Bridge features strongly at the Mind Sports Olympiad this
year with 11 tournaments and 3 sessions of Mini-Bridge. As in
previous years Malcolm and Barbara Carey will officiate.
This festival of Bridge is enhanced by the addition of the
Worldwide Simultaneous Pairs Championships. Two
tournaments are being organized for MSO by the World
Bridge Federation, with much of the proceeds going to
charity. In the UK the money will go to the EBU supported
"Save the Childrens' Fund" while in most other countries it
will be to a Spina Bifida charity based in Paris.
On each of the first two evenings (August 22nd and 23rd)
there is a self-contained WBF pairs tournament, entry fee
approximately #4.50 per player, with the same hands being
played all over the world in some 3,000 Bridge clubs. The
scores are sent to a central computer server via our web site
where the results are calculated and updated, courtesy of
Anna Gudge and Mark Newton of ECats Ltd. Pairs who
compete in either or both of these heats may also qualify for
the final of our own MSO Pairs Championship on Thursday
24th. There is also the traditional MSO qualifier on the
afternoon of August 23rd.
The Mind Sports movement, which began with the inaugural
MSO at the Royal Festival Hall in 1997, has quickly spread to
other continents. The first Korean MSO, held in Seoul last
year, attracted 5,000 contestants and a staggering 17,000
spectators. This year sees the second Korean Mind Sports
Olympiad (July), followed in August by the first Japanese
MSO and, in September, by the first Singapore MSO.
The London venue this year, Alexandra Palace, is the best
ever. It is an historic building set in 196 acres of parkland,
with outstanding views overlooking London. Wood Green
underground station (Piccadilly line) is less than 15 minutes
walk away or a short bus ride (route W3). There is also a
British Rail station (Alexandra Palace) on the line from Kings
Cross to Hertfordshire and a car park with 2,000 free parking
spaces. The venue also boasts its own pub which will be open
throughout the event!
The MSO boasts more than 90 tournaments, including a
number of national and world championships: the British
Open Backgammon Championship, the British Go
Championship, the European Shogi Championships, the
World Open Dominoes Championships, the World Open
Cribbage Championships, the British Scrabble Championships
and World Championships in Continuo, Twixt, Boku, GIPF,
Memory and several other disciplines, more than 40 in all.
As usual there will be Gold, Silver and Bronze medals on
offer for the tournament winners and for the leading juniors
(under 16). There will also be cash prizes based on
sponsorship and the number of entries. In addition, MSO titles
and certificates will be awarded to those who have won
medals in exactly the same discipline at more than one Mind
Sports Olympiad.
| Date |
Morning |
Afternoon |
Evening |
| Sat 19 August |
|
| Sun 20 August |
| Mon 21 August |
| Tue 22 August |
|
WORLDWIDE SIMULTANEOUS PAIRS
(1st Charity Event) |
| Wed 23 August |
Mini-Bridge |
MSO Pairs Championship Qualifier |
WORLDWIDE SIMULTANEOUS PAIRS
(2nd Charity Event) |
| Thu 24 August |
MSO Pairs Championship Final
and
MSO Open Pairs |
|
| Fri 25 August |
Mini-Bridge |
Mixed Pairs
and
Novice Pairs |
Mens Pairs
and
Ladies Pairs |
| Sat 26 August |
|
| Sun 27 August |
MSO Swiss Pairs |
|
| Mon 28 August |
MSO Swiss Teams |
|
- Mini-Bridge (Bridge For Beginners)
- August 23-25, 10am-2pm
- Entry fee: £10 (£4) per tournament
- In addition to the regular Bridge tournaments we are also
organizing three sessions of Mini-Bridge (also known as "Taste
Bridge"). These sessions will run from 10am-2pm each day, Tuesday
August 23 - Thursday August 25. The first few minutes of each
session will be a teach-in, run by the English Bridge Union, FOR
PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER. You can learn
to play Mini-Bridge immediately and within a few minutes you will
be sitting down to play your first few hands!! All participants
in each of these Mini-Bridge sessions will play in a tournament
as soon as their teach-in is finished, it is as easy as that!
Medals are awarded to the first three places each day.
- WORLDWIDE SIMULTANEOUS PAIRS
1st Charity Tournament
organised by the World Bridge Federation
- August 22, 7pm-10:30pm
- Entry fee: £4.50 (£4.50)
- Acts as a qualifier for the MSO Pairs Championship on August 24
- MSO Pairs Championship Qualifier
- August 23, 2pm-5:30pm
- Entry fee: £30 (£12)
- Acts as a qualifier for the MSO Pairs Championship on August 24
- Entry fee also pays for either MSO Pairs Championship Final or MSO Open Pairs
- WORLDWIDE SIMULTANEOUS PAIRS
2nd Charity Tournament
organised by the World Bridge Federation
- August 23, 7pm-10:30pm
- Entry fee: £4.50 (£4.50)
- Acts as a qualifier for the MSO Pairs Championship on August 24
- MSO Pairs Championship Final
- August 24, 10am-1:30pm and 3pm-7:30pm
- Entry fee: free to qualifiers from the MSO Pairs Championship Qualifier;
£25.50(£7.50) for qualifiers from either Charity Tournament
- Open to those only who qualified from one of the above three events
- MSO Open Pairs
- August 24, 10am-1:30pm and 3pm-7:30pm
- Entry fee: free to participants in the MSO Pairs Championship Qualifier
- Open to those only who did not qualify for the MSO Pairs Championship Final
- Mixed Pairs
- August 25, 2pm-5:30pm
- Entry fee: £10 (£4)
- Novice Pairs
- August 25, 2pm-5:30pm
- Entry fee: £10 (£4)
- Neither partner may have reached the English MP rank of Regional Master or equivalent
- Ladies Pairs and Mens Pairs
- August 25, 7pm-10:30pm
- Entry fee: £10 (£4)
- Two simultaneous separate tournaments
- Swiss Pairs
- August 27, 10am-2pm and 3pm-7:30pm
- Entry fee: £15 (£6)
- Swiss Teams
- August 28, 10am-2pm and 3pm-7:30pm
- Entry fee: £15 (£6)
- All sessions will be 24 boards.
- All entry fees are per player.
|
