First among Experts

Contents
First among Experts 1
Test Your Wits 2
What's in a Name? 2
They just can't get Enough 2
Man vs. Machine 2
Crafty Competitor 2
MSO Prize Funds 2
Journey to the Century 
of the Brain 3
Results Section 4
Medals Table 4
Today's Events 4

Anyone can join in Mind Sports. What matters is your grey matter. - The Times Mega magazine

The second day of the Mind Sports Olympiad featured a gruelling event of pure brain power. No boards, no pieces, no stones, no cards, just finely tuned grey matter and a dash of strong nerves. The British Quiz Championship is the first ever national title event for one of the country's fastest growing pastimes. 

Trevor Montague, the arbiter and question setter, said that he had never seen so many quiz experts in one venue. He was hardly exaggerating; the favourite, Kevin Ashman, is the Mastermind record holder for the most points in a single programme, as well having held the Brain of Britain and Top Brain titles. About a dozen of the other contestants also held various titles from these events and other competitions, and among those eliminated in the tough preliminary heat was the current Brain of Mensa.

Despite the strong field, the four who emerged were what venerable compere Magnus Magnusson could call the expected finalists; Kevin Ashman, Daphne Fowler, Geoff Thomas and Jim Eccleston. This quartet faced off in classic format, with fingers on buzzers, Magnus quizzing, and Trevor passing judgement on close calls.

As so often, a cerebral contest makes fascinating viewing. When Geoff momentarily confuses Austin Powers and Wayne's World, his head sinks to the table in anguish. Daphne hits the target with a guess that is obviously slightly more wild than educated and manages to do a gleeful little victory dance with just her head. At the head of the table, the imperious Ashman forges slightly ahead, and manages to stay there, despite sudden inspired bursts from Fowler and Thomas.

Magnus decides to guarantee smooth free-for-all rounds by penalising players if they interrupt a reading and get a question wrong. When Trevor points out that this is unusual, Magnus declares 'I'm changing the rules!' and everyone continues in good humour. And Kevin Ashman emerges victorious.

Afterwards, a satisfied Daphne Fowler (shared silver medal) confesses that she never dreamed of winning. 'Nobody ever beats Kevin!' This may seem a surprising confession from someone with her track record, but having come a good second to Ashman many times, she says, 'I just admire the man.'

Kevin Ashman is more modest about his achievements. Although it apparently isn't exactly easy for him to remember, he does come up with a Winner Takes All where he got nowhere, and was beaten by one of those eliminated in today's preliminary written test. His MSO victory didn't come easy, though he led from the start. 'I never expect to win. I suppose I know that the laws of probability mean I will do quite well, but it's best not to be too confident - that leads to disaster.'

Kevin, a civil servant, says that nowadays (he has been a serious quiz contestant for twelve years) he concentrates on mind training rather than preparing. 'A lot of the studying has stuck, and what doesn't stick tends to be in subjects where I don't have an intrinsic interest. A few days of glancing at reference books is enough, it gives me the psychological boost of feeling I have done something.'

Test your Wits 

Have a crack at some of the questions from the British Quiz Championship:

Q: Leonora is being serenaded by Manrico, regarded as a rival by the Count who is in love with her. This is a synopsis of which opera?
A: Il Trovatore

Q: Which Austrian composer's last words were reported to have been 'Cheer up, children. I'm all right'?
A: Franz Joseph Haydn

Q: On what part of the body would one wear a billycock, biggin or a casque?
A: On the head (the first two are hats and a casque is a helmet).

Q: In the Morse Code system which letter of the alphabet is represented by two dashes and followed by two dots?
A: Z

Q: Author Jeffrey Archer, US President William Taft and US Military Commander Tasker Bliss all share what same middle name?
A: Howard

What's in a Name?

As you enter the MSO, on the second floor of the hall, you will see a large display devoted to the London Game Company's new product, Boku. Their marketing for this newcomer is rather clever, and you will find pamphlets all around the venue telling you that the game has only two rules. But they never tell you these two simple rules - you must visit their stand to find out more.

Eric Johnson tells an amazing tale of how the game came to be, and be named. A minor league baseball player named Rob Nelson in the US came over to England to try and convert the Brits to America's national pastime. Not surprisingly, this resulted in him having a lot of free time on his hands, and he invented and refined this game. Satisfied with the end product, he began the process of marketing it, and applied for a global trademark for the game's name. When he applied in Britain, his application was rejected, since his choice -Bollox(tm) - was considered ... inappropriate.

Nelson regrouped and relaunched by attaching his first name and calling the game Robollox (silent x) but marketers, who liked the product, still refused to touch it. 'It's just Bollox(tm) with an R O in front, isn't it?' - they complained. 

Finally, Boku was born, and the game has been quickly embraced. If curiosity about how one can have a fascinating game borne of two simple rules becomes too much for you, visit the Boku stand.

They just can't get Enough

Demis Hassabis has a fearsome reputation as a versatile games player, and won last year's gruelling Pentamind. Demis entered so many events in 1998 that he had to play some of them simultaneously, and he is on the hunt again. So far he has two medals from two events, a silver in Diplomacy and a bronze in Continuo. 'I was counting on a gold and a silver,' said a slightly disappointed Hassabis. Demis' rival Paul Smith, another top Pentamind and Decamentathlon ace, is also competing in this year's event, and their battle for medals of all sorts will be something to watch.

Man vs. Machine

Spectators can watch an especially fascinating duel taking place today as the MSO Man vs. Machine exhibition starts. The first challenge will pit Tom Eckersley-Waites, reigning British under-12 champion, against the world's strongest Go program, Go4++, created by Mick Reiss. The match starts at 3:30 pm.

Crafty Competitor

Five-time world memory champion Dominic O'Brien walked a gauntlet of people demanding to know if he was going to compete in this year's Memory Skills event and try to wrest back the title from Andi Bell. There had been doubts, and rumours, that he was stepping down. Dominic, who is looking extremely determined, said he always knew he was going to participate, 'but I didn't want everyone else to know.'

Mind Sports Olympiad Prize Funds (Total over £100,000)

Abalone £500
Bridge £10,000
Bridge on the Internet £1,000
Chess £20,000
Chess Problem Solving £500
Chinese Chess £6,000
Continuo £500
Creative Thinking £500
Cribbage £2,000
Decamentathlon £500
Diplomacy £500
Dominoes £2,000
Draughts 8x8 £4,000
Draughts 10x10 £8,000
Entropy £500
GIPF £500
Go £8,500
HexDame £500
Intelligence £2,000
Japanese Chess £5,000
Lines of Action £500
Mastermind £500
Memory Skills £5,000
Mental Calculations £500
Mind Mapping £500
Othello £7,000
Oware £500
Pentamind £1,000
Quiz £500
Scrabble £6,000
Speed Reading £500
Stratego £5,000
Twixt £500
Zatre £500

Journey to the Century of the Brain

Mind Sports Olympiad Director Tony Buzan is the world's leading author, lecturer and advisor to governments, business and the professions on the brain, learning and thinking skills. His classic book Use Your Head catapulted him to the position of the BBC's number one selling international author. On Thursday he will be giving a free lecture on the principles of the brain, memory and learning at the Mind Sports Olympiad to which everyone is invited.

How did the Mind Sports Olympiad come about?

Back in the early 1990s, Raymond Keene, David Levy and myself were all running world championships in different Mind Sports (chess, computers and mental skills respectively). We looked around and saw that although physical sports were bringing everyone together at the Olympics, there was nothing equivalent in Mind Sports. Our research revealed that there are more than two billion Mind Sports players around the world and this seemed like a good audience for launching a fledgling project concept around an ideal that all of us loved. We therefore decided to work together to develop the concept of Mind Sports Olympiad, and brought it to fruition with the first event at the Royal Festival Hall in 1997. 

This year's event has already surpassed the number of entries from last year. What are your plans for next year's Millennium edition of the Mind Sports Olympiad?

At the moment the possibilities are limitless - we may even take over the whole of Olympia. There will be more regional and national tournaments leading up to next year's event. Our website will also be cranked up to a capacity which will enable us soon to hold a million-player tournament that will revolutionise Mind Sports and take them to a new level in the 21st century - the century of the brain. Everybody involved in the Mind Sports Olympiad sees it as a global initiative to bring the family of Mind Sports players more closely together and increase possibilities for human communication and mutual enjoyment.

The inaugural full meeting of the Mind Sports Council is taking place on Saturday. Could you tell us about this new organisation?

The Mind Sports Council is a global body which has recently been set up to serve four functions:

•  To act as the ultimate recommending authority with regard to the inclusion or exclusion of specific games within the scope of the MSO.
• To advise the Board on any matters of concern regarding ethical aspects of Mind Sports Olympiad activities.
• To act as a channel for any charitable donations or activities decided by the Board.
• To advise the Board on other matters relating to Mind Sports as and when requested. 

The titles can be achieved at this year's Olympiad have generated a great deal of interest. Could you explain them to us?

The rules for gaining one of these titles are simple: the MSO Grandmaster title is awarded to a player who wins two gold medals or one gold and two silvers in a particular Mind Sport.
The structure for the MSO International Master title is similar but in this case it requires two silver medals, one silver and two bronze, or one gold and one bronze.
Likewise the MSO Candidate Master title requires two bronze medals or one bronze and one silver. 

What is the Tinsley medal?

The late Dr Marion Tinsley was arguably the greatest Mind Sports player who ever lived. For 40 years he was overwhelmingly the world's number 1 draughts player - of the many hundreds of games that he played at grandmaster level, he lost only five! He also defended the human race against the Chinook computer, which could calculate five million moves per second - and thrashed it. 

The Tinsley medal is an award for exceptional services to Mind Sports which will be awarded here at final medal ceremony on Sunday. Three medals will be awarded this year - one for each year of the Olympiad - and from then on an annual award will be made each year.

Tell us about your latest book, Brain Smart Leader.

Published by Gower Press, Brain Smart Leader is for business individuals who wish to learn how to use the power of the brain to accelerate and improve business performance across the board. It looks at studies of projects that my colleagues and I have carried out for IBM, British Airways, Boeing etc. in which we have used Mind Maps and mental literacy techniques to generate savings in time and money and major reductions in stress. For example, Boeing saved $12 million in nine months by adopting Mind Maps to help develop new aircraft. The book's thesis is that the leaders of business in the 21st century will only be those who have learned how to use their heads.

Day Two Medal Winners

Backgammon Beginners
1 J. Turner (England) gold
2 C. Connick (England) silver
3 W. Stephens (England) bronze

Chess Problem Solving 
1 J. Nunn (England) gold
2 M. McDowell (England) silver
3 D. Tan (England) bronze

Chess Sun 10-minute
1 D. Norwood (England) gold
2 D. Moskovic (England) silver
3 J. Hodgson (England) bronze

Chess Sun 10-minute Junior
1 E. Leung (England) gold
2 A. Ghasi (England) silver
3 D. Tan (England) bronze

Chess Sun 5-minute
1 D. Norwood (England) gold
2 A. Adelaja (Nigeria) silver
3 N. Pert (England) bronze

Chess Sun 5-minute Junior
1 S. Buckley (England) gold
2 A. Ghasi (England) silver
3 N. Frost (England) bronze

Chinese Chess 10-minute
1  S-T. Hua (France)  gold 
2  W-C. Woo (France)  silver
3 S-L. Guo (England) bronze

Continuo World Ch
1  T. Niccoli (England) gold
2 D. Hassabis (England) silver
3 H. Lee (England) bronze

Continuo Junior Ch
1  T. Niccoli (England) gold
2 V. Westnedge (England) silver
3 J. Lutton (England) bronze

Creative Thinking World Ch 
1 D. Bodycombe (England) gold
2 B. Birchall (England) silver
3= M. Higgs (England) bronze
3= L. Broomfield (England) bronze

The Times Crossword Ch
1 M. Goodliffe (England) gold
2 W. Pilkington (England) silver
3 A. Sutherland (Scotland) bronze

Go 9x9 Championship
1 S-J. Kim (Korea) gold
2 S. Zhang (China) silver
3 G. Schneider (Austria) bronze

Go 9x9 Beginners
1 F. Prager (Germany) gold
2 T. Niccoli (England) silver
3 N. Regan (England) bronze

HexDame Olympiad Ch
1 G. Miller (England) gold
2 L. Springer (Holland) silver
3 R. Danilevich (Lithuania) bronze

Othello European Ch
1 M. Suekuni (Japan) gold
2 T. Miyaoka (Japan) silver
3 I. Leader (England) bronze

Poker Hold 'Em
1 C. Vaz (England) gold
2 I. Adams (England) silver
3 G. Lee (England) bronze

Quiz British Championship
1 K. Ashman (England) gold
2= D. Fowler (England) silver
2= G. Thomas (England) silver

Scrabble Ch (SOWPODS)
1 P. Nelkon (England) gold
2 M. Nyman (England) silver
3 F. Awowade (Nigeria) bronze

Scrabble Ch (OSW)
1 S. Carter (England) gold
2 S. Simonis (England) silver
3 T. Killilea (England) bronze

Skat Olympiad Ch
1 J. McLeod (England) gold
2 A. Ghany (England) silver
3 J. Shepherd (England) bronze

Medal Table after Day Two
 

	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
England	22	23	22	67
USA	3	0	0	3
China	1	1	0	2
France	1	1	0	2
Japan	1	1	0	2
Jamaica	1	0	1	2
Germany	1	0	0	1
Korea	1	0	0	1
Netherlands	0	2	0	2
Israel	0	1	1	2
Nigeria	0	1	1	2
Grenada	0	1	0	1
Austria	0	0	0	1
Czech Rep.	0	0	0	1
Scotland	0	0	0	1
Lithuania	0	0	0	1
Turkmenistan	0	0	0	1

Today's Events

Abalone World Ch am
Backgammon pm/eve
Bridge Mixed Pairs eve
Chess MSO Masters pm/eve
Chess Olympiad Ch am
Chess 25-minute eve
Chinese Chess am/pm
Countdown pm
Draughts 10x10 Rapid pm
Entropy World Ch pm
Japanese Chess am/pm
Mastermind pm
Othello pm
Oware eve
Poker Razz am
Scrabble Weekday am
Scrabble Evening eve
Speed Reading am 

Olympiad News Team

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

Mind Sports Olympiad
PO Box 13388,
London NW3 2ZF
Fax: 01707 659080 http://www.msoworld.com/

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