OLYMPIAD NEWS
Issue 6 Friday 27 August 1999
Generation Game
Contents
Generation Game 1
Man vs. Machine V - The Sting 2
Friendly Seoul 2
Abalone Rules 2
Records Broken 2
Dama Drama 2
Countdown to the next Millennium 3
Results Section 4
Medals Table 4
Today's Events 4
The three things that enrich genius are contentment of mind, the
cherishing of good thoughts, and exercising the memory. - Robert Southey
1774-1843
This year's World Memory Championship is certainly living up to expectations
that it will be one of the most exciting events of the whole Mind Sports
Olympiad. The contest was billed as a battle between five-times winner
Dominic O'Brien and the reigning champion, Andi Bell. However, these two
memory stars were eclipsed in the early exchanges by the relatively unknown
young American, Zhang Yu, who had raced into a shock lead after four of
the nine rounds.
Zhang took a silver medal at what insiders called a rather weak national
championship. However, he has since been studying hard under the wing of
Frank Felberbaum, one of the first memory legends in the USA, and this
partnership is beginning to bear fruit.
As the first day reached its conclusion, championship experience began
to tell. O'Brien never finished below third in any event, and when he took
his first top placing, in the day's final event, random words, it was enough
to edge him in front of Zhang. The young American had earlier achieved
two first places and two seconds, including the shattering of a world record.
In the binary digits round he recalled an amazing 2745 digits, beating
the previous best by 360.
However, Zhang's indifferent result of a ninth place in the fifth and
final event of the day allowed O'Brien to slip past. With O'Brien and Bell
requesting far more decks in the one-hour cards tomorrow, they seem determined
to put some distance between themselves and the upstart Zhang, who looks
certain to take the junior gold if not a senior medal.
The rivalry between Bell and O'Brien has produced some fantastic contests
in the past. Their most recent duel, in 1997, was simply awesome, with
world records falling in virtually every event, and several double world
records were set. That year Bell finally crashed out when he lost concentration
and actually left the room during an event. He had been trying to clear
his head from his exertions in the previous discipline and suddenly realised
that by wandering out he had forfeited his chances.
O'Brien, who was unable to compete last year, told Olympiad News that
he was having trouble getting his old rhythm back, which would perhaps
explain his slow start to the competition. A third place in the first event,
the one-hour numbers, was well below his usual standard.
Meanwhile, Bell says his physical condition is better than ever, and
he has been working on his consistency. He has had a reputation for being
reckless, often taking an all-or-nothing approach in search of smashing
a world record. Conversely O'Brien tends to be steady, trying to balance
what he feels to be his own limitations while still pushing for ever better
scores. Bell says that he will try to be more stable this year.
Elsewhere in the competition, another training partnership is also proving
its worth. Twelve-year-old Christiane Stenger, one of several pupils of
fellow competitor Gunter Karsten, performed very strongly on the first
day and has left the Women's World Memory Champion, Sue Whiting, far behind.
Man vs. Machine V - The Sting
Today's fifth and final Man vs. Machine challenge pits Mark Nyman against
a top Scrabble program. The match takes place at 3:00 pm on level 2. (See
opposite for more details.)
Arbiter Michael Crane reports that the computer triumphed in the fourth
Man vs. Machine duel. John Broomfield, the 1998 British Backgammon Champion,
failed in his bid to beat the neural net program Jellyfish. In a best of
three contest, John won the first match. However, Jellyfish stung back,
narrowly winning the second match and then extending its tentacle-like
grip on proceedings by taking the third and decisive match.
Friendly Seoul
The Korean ambassador to the UK, Mr Sung Hong Choi, arrived today with
the competitors who qualified for a free trip to MSO III from the MSO Seoul
Games. Gift-giving and goodwill were the order of the day. Both the ambassador and the delegates received
special gold medals in honour of the first regional MSO event.
Perhaps the most impressive champion was the Othello representative,
who is blind. The Go legend Cho Hoon-hyun 9-dan showed his artistic versatility,
presenting a special plate with hand painted calligraphy (which, along
with Go, is one of the four great arts in Korea) to the ambassador and
to Tony Buzan.
Abalone Rules
The top players of MSO discipline Abalone have taken 'drastic action'
in order to protect and invigorate their game. A petition from top players
and presented by the arbiter of the MSO World Championship has set forth
a new starting position in order to avoid the possible problem of a forced
draw. The group hope that their suggested amendments will become the standard
rules for title tournaments.
Records Broken
On Thursday morning the MSO III attendance record was broken yet again.
There are now over 3,400 entries from the 64 participating nations. Representatives
from 78 countries have now taken part in the Mind Sports Olympiad since
its inception in 1997.
Dama Drama
An observant Italian participant has informed Olympiad News that (perhaps
not surprisingly) the issue of names in the Draughts world is even trickier
than mentioned in the front page article in issue 4, Discovering Dama.
Dama is not just the existing Italian name for Draughts - it is also
the name for both 8x8 (with special Italian rules, of course) and 10x10
(which they call 'international Draughts' to reduce confusion). The Olympiad
News team anticipate more Dama drama in the days ahead ...
Scrabble Competition
The 24 words below were played and challenged during the Olympiad Scrabble
tournaments. Some of them are allowed only by the English reference book
(OSW), some are allowed only by the American reference book (OSPD), some
are allowed by both reference books (SOWPODS) and some are not allowed
at all (NIX). Guess which is which and enter the competition. Entries should
be submitted to the Registration Desk by 10:00 am on Sunday 29 August.
The first correct (or the most accurate) answer drawn by Lady Mary Tovey
at 2:30 pm on Sunday 29 August will win a deluxe Scrabble set.
| Word |
OSW |
OSPD |
SOWPODS |
NIX |
| Amateurly |
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| Antrose |
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| Beleed |
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| Chet |
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| Dadoing |
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| Interrex |
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| Ither |
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| Justle |
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| Liplines |
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| Moirai |
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| Obulia |
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| Omenta |
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| Oncomice |
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| Oneriest |
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| Oxgate |
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| Oxo |
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| Pirana |
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| Quonks |
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| Rawings |
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| Rawins |
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| Scimetar |
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| Sermion |
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| Sextate |
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| Vaudoo |
|
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|
Name............................................................................
Countdown to the next Millennium
Today Mark Nyman continues the series of Man vs. Machine clashes when
he takes on the strongest Scrabble program around - PC Scrabble UK. In
previous battles between these two, Mark has won five times from nine games
- so the result is too close to call. He is best known for his work as
producer of the very popular Channel 4 programme Countdown, for which he
has been holding auditions at the MSO.
How do the top computers compare with the best human players?
It's very close at the moment. The main advantage that computers
have is that they will never miss any seven letter word that will generate
a 50 point bonus. The top players are stronger at the strategy of the game,
both in terms of preventing opportunities for their opponent and keeping
a good balance of tiles on their rack. Although computers can do this to
a certain extent, they tend to focus on making the best possible score
on each turn.
There are two different versions of Scrabble, which rely on different
dictionaries. Does this not make life rather difficult?
Yes, it does. In the past all tournaments in England used the Chambers
dictionary, from which the list of Official Scrabble Words (OSW) was defined.
However, the World Championship uses Websters dictionary and the Official
Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD).
To add to the confusion, international events combine the two dictionaries,
and this list is known as SOWPODS - an amalgamation of the other two acronyms.
It is very difficult to remember exactly which words are in which lists,
and the variations between them are actually quite extensive.
How have you been preparing for the MSO Scrabble event?
I have been concentrating on learning more five letter words. Although
the two and three letter words are crucial, all strong players have mastered
these, while the seven and eight letter words are also well known as they
are obviously essential for making 50 point bonus scores.
Personally, I am good on four letter words, so I have been trying
to make my game more solid by improving my knowledge of five letter words.
It seems to have paid off as I have so far scored 27 wins from 33 matches,
which is my best ever ratio.
How many two and three letter words are there?
There are probably about 40 two-letter words which are not generally
known. In the case of three letter words, I think there are around 1,000,
of which about 500 are in everyday use.
When is your next big event?
I am playing in the World Scrabble Championships in Melbourne in
November. I will be one of 12 English representatives. Besides myself,
David Webb, Phil Appleby and Femi Awowade are competing both in Melbourne
and at the MSO. Our main competition will probably come from the American
contingent. The top English and American players are probably about the
same but America has slightly more strength in depth.
Is there a ranking list in Scrabble?
Yes, it is based upon the chess ranking list and works very well.
I am currently rated around 4th or 5th in the country. It is a pity that
this event is not rated as I am playing well here and it would boost my
ranking.
Was there an uproar when Countdown was taken off air earlier this year
to make way for the cricket coverage?
Yes, Channel 4 received quite a number of complaints, though fortunately
it doesn't appear to have affected our viewing figures. We attract a solid
audience of between three and four million (with small seasonal variations)
which we hope will hold out for the remainder of our contract, which runs
until 2004. By then we will have put out over 3,800 shows. We also have
plans for a Millennium night special featuring a big champions' final.
You did a celebrity version of Countdown last year. Was it a success?
Yes it was. Viewing figures were reasonable, but it was not as well
received as the afternoon show. Our audience is very loyal and they don't
like to see contestants who are not so good at the game. We did a series
of eight shows with two celebrities per programme. Most of them were good
but they were not quite up to the standard of the afternoon show competitors,
all of whom have to go through a rigorous qualification process.
Who were the best players amongst the celebrities?
The comedienne Jo Brand was the very good, while playwright Arthur
Smith and journalist Alan Coren also performed well. However, the newly
elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, struggled a little
with the numbers. All of the celebrities were good sports, although we
were worried that one or two might sneak off after rehearsals when they
realised how difficult the game can be!
Do you have celebrity fans?
Apparently Prince William is very keen. At a recent garden party
he was overheard saying that he had to go inside as Countdown was about
to start! We also once had Sir Anthony Hopkins ring up to complain about
a word that he believed should not have been. Unfortunately, we couldn't
persuade him to appear on the programme.
Day Six Medal Winners
Bridge for Beginners (Thur)
1 J. Goldsmith (England) gold
2 J. Moed (France) silver
3 S. Moed (France) bronze
Bridge Mixed Pairs
1 A. Thompson (England)
S. Fenton (England) gold
2 S. Gross (England)
B. Senior (England) silver
3 R. Samani (England)
M. Samani (England) bronze
Bridge Open Pairs
1 T. To (England)
R. Rowlands (England) gold
2 J. Bochsler (England)
J. Durden (England) silver
3 M. Gold (England)
D. Gold (England) bronze
Bridge Pairs' Championship
1 U. Durmus (England)
E. Erichsen (Sweden) gold
2 Z. Mahmoud (Pakistan)
P. Chemla (France) silver
3 T. Townsend (England)
R. Sheehan (England) bronze
Chinese Chess Olympiad Championship
1 W-C. Woo (France) gold
2 S-T. Hua (France) silver
3 C. Li (Scotland) bronze
Draughts 8x8 Beginners
1 C. Bell (France) gold
2 A. Goss (England) silver
3 M. Durdyev (Turk'istan) bronze
Draughts 10x10 Rapid
1 H. Wiersma (Holland) gold
2 A. Georgiev (Russia) silver
3 R. Clerc (Holland) bronze
Lines of Action World Championship
1 F. Kok (Holland) gold
2 E. Cali (France) silver
3 G. Miller (England) bronze
Othello Olympiad Championship
1 M. Suekuni (Japan) gold
2 K. Tominaga (Japan) silver
3 T. Miyaoka (Japan) bronze
Othello Olympiad Junior Ch
1 T. Krzywonos (Canada) gold
2 B. Shifman (Israel) silver
3 J. Lutton (England) bronze
Poker Omaha
1 G. Hassabis (England) gold
2 J. Butler (Ireland) silver
3 D. de Toffoli (Italy) bronze
Poker Omaha Junior
1 G. Hassabis (England) gold
2 C. Harris (England) silver
3 G. Niccoli (England) bronze
Scrabble Evening Beginners
1 D. White (England) gold
2 D. Holloway (England) silver
3 P. Kelly (Wales) bronze
Scrabble Evening Junior Beginners
1 T. Hebbes (England) gold
2 A. Dixson (England) silver
3 R. Gholap (England) bronze
Scrabble Evening (SOWPODS)
1 M. Nyman (England) gold
2 F. Awowade (Nigeria) silver
3 A. Saldanha (England) bronze
Scrabble Evening (OSW)
1 A. Killilea (England) gold
2 J. McLeod (England) silver
3 P. Dean (England) bronze
Medal Table after Day Six
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
| England |
53 |
50 |
53 |
156 |
| France |
5 |
7 |
1 |
13 |
| USA |
4 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
| Netherlands |
3 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
| Japan |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
| Germany |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Sweden |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
| Austria |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| China |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Grenada |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Puerto Rico |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Scotland |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| Jamaica |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Canada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Australia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Belgium |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Korea |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Norway |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Israel |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
| Nigeria |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Czech Republic |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Dominican Rep. |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Ireland |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Pakistan |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Russia |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Italy |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Wales |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Ghana |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Turkmenistan |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Latvia |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Lithuania |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Today's Events
Backgammon pm/eve
Bridge Ladies' Pairs eve
Bridge Men's Pairs eve
Bridge Seniors' Pairs eve
Bridge Novices' Pairs eve
Chess MSO Masters pm/eve
Chess Olympiad Ch am
Chinese Chess Euro Ch am/pm
Draughts 10x10 Blitz pm
Draughts 8x8 am/pm
Go 19x19 Olympiad Ch am/pm
Intelligence World Ch am
Memory Skills am/pm
Othello 5-minute am
Oware eve
Poker 7-Card Stud am
Scrabble Weekday am
Stratego World Ch am/pm
Zatre Olympiad Ch am/pm
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