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Mind Sports Organisation Worldwide Ltd.
12 St. James' Square, London SW1Y 4RB, England
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Company Press Release:
Thursday, July 20, 2000 | |
4th Mind Sports Olympiad to Break All Records
The 4th Mind Sports Olympiad which takes place
at Alexandra Palace, London, from August 19th-28th,
looks set to break all previous records for a thinking games event. The number
of entries has risen steadily from 2,015 in 1997 at the Royal Festival Hall,
to 2,370 in 1998 and 4,015 last year. This year the organisers are
expecting more than 5,000 to take part.
More than 40 Mind Sports will be contested, not only the classic
thinking games such as Chess, Bridge, Backgammon , Poker and Scrabble, but
also mental skills including: Creative Thinking, Speed Reading, Intelligence,
Mental Calculations and Memory Skills.
There will be more than 90 tournaments on offer, with entry to most
of them open to anyone, young and old, Grandmasters and
beginners. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the
leading players in each tournament and to the top juniors.
Amongst the prestigious championships taking place will be the UK Scrabble
Championship, the British Quiz Championship compered by Magnus
Magnusson, the World Draughts Championships for national teams, the
European Championships for Shogi (Japanese Chess), and the UK Schools Chess
Challenge where an original entry of 40,000 children has been whittled
down to 1,300 for the final stages of the competition.
Several national, European and World Champions will be taking part. One of the
star attractions will be World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien who can
memorize a pack of cards in about 30 seconds and 15 packs in an hour!
Competitors are expected from more than 60 countries around the world. One of
the youngest contestants is 6-year-old Liao Xingwen from China who is
already an expert at the fiendish game of Go, considered to be the most
difficult of all Mind Sports. Liao Xingwen will be coming to London with his
"Go mother" (or teacher) Liu Yaije, herself a professional Go player.
Other star competitors include 23-year-old Demis Hassabis, one
of the UK's youngest multi-millionaires. Demis was a chess master at 12 and is
twice winner of the Mind Sports Olympiad's Pentamind gold medal for the
best overall performance in the event. During the 10 days of this year's event
Demis is expected to take part in more than 15 different tournaments!
For a detailed schedule please visit
www.msoworld.com. For further
information and M.S.O. star interview requests, please contact
David Levy (Chief Organiser):
David Levy, Tel: +44 20 7435 9496 –
E-mail: dlevy@msoworld.com
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MSOWorld.com