OLYMPIAD NEWS
Issue 4 Wednesday 25 August 1999
Discovering Dama
Contents
Discovering Dama 1
Lost for Words 2
Words for Windows 2
Man vs. Machine III.. 2
Going, Going, Gone 2
Poker About-Face 2
Big Screen Shogi 2
Well Read 2
The Beachcomber 3
Results Section 4
Medals Table 4
Today's Events 4
The difference between intelligence and education is this - intelligence
will make you a good living. - Charles Kettering 1876-1958
Although it is often constitutes our introduction to Mind Sports, most
of us from English-speaking countries know very little about the world
of Draughts. This world is made up of a fascinating array of related games
of which 8x8 Draughts (known as Checkers in the US) is just a basic version.
The beauty of its more complicated relations is obscured by some slightly
confusing names and the superficial impression of simplicity from the moves
of the pieces.
Walter van Beek, President of the Federation Mondiale du Jeu de Dames
(FMJD), is a congenial ambassador for his game(s), and helps clarify the
differences.
International Draughts, more commonly known as Dames, is basically characterised
by a 10x10 board, backward captures, and very powerful kings - like a hopping
chess bishop. These aspects make for a quantum leap in complexity and enable
some truly breathtaking tactical play and sacrificial combinations. The
FMJD, a major world body, has asked the MSO to stage one of its official
World Championship events, so this year's 10x10 Draughts 10-minute blitz
will double up as the FMJD Championship.
The FMJD also embraces Russian Draughts (a variant of Dames on an 8x8
board), and the new HexDame, played on hexagons instead of squares, thus
adding further dimensions. Strangely, the classic 8x8 game remains outside
the fold.
During the MSO Van Beek, besides his busy playing schedule, also acts
as diplomat, and has entered into enthusiastic discussions with the Dama
delegation from Bahrain. Dama - which seems fated to add to the names confusion,
since it is also the Italian word for 10x10 - is a very old variant. It
has an extremely long tradition in Bahrain, which has now organised an
international Dama federation. Dama is 8x8, with orthogonal moves and captures,
and kings - sheiks, actually - which move like hopping chess rooks. The
rules appear to be shared with what has been called Turkish Draughts, but
it is impossible to say whose game is older.
Van Beek regards the members of the Draughts/Dames/Dama family tree
as 'folk games' due to their long traditions and regional variants. He
has pledged full support for Bahraini Dama and was completely captivated
by the stunning combinations demonstrated by the Arab delegation. 'This
is the first historical variant that shares the richness of 10x10,' Van
Beek enthuses, and this age-old game now seems on the verge of a full international
renaissance - an exciting development for the Draughts world. The MSO has
also recognised Dama, and will support its spread and the activities of
the new federation.
Over the course of its 52-year history, the FMJD has grown from four
nations to 47, and Van Beek is clearly proud that they manage to stage
three regular and interlocking World Championship cycles.
Although 10x10 is not as complex as Chess, the relative strength of
their respective computer programs is about the same, since less programming
attention has been paid to the game. Computers are also segregated to their
own events as the FMJD is not terribly interested in the man vs. machine
debate.
Lost for Words
Two contestants in the Scrabble event, concentrating on their game to
the exclusion of all else, managed to take tiles both from their own bag
and that of the table next to them. They played several moves before realising
their mistake and then decided to remove all tiles from the board in order
to sort things out. When the tournament director arrived, half-way through
the time allocated for the game, they had no words on the board, a pile
of tiles on the table and two incomplete bags of tiles, one either side
of the board. Undaunted, they started afresh with a third bag of tiles
and limped home with the results some twenty minutes into the scheduled
tea-break.
Words for Windows
Artist Barry Martin has strong ties to the Mind Sports Olympiad. This
year he has honoured the event with a new exhibition which has pleased
visitors of all ages. The show, entitled 'Look - Reflection on Structure
and Meaning', provokes the eye and the mind, as well as pleasing them.
The exhibit is a great favourite of children at the event and many have
judged it 'cool', much to the artist's satisfaction.
A series of small reliefs, words hewn from Welsh slate, reflected in
stainless steel, provide a counterpoint of ancient and modern materials
while transforming and revealing meaning. Barry is excited by the possibilities
of his theme, and is already working on a more complex version with sentences.
Barry was the official artist at the Chess world title match between
Kasparov and Short and designed the Staunton Memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery.
His works are in many prestigious collections, including the Tate, the
National Portrait Gallery, and the British Museum. The Martin exhibition
can be seen on level 3, and quite possibly you may be able to get the man
himself to reveal the nuances behind his work.
Medal Detector
One of the rising stars of the Mind Sports Olympiad is 16-year-old Londoner
Tony Niccoli, who has made his mark in a wide range of events. To date
at this year's Mind Sports Olympiad, which is not even at the halfway stage,
Tony has pocketed no less than nine medals. As well as junior medals, his
successes include gold for the Continuo World Championship, silver in Go
for Beginners and bronze in Poker Razz. Tony is optimistic of adding to
his tally and particularly has his eye on Mastermind and Draughts for Beginners.
The Pentamind competitors have a new rival.
Man vs. Machine III
Today's third instalment of the tussle between the silicon and human
brain is a heavyweight clash. Kenta Tominaga of Japan, reigning Meijin
of Othello, will face the program Logistello, regarded by experts as the
favourite. This takes place at 10:00 am on level 2.
The result of the second Man vs. Machine challenge between Larry Kaufman
5-dan (1998 MSO winner) and top program Shotest was an impressive victory
for humanity. Handicap expert Kaufman gave Shotest huge 2-piece (rook and
bishop) odds - and won. Steve Lamb 4-dan (2-time European Champion) also
triumphed at rook odds.
Going, Going, Gone
The schedules for the afternoon events for Go on Thursday the 26th and
Friday the 27th will be postponed to allow Go players to take full advantage
of the special visit by Cho Hoon-hyun 9-dan of Korea. The Go legend will
be lecturing on level 2 from 2:30 to 3:30 on Thursday, and giving a ten-board
simultaneous exhibition on Friday from 2:30 to 4:00.
Poker About-Face
Chief arbiter Dan Glimne informs Olympiad News that tomorrow's Poker
competition will not be London lowball, but 5-card lowball by overwhelming
popular demand.
Big Screen Shogi
The final of the Shogi (Japanese Chess) event will take place on level
2 in the Man vs. Machine area at 2:00 pm today, so that spectators can
follow the action on an overhead screen. The four finalists for the Pan-Atlantic
Championship are Larry Kaufman (USA), Steve Lamb (England), George Fernandez
(USA) and Hans Segers (Holland). Note! All Shogi events will have
their closing ceremony at 4:30 pm on level 2.
Well Read
One of the easiest events to understand and appreciate has to be the
Speed Reading World Championship. Several journalists curious to see the
competition went away disappointed when they found an empty room - the
contestants were so quick that they finished the event ahead of schedule.
Anne Jones of England finished 252 pages of text (98,658 words) - three
short stories from Hearts in Atlantis, an unpublished work by Stephen King
- in the half hour allotted and her answers on the comprehension test earned
her a speed of 1233.2 words per minute.
The junior event produced a Latin American double, with Pablo Rivera
and Ricardo Cordero, both from Puerto Rico, taking the gold and silver
with 739.9 and 722.8 wpm respectively. Speed Reading ability is measured
by the number of words read per minute, divided by the percentage of comprehension.
The Beachcomber
Bill Hartston is the resident creativity question setter at the Mind
Sports Olympiad. He is known to a wider audience as Beachcomber in The
Express and previously held the post of Creativity correspondent for The
Independent. He is also an experienced Mind Sports player, having achieved
the title of International Chess Master and won the British Chess Championship
on two occasions.
How would you define creativity?
That is a difficult one. If it is to mean anything it must be separated
from originality. Simply coming up with an original idea is not necessarily
creative; it needs to have something more. Also it is not enough that a
new idea simply works - some very good ideas don't work, while other bad
ones do. What is required is a blend of originality and effectiveness.
Arthur Koestler, in his book Act of Creation, identifies the essential
component of creativity as 'dissociation' - thinking about something on
two parallel levels and then drawing them together. Humour is a good example.
The art of telling jokes is to set the mind on one train of thought and
then to derail it with the punchline.
Is it possible to teach creativity?
I don't think so. However, as Tony Buzan has shown, you can train
uncreative people to come up with ideas that they would not otherwise have
had by using techniques. However, creativity is a process and not a technique
- it comes from somewhere deeper.
Is it an advantage to be creative?
For a while I had a job as a management consultant dealing mainly
with management psychology and the project I worked on most was that of
management teams. We discovered that for a team to be successful you need
to have one creative person and no more. When you are actually trying to
get things done creativity can be a disadvantage. If a project is divided
into formulation and implementation then creativity is useful in the first
but a positive hindrance in the second.
Do you regard yourself as a creative person?
When I started out as an industrial psychologist I was set a personality
test, the result of which informed me that I was indeed creative. This
came as something of a surprise to me as I had never really regarded myself
as creative. I think I am a product of a defect in the educational system
which encourages too much thinking in terms of right and wrong. For example,
at school I was hopeless with languages because I didn't appreciate that
they were about communication, and in order to communicate, you have to
make mistakes.
Is it possible to test objectively for creativity?
Well, of course this is what I attempt to do in the Creativity Championship
and I think it is possible. For example, if you ask a group of people to
identify unusual uses for a paper clip, there will be a hard core of about
10-12 commonplace answers that almost everyone will think of. This might
be classified as mundane creativity. However, there will always be some
people who will see beyond these and come up with ideas that no-one else
has considered. Those who do this stand out as creative.
How good is the standard in the Mind Sports Olympiad Creativity Championship?
Exceptional. Some of the answers that are produced are quite astounding.
Each round lasts just half an hour and to not only come up with highly
original ideas, but also to formulate them into a coherent argument and
occasionally even draw up designs in such a short time is extraordinary.
Most of the time creativity works by confronting a question and then going
away and thinking about it. To be able to perform effectively under exam
conditions is very impressive. A question that worked very well this year
was to suggest a redesign for the human body. Common responses included
such thing elements as incorporating an extra arm or an eye in the back
of the head. However, the most impressive replies did not just tinker with
the existing bodily structure, they gave it a complete and radical overhaul.
Can you identify people in the public eye who you regard as highly creative?
This is a very difficult question, as creativity in one field does
not necessarily imply an all round creative approach to life. For example
although Mozart was fantastically creative at music, you could argue that
if he were truly creative in a broad sense, he might have regarded music
as too limiting a career to pursue.
Is creativity stifled in contemporary society?
There is an element of this. We are born creative but growing up
is essentially a limiting procedure. Children have the ability to entertain
alternative realities (e.g. to believe in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy,
while simultaneously 'knowing' that they don't exist) but society places
pressures on them to conform. Life is also easier if you conform. Much
of society is based on cultural scripts - society lays down rules that
it expects others to live by. Everything becomes routine and life encourages
people to fall into this mode which is, unfortunately, thoroughly stifling
to creativity.
Day Four Medal Winners
Abalone
1 G. Schneider (Austria) gold
2 M. Tastet (France) silver
3 J. Stastna (Czech Rep.) bronze
Bridge for Beginners
1 D. Pearce (England) gold
2 P. Wood (England) silver
3 D. de Toffoli (Italy) bronze
Bridge Multiple Teams
1 A. Robson (England), M. Courtney (Australia), E. Erichsen (Norway),
D. Bakhshi (England) gold
2 N. Sandquist (Sweden), R. Cliffe (England), S. Solbrand (Sweden),
L. Albertsson (Sweden) silver
3 R. van Tol (Holland), C. Muller (Holland), T. Nnando (England), Bharat
(England) bronze
Decamentathlon World Ch
1 P. Smith (England) gold
2 K. Loveys (England) silver
3 E. Cali (France) bronze
Entropy World Ch
1 G. Hassabis (England) gold
2 D. Hassabis (England) silver
3 D. Pearce (England) bronze
Entropy World Junior Ch
1 G. Hassabis (England) gold
2 T. Hebbes (England) silver
3 C. Harris (England) bronze
Mastermind
1 K. Daelemans (Belgium) gold
2 R. Coull (England) silver
3 S. Rowe (England) bronze
Mastermind Junior
1 T. Niccoli (England) gold
2 R. Gholap (England) silver
Poker Canadian Stud
1 J. Clark (England) gold
2 C. Harris (England) silver
3 G. Hassabis (England) bronze
Poker Canadian Stud Junior
1 C. Harris (England) gold
2 G. Hassabis (England) silver
3 T. Niccoli (England) bronze
Medal Table after Day Four
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
| England |
34 |
35 |
33 |
102 |
| USA |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| France |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| Netherlands |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| Japan |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| China |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Puerto Rico |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Austria |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Jamaica |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Scotland |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Australia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Belgium |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Germany |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Korea |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Norway |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Sweden |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| Israel |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Nigeria |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Grenada |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Czech Republic |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Italy |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Latvia |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Lithuania |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Wales |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
www.msoworld.com
To coincide with the Third Mind Sports Olympiad we are delighted to
announce the launch of a very much upgraded web site. The address is: http://www.msoworld.com/
When you visit the new site you will find, amongst other things, that
you can play other users at approximately 50 different games from six different
game categories. These games are from the 'Zillions of Games' collection
and we are delighted to be working with Zillions Development Corporation
on the creation of the site. Using the site is absolutely free!
Other features of the new site include a Mind Sports 'webzine' which
will bring you news and feature articles, regularly updated. Our news editor
is Jonathan Tisdall, an International Grandmaster at Chess and a professional
Mind Sports journalist. (Please send him news and articles to: jtisdall@usa.net).
Today's Events
Backgammon pm/eve
Bridge for Beginners am
Bridge Pairs am/pm
Chess MSO Masters pm/eve
Chess Olympiad Ch am
Chess 25-minute eve
Chinese Chess am/pm
Countdown pm
Draughts 10x10 Rapid pm
Intelligence World Ch am
Japanese Chess am
Lines of Action pm
Othello Olympiad Ch pm
Oware eve
Oware Beginners am/pm
Poker 5-Card Draw Lowball am
Rummikub am/pm
Scrabble Weekday am
Scrabble Evening eve
Twixt World Ch am
Olympiad News Team
Editor: Jon Tisdall
Production: Byron Jacobs and Andrew Kinsman
(First Rank Publishing)
Mind Sports Olympiad
PO Box 13388,
London NW3 5FB
Tel: 01707 659080
Fax: 01707 661160
http://www.msoworld.com/
MSOWorld.com