World Mind Games in Beijing: what a lineup!

The World Mind Games are an international multi-sport event featuring mind sports. Five sports are included on the program: bridge, chess, draughts, go, and xiangqi. The Games were initiated by SportAccord, the umbrella organisation for international sports federations and organisers of sports events, in order to bring these sports closer to a worldwide public. The event is staged annually. So far three editions have been held in December in Beijing, China.

Beijing will also host the next edition, which will take place between December 9th and 18th 2014. The total prize fund is US$ 87,000 for men and $58,000 for women. The lineup is super-impressive. Note that there can be no more than two players from each country, with exceptions made only for World Champions 2013 and 2014 for Blitz and Rapid. The following lists have been announced by FIDE – each player decides based on their personal schedules whether they wish to participate or not (both men and women). Sixteen players will be selected on the basis of their standings.

Men's section

Women's section

The events

• Rapid Events
• 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female)
• two days with seven rounds Swiss events;
• time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment

• Blitz Events
• 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female)
• Three days with double round robin events (10 games per day);
• time control 3 mins each side plus 2 secs increment

• Basque Events
• 16 male players – 16 female players (separate event for male/female)
• two days with five rounds Swiss events;
• each player plays two games simultaneously per round with white and black pieces
• time control 20 mins each side plus 10 secs increment per game

The Basque System is a unique style of chess in which the players face each other twice simultaneously, once with black and once with white. Here's a ChessBase report on the 2013 Basque Rapid.

Schedule

Prizes

The following are the prizes for each event (rapid, blitz and Basque):

Tie break will be used only for final medal positions, while money prizes will be split equally. Air fares will be organised by Beijing Sports Administration and accommodation will also be covered on a full board basis by the organisers. All queries should be addressed to geoffrey.borg@fide.com.

Players are invited to send in their contract, along with a copy of a passport with validity for more than six months, by email to office@fide.com by not later than Friday 1st August 2014 for this year’s fourth edition of the Sport Accord World Mind Games. The selection is based on the average of the player’s three ratings for classical, blitz and rapid. Reserves are also requested to send in a signed contract by the above date. You should also download the Competitor's Commitment.

Source: FIDE

Video report of the 2013 event

Many more videos are available on this Youtube page.

ChessBase reports on previous Sportaccord events

• 12/13/2012 – SportAccord Mind Games with all-star field to play rapid, blindfold and blitz
  SportAccord Mind Games will be held in Beijing, China between the 12th of December and 20th December 2012. The World Mind Games consists of 5 disciplines: chess, bridge, draughts (checkers), go, and xiangqi (Chinese chess). This year brings an all-star field of men and women to play rapid, blindfold and blitz. It all started with a breathtaking opening ceremony.

• 12/21/2011 – SportAccord World Mind Games – Hou Yifan wins gold twice
  The SportAccord World Mind Games ended in a great success for all the games and participants, drawing top players in all disciplines. After the Rapid competition in chess, there were blitz competitions, won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hou Yifan respectively, followed by blindfold competitions in which Zoltan Almasi snatched the gold, while Yifan took her second. Pictures and videos.

• 12/17/2012 – Fressinet wins Men's Rapid at SportAccord World Mind Games
  This event in Beijing, which features bridge, chess, draughts, Go and Xiangqi, there are three chess competitions, rapid, blitz and blindfold, in separate sections for men and women. In the category 20 men's section French Champion Laurent Fressinet won ahead of Hikaru Nakamura. Find out who was victorious in the other sections and watch the excellent video reports from Beijing.

• 12/20/2012 – Aronian and Hou Yifan win blindfold in Beijing
  The third tournament at the SportAccord World Mind Games in China was blindfold chess, where the players see only an empty board on the computer screen and have to type in their moves. Not easy and fraught with danger for players unused to it. Top seed Levon Aronian and second seed Hou Yifan won the men's and women's section. Big illustrated report.

• 12/12/2013 – World Mind Games begin today
  The World Mind Games begins today in Beijing, China. Some of the best players of the world have been invited to play in an unique event that challenges them not only in rapid chess, but also in blitz and the new "Basque" system in which players play two rapid players against their opponent simultaneously: one with black and one with white! Opening Ceremony and preview of the event...

• 12/12/2013 – Mind Games Day 1: Leko, Gunina lead
  Leko leads the Men's section with an impressive 3.5/4 after he patiently ground down Karjakin in what should have been a drawn endgame. He is pursued by Karjakin and Wang Hao who have 3.0/4. In the Women's section Gunina has a spectacular 4.0/4 with dubious wins over Stefanova, Ju Wenjun, Paehtz and a gift from Kosteniuk. She plays Yifan tomorrow. Day one impressions and analysis.

• 12/13/2013 – Mind Games Day 2: Wang Yue, Gunina gold
  A devastating loss in the last round cost Peter Leko the gold medal. He was leading by a full point but because of the tiebreak system (direct encounter) Wang Yue could overtake him with a victory against him, and that is precisely what happened. Gunina played solid, good chess and ended with a full point advantage in the end over Hou Yifan, who came in second. Rapid results, blitz tomorrow.

• 12/14/2013 – Mind Games Day 3: Gunina, Aronian lead blitz
  Day one of the brutal blitz tournament has started. The event has a total of 30 rounds and today the first set of ten was played. In the Men's section Armenian Levon Aronian has destroyed the competition and emerged the strong leader with 8.5/10. In the Women's Gunina started with two losses, rebounded with an amazing eight wins and leads over Muzychuk and Yifan. Day 3 impressions.

• 12/15/2013 – Mind Games Day 4: Yifan big winner
  In the Men's section a very close situation has occurred. Mamedyarov's excellent day two catapulted him to first place with 14.0/20, but there are many players in hot pursuit. Le Quang Liem is only half a point behind, Aronian one point, Karjakin and Vachier a point and a half. In the Women's a fantastic 9.5/10 score for Yifan in day two puts her ahead with a two point lead. Pictorial report.

• 12/17/2013 – Mind Games Day 6: Basque System starts
  This unique style of chess has begun in China! The players face each other twice simultaneously, once with black and once with white. In the men's Karjakin has again taken an early lead with a devastating 5.0/6. In the women's it is the Chinese that are dominating as they hold the top three spots at the moment, with Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun at the very top. Analysis of the basque!

• 12/17/2013 – Mind Games Day 5: Yifan, Karjakin gold
  In two close blitz tournaments the final results came to the very last round. In the men's section Aronian and Karjakin tied at the top, but the Russian edged his opponent out on tiebreaks as he had bested the Armenian in the individual encounter. In the Women's section Gunina could have won if she defeated Hou Yifan in the last round, but she blundered and lost. Analysis of a blitz game.