The first

World Mind Sports Games The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games" after the Summer and the Winter Olympics". The i ...

(WMSG) were held in Beijing, China from October 3 to 18, 2008, about two months after the Olympic Games.Beijing hosts first 'Mind Games'
BBC News, 3 October 2008, by Shirong Chen. Retrieved 2011-05-23. They were sponsored and organised by the International Mind Sports Association with the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport.
Five

mind sports A mind sport, is a game of skill based on intellectual ability. Etymology The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997. The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as ...

participated in the first Games: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), go (weiqi), and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Thirty-five gold medals were contested by 2,763 competitors from 143 countries. According to the

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigiou ...

, it incorporated the World Team Olympiad (1960–2004) and some established youth events in the Games "as the stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the 'regular' Olympics and the Paralympics)".World Bridge Games
. World Bridge Federation (WBF). Retrieved 2011-05-24.

Events

* 35 set of medals : * Bridge (9) * Draughts (10) * Chess (5) * Go (6) * Xiangqi (5)

Bridge

The

organized eleven events in Beijing that constituted the "World Bridge Games" including nine WMSG medal events. Six were among the established world bridge championships contested in even-number years. World-level bridge competition comprises some series contested every two years, some every four years, thus in odd-number or even-number years but not both. The other three were for "youth" under age 28, a one-time compromise. Youth events are defined by age under 26 (U26) and age under 21 (U21).
• A mid-summer notice implies that one-time compromise will be extended to feature U28 youth at least once more in 2012. See the main article for more information. Clarification is anticipated for mid-November. More than 1400 players participated, about half of all players in the Games. Entries from

European Bridge League The European Bridge League is a confederation of National Bridge Federations (NBFs) that organize the card game of contract bridge in European nations. In turn the EBL organizes bridge competition at the European level. It is a member of the Europe ...

countriesSeveral national bridge organizations from the Mediterranean and Western Asia ar
members of the European Bridge League
. won 22 of the 27 medals, led by Norway with six medals including two gold. Two other events were continued by the WBF from its quadrennial "Olympiad" program, as part of its new "World Bridge Games" but separate from the WMSG (non-medal events sharing the facilities). Japan won the third Senior International Cup, for national teams of ''seniors'' (age 58+). 'Yeh Bros' from

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

won the second Transnational Mixed Teams, for teams of any nationality comprising ''mixed pairs'', one man and one woman.2008 World Mind Sports Games
. WBF coverage of the bridge competitions. Retrieved 2011-05-24.

Chess

The World Chess Federation organized ten events in Beijing, all of them in

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

or blitz chess.

Draughts

Under the auspices of the World Draughts Federation 288 players participated in five medal events in Beijing. There was a strong regional showing as twelve of the fifteen medals were won by players from Russia,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Go

Under the auspices of the International Go Federation 560 players participated in six medal events in Beijing. South Korea won half of the 18 medals and all were swept by competitors from

Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

Xiangqi

Xiangqi, or "Chinese chess", was the fifth sport to participate in Beijing, where 125 players participated in five events. Although the World Xiangqi Federation was not a member of IMSA at the time, the sport was included in the Beijing games as a traditional Chinese sport with a large number of players, especially in China. The host country won all five gold medals.

Medals

Teams from the host country China won one-quarter of the 105 medals, including one-third of the gold.

Notes

References

External links

International Mind Sports Association
official website. Confirmed 2011-05-25. *
World Mind Sports Games
'. International Mind Sports Association. 2008 or earlier. Posted at usgo.org American Go Association. Confirmed 2011-08-31.
Second copy
at World Bridge Federation.)

2008-04-09. China Radio International.
Beijing hosts first 'Mind Games'
2008-10-03. BBC News.
Bridge – Official "World Bridge Games" top pageChess – Official participants listDraughts – Official participants list
{{World Mind Sports Games

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

World Mind Sports Games 2008 2000s in Beijing 2008 in multi-sport events International sports competitions hosted by China 2008 in Chinese sport Multi-sport events in China 2008 in chess 2008 in draughts 2008 in go