The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international
multi-disciplined competition and festival for
games of mental skill and
mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
with £100,000 prize fund
[''Mind Sports Olympiad Supplement'', ]The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
, 11 August 1997, online version available from studiogiochi MSO archive
and was described as possibly the biggest games festival ever held.
The MSO was the first event of its kind celebrating mental skills and awarding gold, silver and bronze
medals
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
for each event
[''The Mind Sports Olympiad Supplement'' s, ]The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
, July - August 1997 and was highly influential on the mind sports movement and competitions that have followed since. The main MSO tournament has been held every year in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
.
[''Underwater chess is one of the mind games at the Mind Sports Olympiad'', ]The Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
, Josh Tapper, 12 June 201
retrieved 12 July 2012
In 2020, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, for the first time, the entire MSO tournament was held online.
History
The first Mind Sports Olympiad was held in London's
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I li ...
in 1997. It brought together an unprecedented number of strategy games and events.
William Hartston
William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...
in
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
said, "The biggest gamesfest ever to hit these (or perhaps any other) shores".
William Hartston
William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...
The South Bank Brain Show
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' 21 June 1997. Retrieved 2 August 2009
The inaugural MSO along with a very large number of games, introduced two new events of their own creation the
Pentamind
The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund''Mind Sports Olympiad Supp ...
and the
Decamentathlon The Decamentathlon is a multi disciplined games event that was created as part of the first Mind Sports Olympiad. It was founded to try to find the best games all-rounder in the world and hence possibly the best games player. It was given a prize fu ...
. These were two events to parallel the multi-event games in athletics of the
modern pentathlon
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anc ...
and the
decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
. This was part of the ambition to create an Olympics of the mind.
The Mind Sports Olympiad returned to London with sponsorship in both 1998 and 1999. Despite a falling out between the organisers a successful event was held in
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
the next year in 2000.
[''Fierce rivalry in 'Olympics' for brainboxes'', CNN, Paul Sussman, 24 August 2000 retrieved 16 July 2012]
During this time several satellite events were held around the world bearing the Mind Sports Olympiad name. These have occurred in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, England;
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
;
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
;
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
;
Oulu
Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
; and
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
The Czech Republic.
The Mind Sports Olympiad main event continued to happen with smaller sponsorship and the tournaments were held at a number of different universities. The event was still going strong for the years 2001–2006.
[''Cerebral Athletes Play Mind Games'', ]The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
, David Ward, 22 August 2005
retrieved 2 August 2009 The main 2004 event featured a separate event for schools, featuring competitions and activities in chess, Go, quizzes and intelligence puzzles. But in 2007 the Mind Sports Olympiad was reduced to a much smaller venue in
Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...
due to no sponsorship and no advertising.
[''This time it's Personal'', ]The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
, Stephen Moss, 27 August 2007
retrieved 12 July 2012 In 2008 the MSO saw a revival returning to a central London venue, the
Royal Horticultural Halls
Lawrence Hall in Greycoat Street, Westminster was the newer of the two Royal Horticultural Halls owned by R.H.S. Enterprises Limited, which is part of the Royal Horticultural Society charity in central London. The other is Lindley Hall in Elvert ...
,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
and again on 21–31 August 2009
[''Cheam man's mind bending puzzles at mental olympiad'', Sutton Guardian, Kevin Barnesm, 28 August 2009]
retrieved 30 April 2011
The 2010 event was held at the Soho Theatre in London.
In 2011, the Mind Sports Olympiad moved to a bigger venue, the University of London Union.
[''Mind Sports Olympiad moves to bigger venue'', DigitalJournal.com, Alexander Baron, 3 May 2011]
retrieved 15 July 2012 The 16th MSO took place once again at the University of London Union in 18–27 August 2012, and similarly the 17th MSO was also at ULU.
The main MSO event
remains truly international, because it is still regarded as the foremost competition for all-rounders especially the "coveted Pentamind World Championship",
won in 2010 by Paco Garcia De La Banda from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
,
[''Paco Garcia De La Banda wins the Mind Sports Olympiad XIV'' (translated from Spanish), elapuron.com, 11 September 2012]
retrieved 16 July 2012 while the 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016 Pentamind World Champion Andres Kuusk is from
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
.
[''Estonian Mind Athlete Wins World Championship'', ERR News, Ingrid Teesalu, 30 August 2011]
retrieved 6 September 2011
Structure of the Organisation
When the MSO was initially formed in 1997, the main organisers included
David Levy (chess player), David Levy,
Tony Buzan, and
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England ...
with David Levy being the original founder of the MSO concept.
[''Don's diary: games and gold medals in Mind'', ]Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
, 17 October 2003, David Levybr>
retrieved 14 July 2012
As of 2012 the board running the MSO along with David Levy
[''Scrabble, Monopoly and more at shul games fest'', ]The Jewish Chronicle
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, Robyn Rosen, 26 August 201
retrieved 14 July 2012 are Tony Corfe
[''Mind games tournament under way'', BBC Manchester, 19 August 2005]
/ref> and Etan Ilfeld
Etan Ilfeld is a London-based entrepreneur and the founder of Tenderbooks, Tenderpixel gallery, Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine, Watkins Wisdom Academy, PlayStrategy.org, co-founder of Repeater Books, and the owner and managing director of Wa ...
Logo, medals, and awards
The Olympiad's logo depicted Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
playing Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...
, used for their medals and awards[MSO article on ranks and medals](_blank)
including image of medals with logo retrieved 12 July 2012
is based upon the famous depiction found on over 150 items of ancient pottery from around 500 BC
.
Probably based either on an item from The British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
or Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
collections.
Alongside bestowing titles of Olympiad and World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
s, the MSO organisers originally envisaged having their own ratings and ranks system, however, not all of these ideas came to pass.
The MSO continues to give its own ranks of up to International Grandmaster.
Venues
The Mind Sports Olympiad main event was at large venues for the first four years before being reduced in size due to funding difficulties. It has been held annually since 1997 at the following locations in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
:
* 1997 Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I li ...
, London
* 1998 Novotel Hotel
Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by Accor. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 ...
, Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...
* 1999 Kensington Olympia, London
* 2000 Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
, London
* 2001 South Bank University, London[''Chess'', ]The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
, Jon Speelman
Jonathan Simon Speelman (born 2 October 1956) is an English Grandmaster chess player, mathematician and chess writer.
Early life and education
He was educated at Worcester College, Oxford, where he read Mathematics.
Career
A winner of the ...
, 29 August 200
archived abstract
retrieved 15 July 2012
* 2002 Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...
, Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...
* 2003 UMIST, Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
* 2004 UMIST, Manchester[''Meanwhile: Tired already? Try the Mind Olympics'', ]The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, Michael Johnson, 13 August 2004
retrieved 18 July 2012
* 2005 Manchester University
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, Manchester[Mind games tournament under way, BBC Manchester, 19 August 200]
Retrieved 30 April 2011[''Manchester Hosts 9th Mind Sports Olympiad'', ]Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...
News, 2 August 2005
retrieved 18 July 2012
* 2006 University of Westminster, Westminster University, London[Archived poster from ]British Go Association The British Go Association (BGA) promotes and supports the playing of Go, the ancient Chinese strategy game, in the United Kingdom. The BGA was founded in 1953 and has a membership of about 450. It oversees tournaments, publishes the ''British Go ...
MSO event 200
retrieved 15 July 2012
* 2007 United Reformed Church, Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...
* 2008 Royal Horticultural Halls
Lawrence Hall in Greycoat Street, Westminster was the newer of the two Royal Horticultural Halls owned by R.H.S. Enterprises Limited, which is part of the Royal Horticultural Society charity in central London. The other is Lindley Hall in Elvert ...
, London[MSO ]Backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...
results from uk backgammon sit
retrieved 15 July 2012
* 2009 Royal Horticultural Halls, London
* 2010 Soho Theatre, London
* 2011 University of London Union, London[''Mind Sports Olympiad'', Time Out London Magazine, August 2011]
retrieved 15 July 2012
* 2012 University of London Union, London
* 2013 University of London Union, London
* 2014 JW3, London
* 2015 JW3, London
* 2016 JW3, London
* 2017 JW3, London
* 2018 JW3, London
* 2019 JW3, London
* 2020 Held online
* 2021 Held online
* 2022 JW3, London
Games at the MSO
The MSO consists mainly of single event competitions most of which are for the nominal title of Olympiad champion, though some trademarked games are authorised by the game designer and publishers as the official world championships. All games, whether an Olympiad or the official World championship, can count towards the Pentamind. Medals, and more recently trophies, are awarded for gold, silver and bronze positions in each competition as well as ranks, with similar awards for the top juniors in each event. In early Olympiads sponsorship allowed for generous financial prizes to go with many of the events. In recent years such prizes have been limited to a small number of events, usually as a result of specific outside sponsorship for that discipline.
Notable games include (most other references mention some of these): the well-known: chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
, draughts
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checker ...
, shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, '' chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and ''janggi''. ''Shōgi ...
, backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...
, Chinese chess (xiangqi), Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...
, poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...
, cribbage
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players.
Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...
, '' Mastermind''; and many newer games like: ''Abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or mutto ...
'', Bōku
Bōku is an abstract strategy board gameBoku at Board Game Geek]retrieved 29 April 2011 played with marbles on a perforated hexagonal board with 80 spaces. The object of the game is to arrange five marbles in a row. The game has also been sold u ...
, Continuo (game), Continuo, ''Entropy
Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodyna ...
'', Kamisado, Lines of Action (LOA), Pacru Pacru is an abstract board game invented by Mike WellmanPacruhas much in common with Chess (piece movement with sharp tactical exchanges and long-term positional considerations) and Go (game) (strategic concepts such as area control must be consider ...
,[Mike's test for the old grey matter, ]Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
, Patricia Roberts, 8 December 200
/ref> TwixT
Pentamind
This was one of the Mind Sports Olympiad's original events. It was an attempt along with the decamentathlon The Decamentathlon is a multi disciplined games event that was created as part of the first Mind Sports Olympiad. It was founded to try to find the best games all-rounder in the world and hence possibly the best games player. It was given a prize fu ...
to produce an event for all-rounders to parallel the Olympic Games with its events the decathlon and pentathlon. Unlike the decamentathlon's fixed format (see separate article) the pentamind has very little fixed format. It disallows using games that are considered too similar and normally requires a long event, but otherwise any five
events from the schedule could be used.
The Pentamind champion is the player with the highest numerical score in "pentamind points" from 5 valid events.
This is calculated using the formula 100 x (n - p) / (n - 1), where n is the number of players and p is the player's position in an event. The position is the position before tie-breaks and any split positions are shared amongst all of the tied players. When there are fewer than 10 players in a tournament, the score is multiplied by a secondary factor / (p + 1)
The World Championship Pentamind event has been won five times by Demis Hassabis and Andres Kuusk.
* 2022: Andres Kuusk
* 2021: Maciej Brzeski
* 2020: Ankush Khandelwal
* 2019: Ankush Khandelwal
* 2018: Ankush Khandelwal
* 2017: James Heppell
* 2016: Andres Kuusk
* 2015: James Heppell
* 2014: Andres Kuusk
* 2013: Andres Kuusk and Ankush Khandelwal
* 2012: Dario De Toffoli
* 2011: Andres Kuusk
* 2010: Paco Garcia de la Banda
* 2009: Martyn Hamer and Tim Hebbes
* 2008: David M. Pearce
* 2007: David M. Pearce
* 2006: Jan Šťastna
* 2005: Tim Hebbes
* 2004: Alain Dekker
* 2003: Demis Hassabis
* 2002: Dario De Toffoli
* 2001: Demis Hassabis
* 2000: Demis Hassabis
* 1999: Demis Hassabis
* 1998: Demis Hassabis
* 1997: Kenneth J. Wilshire
Decamentathlon World Championships
The Decamentathlon World Championship was originally established as the main event to determine the best all-round games player in the world before being superseded by the Pentamind. The Decamentathlon comprises 10 events scored out of 100, lasting 4 hours largely consisting of examined papers.
The following eight mental skills have always been part of the Decamentathlon: memory skills, mental calculation, IQ, chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, Go, Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...
, 8 by 8 draughts
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checker ...
, and creative thinking. MSO also organizes Mental Calculation World Championship separately. The original two mental skills were bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
and Mastermind, although these have varied in recent years using Backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...
and most recently Sudoku as substitutes.
Abstract Games World Championships
The MSO introduced the Abstract Games world championship in 2008.[Article on abstract games world championships, http://www.boardability.com/game.php?abstract_games, 15 February 2011]
World Amateur Poker Championships
The first world amateur poker championships was held in 1998 as part of the second Mind Sports Olympiad. The inaugural event was criticised for the standard of the play and for the events unique feature as only being played for medals and not for money. However, since the poker internet revolution the event continued to flourish with increased numbers. The event also is open to under 18s which the MSO also gives a title since money doesn't change hands
The 2012 tournament consists of the best results from 5 of 7 pot limit poker tournaments in the following variants
Variant may refer to:
In arts and entertainment
* ''Variant'' (magazine), a former British cultural magazine
* Variant cover, an issue of comic books with varying cover art
* ''Variant'' (novel), a novel by Robison Wells
* "The Variant", 2021 e ...
*7 Card Stud
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, ...
* 5 Card Draw
*Canadian Stud
Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially ...
* Pineapple Hold'em
* London Lowball
* Texas Hold'em
*Omaha (poker)
Omaha hold 'em (also known as Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five ...
And formerly also featured other variants such as:[MSO Poker http://www.boardability.com/game.php?id=poker . Retrieved 13 July 2012]
* Heads Up Texas Hold'em
* Razz
*6 Card Lowball
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smal ...
*Mexican Stud
Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially ...
See also
* List of world championships in mind sports
* Mind Sports Organisation
The Mind Sports Organisation (MSO) is an association for promoting mind sports including Contract Bridge, Chess, Go, Mastermind, and Scrabble. Since 1997 it has annually organised in England a multi-sport competition, the Mind Sports Olympiad. ...
* World Mind Sports Games
References
*
External links
MSO official website
MSO website 2009-2013 (still active)
MEMORIAD - World Mental Olympics
MSO Italian Competitors, Medals and Interviews
{{World Mind Sports Games
Multi-sport events in the United Kingdom
Mind sports competitions
Recurring events established in 1997
1997 establishments in England