More than 500 people from all over China are competing for the chance to represent their country at the 24th World Memory Championship in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, reports China News Service.
Players participating in the competition are required to memorise a sequence of 36 randomly ordered cards, as well as the names and faces of 120 famous people, within 15 minutes.
One young participant, a fifth grader named Chen, said he is not particularly eager to win but intends to test his memory.
This year’s competition has broken records for the number of attendees. It has also attracted a wide range of ages, with the youngest being 9 years old and the eldest 72 years old.
The competition’s winners will form the Chinese team for the World Memory Championship to compete against other memory athletes from over 50 countries.
List of Competitors Plan of Competition Room
We are pleased to welcome two new members onto the Council;
Dr Enitan Ogundipe – MBBS, MD, FRCPCH 
Consultant Neonatologist & Hon. Senior Lecturer;
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital/ Imperial College London UK
and also the eminent Professor Dr Ahmad Ali Khan President Brain Trust Pakistan,. India and Bangladesh chapters, visiting professor of psychiatry and Emeritus NHS Meritorius consultant psychiatrist.
CONFIRMED SCHEDULE for the 2015 World Memory Championships
December 15: Registration and Opening Ceremony
Opening Ceremony after lunch. A planned mind sports summit seminar after dinner
December 16: Day 1 of Competition
12/16 8:30-9:30 Names & Faces
10:00-12:00 Binary Number
14:30-17:30 One Hour Numbers
December 17: Day 2 of Competition
12/17 8:00-9:00 Abstract Images
9:30-10:00 Speed Numbers 1
10:30-11:00 Speed Numbers 2
11:30-12:00 Historic/Future Dates
14:30-17:30 One Hour Cards
December 18: Day 3 of Competition and Closing Ceremony
12/18 8:00-9:00 Random Words
9:30-9:45 Spoken Numbers 1
10:15-10:45 Spoken Numbers 2
11:15-12:00 Spoken Numbers 3
13:30-14:00 Speed Cards 1
14:30-15:00 Speed Cards 2
Closing Ceremony after dinner.
There will be a book signing ceremony with Tony Buzan at the largest Xin Hua bookstore in downtown Chengdu at 15:00 on December 19.
Welcome Dr Yiqun Wang
We are delighted to announce that Dr Yiqun Wang has joined WMSC. He is an eminent member of The Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at Londons Imperial College and is also Brain Trust Vice President. DR Wang is currently on a tour of Chinese Universities where he reports favourable reaction to WMC. He says “During my travel，I have met a lot of professor friends from many institutions with the national level at Xi’an, XiaMeng and Beijing，such as, Xiameng university, the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Academy of State Administration of Grain, COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute, Medicine Schools of Tsinghua University and Peking University and so on. All of them are looking forward with highly respection and to seeing The World Memory Championships in China next month.”
Arbiter Training in China
The WMSC unreservedly support the arbiter training project and Level 2 arbiter promotion in China. The last decade witnessed the amazingly fast growth of China’s mental literacy development and their great contributions to the mental sports, which will be further proved by the coming 24th World Memory Championships in Chengdu, China, which provided the best ever venue and record high prize. Any bias against China’s mental sport development will be also harmful the development of WMSC and World Memory Championships.
The Mind Sport of Memory is both a fun, valuable hobby, as well as an amateur sport. At the fun end of memory, informal competitions take place in Brain Clubs and in other Mind Sport groups taking many different forms.
At a competitive level, there are specific disciplines which were created in 1991 by the founders of the sport, Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene OBE, and which lay down a common competition framework that has enabled international competition to take place. It is based on the ten memory disciplines.
Competitions that comply with the WMSC rules standards can be included in the World Rankings.
At a World level, some disciplines like cards and number can have a one hour memorisation period and a two hour recall time. At a national level, memorisation times can be reduced to five minutes, with a ten or fifteen minute recall time to suit the level of competitors taking part.
Another factor in the choice of disciplines is the preparation of competition materials. Some disciplines, like Names and Faces, Binary Numbers etc take some time to produce the memorisation and recall papers. These types of discipline require experienced Arbiters and time for marking.
Although it is not essential when organising fun memory events and competitions, it is recommended that by joining the International Guild of Mind Sports Arbiters, and taking at least the Level One training, an organiser would gain invaluable experience in running their own club or event
The Mind Sport of Memory was founded in 1991 by the inventor of Mind Maps and expert on Mental Literacy, Tony Buzan and Chess Grand Master, Raymond Keene OBE. The Ten Discplines which formed the basis of the first competition are largely unchanged today and have been adopted worldwide as the basis for competitive memory competitions. There are now competitors from 30 countries participating in the sport, all competing to become the next World Memory Champion.
The sport is administered by the World Memory Sports Council which is the governing body for the sport. It compiles the World Rankings, is the custodian of the ten disciplines and ensures fair play worldwide through its Ethics Committee chaired by eight times World Memory Champion, Dominic O’Brien.
Memory is a sport in which everyone can take part. None of the top competitors would claim to be born with a great memory. All of them have learnt all the necessary techniques to develop their skills, and have practiced to a high level to get them to the top of the sport. You can do the same! Why not start today?
Memory is one of the five “Learning Mind Sports” which are Speed Reading, IQ, Creativity, Mind Mapping and Memory. All of them are competitive sports, and collectively they can help anyone to become better in their studies or in their work.
MEDIA COVERAGE
WMC Founder Tony Buzan has Official Biography Published
Congratulations to TONY BUZAN – the founder, with Raymond Keene OBE of the Mind Sport of Memory and the very first World Memory Championships, on the occassion of his 71st Birthday. The event was celebrated on June 2nd at a big event overlooking the River Thames at Henley where a new book, ‘The Official Biography of Tony Buzan’ was launched. Author Raymond Keene OBE is the UK’s senior Chess Grandmaster, MA from Trinity College Cambridge, where he shared lodgings with HRH The Prince of Wales, Chess Correspondent for The Times of London and long term colleague and friend of Tony Buzan. This ‘must have; book is 432 pages will full colour Mind Maps and contributions from many notable figures. ORDER NOW for immediate dispatch