THE MAGUS LUDORUM

CONTENTS
The Magus Ludorum 1
War of the Words 2
Game of the Year 2
Press Gang 2 2
He just can't get enough 2
Genius in Chess 2
Mensa at the MSO 2
MSO Prize Fund 2
Man of Many Words 3
Results Section 4
Medals Table 4
Today's Events 4

'Mind athletes are athletes, every bit as much as runners.' - Tony Buzan, The Times

THE MAGUS LUDORUM

MSO organiser Raymond Keene bestowed this grand title on Alex Randolph, who describes himself, with modest humour, as an American inventor of games, of ancient demeanour, living in Venice. Randolph has published over 100 games, including one of the events at the MSO, Twixt.

Although Twixt, which started as a game for pencil and paper in 1958 - since when it has been in constant circulation - ranks as a classic, Alex doesn't rate it as one of his most successful. His best-seller (over two million copies) is the family game Sagaland and a small children's game called Snails, another popular favourite. Snails reflects a great deal of his philosophy about games.

Snails requires only that a contestant can count to two. Six snails of different colour advance after a throw of a pair of dice. Each face on each die is the colour of a snail, so the snails can never advance more than two squares in any one turn. The player who helps the first snail over the finish line wins, as does the one who helps the last snail. 'For snails it is customary and proper to go slowly,' he smiles. Despite its simplicity, the game contains two vital elements, tensions and rules, both of which he believes children dislike. He secretly credits part of the success of this game to the physical snails themselves, which he suspects 'the children use as missiles'.

Some of the brightest spots in a games inventor's calendar are the special fairs, and in particular the oldest and grandest, the Essen Games Fair, held every autumn. Nothing is sold here, but people - 125,000 at the last one - pay to have a chance to play board games. He calls this 'the most gratifying moment of the year, watching an avalanche of people running to get tables and play.'

A new edition of Mad Mate is one of four Randolph games that will be unveiled at Essen this year. This knits two classics, chess and shogi (Japanese chess) by redesigning the western pieces so that they may be used by either player, and so redeployed for oneself after their capture.

Randolph's game philosophy embraces these ideas: to be successful a game must have tension. This means it must 'be absorbing and create an atmosphere when you enter the game that nothing else exists'. The rules should be absolutely clear and unequivocal. Ideally, there should be an element of simplicity - the rules should be quickly learned and easily remembered. And just in case there arises any doubt, he has two very fine guidelines: 'Anything that is not forbidden is permitted,' and 'The most amusing solution is the right one.'

While discussing their game from the shogi competition at the MSO, tournament leader Eric Cheymol (France) discovered who Alex Randolph was. Cheymol was overjoyed - he has a copy of the Randolph game Veleno, a strategy game for three players who must both cooperate and compete - but without a set of the rules. After years of suspense, this mystery has now been solved!

War of the Words

Here are just some of the words that were challenged in the first five games of the Scrabble tournament. How many do you recognise?

Aal; Aegirite; Arrieros; Atoks; Bivia; Cornu; Cruve; Disherit; Emf; Gothite; Grum; Iceboats; Lazo; Meng; Mesail; Nauplii; Neum; Obeahing; Oulong; Pandects; Plongs; Pooter; Rundlets; Scolion; Skry; Snottery; Subidea; Vittae; Vozhd; Weber; Zenanas; Zobu.

All of these words are allowed!

Former World Scrabble Champion Mark Nyman has three wins from six games so far but recorded the highest winning total so far (712) in his sixth-round game against David Pearce.

Game of the Year

Dan Glimne of Sweden has just won the Game of the Year Award in Sweden for Svea Rike. Dan is a games inventor and writer and can be seen arbiting the Othello tournament, as well as Hare & Tortoise, Lines of Action, and 'anything else they ask me to do'.

Press Gang 2

Chinese TV Network, France 2, MBC (Middle Eastern Broadcasting) and Quality Time TV (working on a series of documentaries on the brain) were today's notable additions to the media attention focused on the MSO.

He just can't get enough

13-year-old George Hassabis, who made chess headlines as long as seven years ago, seems to be bidding to become the MSO's most active player. He is already off to a very strong start in Rummikub, is competing in Othello and is trying to enter as many other events as possible. Today he was spotted entering Twixt. He will now be racing between levels two and six in the afternoon to fit everything into his schedule.

Genius in Chess

This afternoon Grandmaster Jonathan Levitt, one of Britain's leading chess authors, will be giving a lecture on Genius in Chess, to tie in with his latest book, published by Batsford. Jonathan will discuss 'Intelligence, creativity and genius' and demonstrate some of the many original tests from the book. The lecture starts at 3.00PM on level 5, area O.

Mensa at the MSO

Why not join members of Mensa on level 2 (by the bar!) at 7.30 this evening for a special reception hosted by Mind Sports Olympiad founders Tony Buzan, Raymond Keene and David Levy. Musical
entertainment will be provided by concert pianist Elena Konstantinov and cellist Oliver Gledhill.
All are welcome - the event is free.

Mind Sports Olympiad Prize Fund

Cash part of prize fund £73,000
Total value Concorde tickets £24,000
Total value book prizes £3,000
Total value prizes offered by The Times £10,000
Total value prizes offered by Heart Radio £3,000
Grand Total £113,000

MAN OF MANY WORDS

Mark Nyman, the 1993 World Scrabble Champion, is producer of the highly popular television quiz show Countdown. This programme was the very first to be broadcast on Channel 4 (on 2 November 1982) and in April of this year celebrated show number 2,000. Countdown is currently on its 37th series.

Mark is at the MSO to compete in the Scrabble event and interview prospective Countdown contestants.

How long have you been playing Scrabble?

About 16 years, but not continuously!

Have you won any other Scrabble World Championships?

The 1993 event (played in New York) was only the second ever championship. I did play in the previous one, but only entered at the last minute. The next championship is in Washington in November. I'll be playing there, as will two other players who are here at the Mind Sports Olympiad.

Is there good prize money?

The MSO event has the best prizes ever for a UK Scrabble competition. However, the World Championship is worth $25,000 to the winner. There is also a $10,000 first prize in Thailand.

What useful techniques will improve your game?

For beginners, the main stepping stone is to memorise as many two and three letter words as possible.

What are your memorable Scrabble moments?

My highest scoring word was 'conquest' for 284. I once scored 203 for 'excreted', which led to a quote in a Scrabble magazine that 'Mark Nyman excreted 203'.

How did you become involved in Countdown?

I was a contestant in the third series (in 1983) and became the first Champion of Champions. In fact, I was runner-up in the actual series but they invited back all the winners and runners-up from the previous four years for a grand final, and I won this event. I was then asked to help out with the show and went full-time in 1990.

What were you doing before Countdown?

I completed a maths degree at university and then spent a couple of years in the Civil Service between graduation and full-time work on Countdown.

What does your work on Countdown entail?

I work in the light entertainment department at Yorkshire TV where I am a producer on the show. Countdown runs all year round, so it keeps me busy. Each programme lasts 25 minutes and normally takes less than 35 to record. We do six shows per day, which is a fairly hectic schedule.

What can you tell us about the presenter, Richard Whiteley?

Richard is great. He's become something of a cult figure amongst older viewers and students. The rapport between him and Carol Vorderman is one of the great strengths of the show.

Why else do you think the show is so popular?

It has many appealing features. It is a family show and it fits in to the tea-time break. Also the audience can compete directly against the contestants and they are able to say 'I'd have won today!' The show has a simple and original format, unchanged since its inception, apart from a few slight tweaks, and is unusual in that we haven't made any attempt to move forward with new technology. Why change a winning formula?

Has anyone ever lost their temper on the show?

One guy did utter one or two obscenities when he was losing to a child prodigy - one of the main fears of contestants. The other main fear is that they might score zero, which has only happened once when a contestant lost 80-0.

Does Carol work out her calculations in real time?

Yes, Carol is brilliant. The show is made pretty much as you see it.

Do people freeze on the show?

Yes, it happens. Some performances are unrecognisable from those given at the interview. My job is to minimise the chances of this happening, but you can never be completely sure.

Is the show international?

Yes, it originated in France where it has been going for 30 years. It also comes out in Spain and Italy, but it was knocked back in the United States for being 'too cerebral'. We hope to hold an international competition one day.

Who has impressed you most?

Harvey Freeman, the winner of last year's Supreme Championship is the most talented I have seen. However, I beat him in a friendly contest when Countdown was featured on The Big Breakfast on Channel 4. I would like to play him head to head one day, as I was unable to compete in the Supreme Championship, due to being an organiser. The hardest worker I have come across is Allan Saldanha, who was only ten when he originally appeared on the show and was later runner-up to Harvey in the Supreme Championship.

How many people appear in each series?

Sixty new contestants are selected from approximately 360 interviewees. This week I am interviewing about 150 people and hoping to find 25-30 contestants.

How do you interview - do you look for charismatic contestants?

The main criteria is how good they are at the game. We are looking for all-round numerical and verbal ability, and only consider a contestant's character in borderline cases. Great personality is all well and good, but it is not much use if all you are saying is 'Consonant please, Carol.'

Day Two Leaders and Medal Winners

Draughts 8x8 round-robin

(Final placings and medals)

1 R. King (Barbados) gold
2 C. McCarrick (Ireland) silver
3 D. Harwood (England) bronze

Hare & Tortoise

(Final placings and medals)

1 C. Dickson (England) gold
2 B. Croucher (England) silver
3 S. Tavener (England) bronze

Chess

(after six rounds)

1 M. Adams (England) 5.5/6
2-4 J. Hodgson (England) 5/6
M. Sadler (England)
A. Summerscale (England)

Draughts 10x10

(after seven rounds)

1 H. Wiersma (Holland) 10/14
2-4 G. Valneris (Latvia) 9/14
W. Van Beek (Holland)
B. Neven (Holland)

Chinese Chess

(after four rounds)

1-2 F.Z. Chen (China) 3.5/4
W.W. Cheung (France)
3-4 H.S. Ty (China) 3/4
P.L.B. Young (England)

Shogi

(after six rounds)

1-2 A. Hosking (England) 6/6
E. Cheymol (France)
3-5 A. Van Osten (Holland) 4/6
M. Sandeman (England)
S. Lamb (England)

Scrabble

(after six rounds)

1 E. Simpson 5/6 (+579)
2 D. Webb 5/6 (+362)
3 A. Killilea 4/6 (+482)
4 H. Lamabadusuriya 4/6 (+457)
5 M. Thompson 4/6 (+209)
6 R. Dowse 4/6 (+172)
7 A. Cook 4/6 (+42)
8 B. Iancu 4/6 (-128)

Othello

(after six rounds)

1 Suekuni (Japan) 6/6
2 Nakajima (Japan) 4.5/6
3-7 Brightwell (England) 4/6
Handel (England)
Shaman (USA)
Tastet (France)
Turner (England)

Go 13x13

(after nine rounds)

1-2 G. Zuan 6/6
S. Zhang

Abalone

(after five rounds)

1 Tastet 5/6
2-3 Cottogni 3/6
Perelson

Backgammon

(qualifiers, to date, for Friday's gold section)

J. Balmforth, M. Barkwill, M. Jahanbani, J. Kwee, S. Paliwoda, L. Powell, P. Rastan, A. Robertson and R. Sheehan.

Entropy

(after three rounds)

1-2 S. Tavener (England) 2/3
R. Wikman (Finland)

Bridge Pairs

(second session)

1 M. Beyer/J. Tesselaar 578.8
2 M. Gold/D. Higginson 552.3
3 R. Eaton/A. Salam 542.8

Jigsaw Puzzles

(after two rounds)

1 R. Harwood (England) 400 (3 hrs. 39 mins)
2 A. Smith (England) 400 (4 hrs. 56 mins)

Lines of Action

(after three rounds)

1 F. Kok (Holland) 3/3
2 R. Wikman (Finland) 2/3
3 Bharat (England) 1/3
4 J. Bosley (New Zealand) 0/3

Rummikub

(after eight rounds)

1 M. Naito 294
2 O. Omodera 209
3 S. Nakaya 194
4 H. Kitajima 167

Mind Sports Olympiad Medal Table after Day Two

TODAY'S EVENTS
Abalone am
Backgammon pm
Bridge pm
Chess am
Chinese Chess pm
Draughts (8x8) am
Draughts (10x10) pm
Entropy pm
Go (13x13) pm
Go (19x19) am
Hare & Tortoise am
IQ pm
Japanese Chess am
Jigsaw Puzzles am
Lines of Action am
Magic-The Gathering am
Othello pm
Owari pm
Rummikub am
Scrabble am
Skat am
Twixt pm

OLYMPIAD NEWS TEAM
Editor: Jon Tisdall
Production: Byron Jacobs and Andrew Kinsman (First Rank Publishing)