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38-506: The Mind Sports Olympiad ( MSO ) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports by Mind Sports Organisation . The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund 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 for each event and

76-420: A 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog ). This may also be known as a world cup competition , for example cycling ( UCI World Championships and UCI World Cups ). Often,

114-978: A footrace and the number of sporting competitions expanded at later editions. There were several other "games" held in Europe in the classical era : Other multi-sport festivals emerged in the Middle Ages in Europe, including the Cotswold Olimpick Games in England in the 1600s, the Highland Games in Scotland , and the Olympiade de la République in France in the 1800s. In the late 19th and early 20th century, athletes at multi-sport events were almost exclusively male. As international women's sport began to develop, events such as

152-427: 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

190-630: A selected group of athletes, rather than everybody, which was the case with the Olympic Games. The Soviets organized the first Spartakiad in 1920, a communist alternative to the 'bourgeois' Olympic Games, and in 1922 the University Olympia was organizedor in Italy , the forerunner of the World University Games , meant for students only. Regional games were another kind of multi-sport event that

228-526: A very large number of games, introduced two new events of their own creation the Pentamind and the Decamentathlon . These were two events to parallel the multi-event games in athletics of the modern pentathlon and the decathlon . 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

266-424: Is decided by a "title match", not a tournament. In a title match system, the championship can only be won by directly defeating the incumbent, who in turn must continue to compete to retain their title or risk forfeiture . Still other competitions, most commonly in professional sports , may or may not have a true world championship but may designate the winners of a domestic competition to be "world champions". This

304-544: Is especially true of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ; world cups and championships exist in all four of the major sports, but the domestic U.S. and Canadian leagues are generally known as the world professional championships (due to the best players worldwide being in the league itself) (as with the Stanley Cup , ostensibly an independent championship for ice hockey but under

342-542: Is open to under 18s which the MSO also gives a title since money doesn't change hands The 2012 tournament consisted of the best results from 5 of 7 pot limit poker tournaments in the following variants And formerly also featured other variants such as: Multi-sport event The Ancient Olympic Games , first held in 776 BC, was the precursor to the Modern Olympic Games , although its first edition only featured

380-478: The Abstract Games world championship in 2008. 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

418-643: The International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Arranged for the first time in 1960 in Rome , Italy . The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The first Special Olympics International Summer Games were held in Chicago , Illinois, in 1968. The most recent Special Olympics World Winter Games in Schladming, Austria involved 25 sports and approximately 2,277 athletes from 133 countries. At

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456-761: The National Football League , is commonly nicknamed as the world champion by the players, the press and fans alike; the NFL itself explicitly marketed the contest as a world championship in its first iterations. Winners of the Major League Baseball 's World Series are also commonly called world champions. Outside of the Big Four leagues, winners of the Women's National Basketball Association , much like its men's counterpart , commonly call themselves world champions, as with

494-631: The Women's World Games and Olympics of Grace were held to allow women to engage in sport on the international stage. Though short-lived, events such as these led to greater inclusion of women at multi-sport events over the course of the 20th century. Although the modern tradition commemorates the 1921 revolution , the Naadam festival in Mongolia is a continuation of ancient sporting practises amongst Mongolians. The three events of wrestling, horse racing and archery are thought to date back centuries and represent

532-474: The de facto control of the National Hockey League through two trustees who since no later than 1947 have been NHL loyalists) or the equivalent of a world club championship. In American football , although an IFAF World Championship exists, the United States is so far above and beyond the other nations it faces that the winner of the U.S.-based Super Bowl , a competition limited to the 32 teams in

570-500: 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. 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 : The MSO consists mainly of single event competitions most of which are for

608-745: The MSO saw a revival, returning to a central London venue, the Royal Horticultural Halls , Westminster and again on 21–31 August 2009 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 . The 16th MSO took place once again at the University of London Union in 18–27 August 2012, and similarly the 17th MSO

646-574: The Olympic Games, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (est. 1894) for the first time in 1896 in Athens , Greece . After some celebrations (1900, 1904), the Olympics became very popular nowadays. The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The Paralympic Games is the largest multi-sport event involving athletes with physical disabilities and is organized by

684-536: The Olympic Games, though each year ITF (International Tennis Federation) designates a World Champion based on performances throughout the year). There are some sports that already had a 'world championship' in the 18th or 19th century, although it was variable how 'world-wide' these competitions really were. The French player Clergé is considered to be the first international champion in real tennis , since 1740. In chess , international matches have been held for centuries, often resulting in certain players considered

722-629: The beginning of the 20th century, another multi-sport event, the Nordic Games were first held. These Games were held in Scandinavia , and the sports conducted were winter sports such as cross-country skiing and speed skating . The Nordic Games were last held in 1926, after which the 1924 Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was declared the first Olympic Winter Games . In the 1920s, all kinds of other multi-sport events were set up. These were usually directed for

760-762: 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 , Go , Othello , 8 by 8 draughts , and creative thinking . MSO also organizes Mental Calculation World Championship separately. The original two mental skills were bridge and Mastermind , although these have varied in recent years using Backgammon and most recently Sudoku as substitutes. The MSO introduced

798-575: The first Games for deaf athletes. The Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games , incepted in 1948 in England, were the first Games for wheelchair athletes. In 1960, the first Paralympic Games were held, connected with the Olympic Games . The Special Olympics World Games , for athletes with intellectual disabilities, were first held in 1968. World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around

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836-407: 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

874-548: The organisers a successful event was held in Alexandra Palace the next year in 2000. During this time several satellite events were held around the world bearing the Mind Sports Olympiad name. These have occurred in Cambridge , England; Singapore ; Seoul , South Korea ; Milan , Italy ; Oulu , Finland ; and Prague , The Czech Republic . The Mind Sports Olympiad main event continued to happen with smaller sponsorship and

912-480: The original founder of the MSO concept. As of 2012 the board running the MSO along with David Levy are Tony Corfe and Etan Ilfeld The Olympiad's logo depicted Ajax playing Achilles , used for their medals and awards 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 or Vatican Museum collections. Alongside bestowing titles of Olympiad and World Champions ,

950-409: The three most important pursuits of a strong man in nomadic society. Alongside these sporting events there are other cultural activities such as dances and parades. Since the establishment of the Olympics, most serial multi-sport events have been organized for specific audiences and participating countries or communities. These affiliations include: The first modern multi-sport event organised were

988-552: The tied players. When there are fewer than 10 players in a tournament, the score is multiplied by a secondary factor [p / (p + 1)]. As of 2024, the World Championship Pentamind event has been won a record six times by Andres Kuusk, surpassing the five times set by Demis Hassabis and the fifth win Ankush Khandelwal. The Decamentathlon World Championship was originally established as the main event to determine

1026-636: 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 , bridge , draughts , shogi , backgammon , Chinese chess (xiangqi) , Othello , poker , cribbage , Mastermind ; and many newer games like: Abalone , Bōku , Continuo , Entropy , Kamisado , Lines of Action (LOA) , Octi , Pacru , TwixT This

1064-601: The tournament to include the champion from other continents - from the AFC Champions League ( Asia and Australia ), CAF Champions League ( Africa ), CONCACAF Champions League ( North America and Caribbean ) and OFC Champions League ( Oceania ) and created the FIFA Club World Cup . The first edition in 2000 ran concurrently with the 2000 Intercontinental Cup , and in 2004 the Intercontinental Cup

1102-460: The tournaments were held at a number of different universities. The event was still going strong for the years 2001–2006. 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 due to no sponsorship and no advertising. In 2008

1140-444: The use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations, such as boxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling. Certain competitive exercises do not have a world championship or a world cup as such, but may have one or several world champions. Professional boxing , for example, has several world champions at different weights , but each one of them

1178-660: The winners of the National Lacrosse League and Drum Corps International . On the other hand, association football (soccer) has more parity between national leagues and even continental tournaments has seen the birth of one true "world championship". The first such tournament was the Football World Championship disputed from 1876 to 1904 between the winners of the FA Cup and Scottish Cup . After that, there have been many tournaments between teams from around

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1216-548: The world, but it wasn't until 1960 when the Intercontinental Cup was established, competed between the winners two greatest and most important continental championships: the UEFA Champions League from Europe and CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores from South America, the cup was endorsed by both UEFA and CONMEBOL but had no involvement from FIFA , the governing body for world football. As such, FIFA wanted to expand

1254-515: The world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, or ability. The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship ), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon ). This determines

1292-485: 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 , while the 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016 Pentamind World Champion Andres Kuusk is from Estonia . When the MSO was initially formed in 1997, the main organisers included David Levy , Tony Buzan , and Raymond Keene with David Levy being

1330-728: Was established, such as the Far Eastern Championship Games (1913), the Central American and Caribbean Games (1926) or the Pan American Games (1951). The Olympic Games are still the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though no longer in participation), but several others also have significance. Other Games are intended for handicapped or disabled athletes. The International Silent Games , first held in Paris in 1924, were

1368-679: 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 . In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , for the first time, the entire MSO tournament was held online. The first Mind Sports Olympiad was held in London's Royal Festival Hall in 1997. It brought together an unprecedented number of strategy games and events. William Hartston in The Independent said, "The biggest gamesfest ever to hit these (or perhaps any other) shores". The inaugural MSO along with

1406-447: Was merged with the CCW, which has been ongoing since 2005 with yearly editions. Finally, certain competitions do not have a world championship or world cup, but rather hold a series of events recognised as the elite level in their field (e.g. tennis and golf have a series of four Grand Slam events recognised as the pinnacle of the game, in addition to key team events, world tour finals and

1444-404: Was one of the Mind Sports Olympiad's original events. It was an attempt along with the decamentathlon 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

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