess, so knocking this chess king out won't be an easy feat.

Lewis said he became involved in chess back in public school by joining the chess club. He stuck with the game throughout his career and used the game as part of his training for fights. When he's not following boxing for HBO as a commentator, he likes to play chess at home. Online gaming has opened up the world as potential opponents through casual online gaming sites.

While people traditionally think of "Everquest" and "Halo 2" when it comes to online gaming, casual gaming sites at MSN, AOL, Yahoo! and Lycos draw the largest numbers of players. From simple card games to board games to addictive arcade-style games, these sites attract a large, mostly older demographic that tends to lean heavily toward female gamers. (The guys prefer to blow away enemies on Xbox Live playing games like "Call of Duty 2" or "Madden.") Many of these sites offer incentives to play through cash and prizes, but for the most part, it's the simple, but addictive nature of games like chess, and the ability to chat and gather with others in a virtual environment, that makes this one of the fastest-growing gaming areas.