The World Mind Games begin

by André Schulz
12/12/2014 – On 11th December the World Mind Games began in Beijing, China. One week some of the word's best players compete in Chess, Go, Draughts, Chinese Chess, (Xiangqi), and Bridge. In chess 16 top men and women play rapid, blitz and basque chess. After four rounds of rapid Nana Dzagnidze, Wang Yue, Wang Hao and Alexander Grischuk are the leading mind acrobats.

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The World Mind Games are organised in cooperation with SportAccord, the, as they write in their Mission and Values statement on their homepage, "union for both Olympic and non-Olympic international sports, federations as well as organisers of international sporting events." The World Mind Games take place from 11. to 17. December in Beijing, China. Participants compete in five mind sports: Bridge, Draughts, Go, Chinese Chess (Xiangqi), and Chess.

32 top class players - 16 men and 16 women - were invited to take part in the chess competition.

 

The chessplayers will play rapid, blitz and basque chess (two players play two games simultaneously against each other - one with white, one with black). All in all 24 medals can be won. The first chess tournament is the rapid competition for men and women (Thursday and Friday). After that follows blitz (Saturday to Monday) until the basque chess tournament finally rounds it off (Tuesday and Wednesday).

In the women's tournament Nana Dzagnidze had the best start. After the first day she leads the field with 3.5/4. In the men's tournament Wang Hao, Wang Yue and Alexander Grischuk share the lead with 3.0/4 each.

Games from day 1

 

 

The Opening

Dance and ...

... acrobatics...

...at the opening ceremony

Chess images (from the tournament in 2013)

Antoaneta Stefanova

Basque chess: two games simultaneously

Humpy Koneru

Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin open with white

Levon Aronian

Bridge

A visual cover separates the partners at Bridge

Go

The Go-clock

Full board

Xiangqi

In Chinese chess you put the pieces on lines not on squares

Xiangqi simul

Chess promotion

Alexandra Kosteniuk presents the official T-shirt

Ju Wenjun

Peter Heine Nielsen with officials

Students with grandmaster

Peter Heine Nielsen plays a simultan

 

World Mind Games Homepage ...

Sport Accord Homepage...


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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