List of world championships in mind sports
 | This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (November 2020) |
This article gives a list of world championships in mind sports which usually represent the most prestigious competition for a specific board game, card game or mind sport. World championships can only be held for most games or mind sports with the ratification of an official body. Some Eastern games only have amateur world championships and separate professional competitions as can be seen for Go (list of professional Go tournaments).
Mind Sports Olympiad All-round[]
World championships organized by Mind Sports Olympiad, that consist of competitions across multiple events to find the strongest games all-rounders.
| Sport / Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last Held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decamentathlon World Championship[1] | Individuals | 1997 |  Martyn Hamer
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Modern Abstract Games World Championship[2] | Individuals | 2008 |  Andres Kuusk
|
2020 | 2021 | One year |
| Pentamind World Championship[3] | Individuals | 1997 | Ankhush Khandelwal
|
2020 | 2021 | One year |
Classic/traditional board games[]
Major world championships for classic strategy board games, such as chess or go.
| Category | Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backgammon | Backgammon | Backgammon World Championship | Individuals | 1967 |  Eli Roymi
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Chaturanga variants | Chess | World Chess Championship | Individuals | 1886 |  Magnus Carlsen
|
2018 | 2020 | Two years |
| Shogi | Meijin (shogi) | Individuals | 1937 |  Masayuki Toyoshima
|
2019 | 2020 | One year | |
| Xiangqi | World Xiangqi Championship | Individuals | 1990 |  Wang Tianyi
|
2017 | 2019 | Two years | |
| Draughts | International draughts | Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 1885 |  Alexander Georgiev
|
2019 | 2021 | One year |
| English draughts | World Checkers Championship | Individuals | 1840 |  Sergio Scarpetta (3-Move) Lubabalo Kondlo (GAYP)
|
2017 2018 |
2019 2020 |
Two years | |
| Brazilian draughts and Russian draughts |
World Draughts-64 Championship | Individuals | 1985 1993 |
Alexander Schwarzman (Braz) Andrei Fedotov (Rus)
|
2018 2020 |
? 2021 |
? One year | |
| Go | Go | Ing Cup | Individuals | 1988 | Tang Weixing
|
2016 | 2020 | Four years |
| Gomoku | Gomoku | Gomoku World Championship | Individuals | 1989 |  Martin Muzika
|
2019 | 2021 | Two years |
| Renju | Renju World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | Cao Dong
|
2019 | 2021 | Two years | |
| Mancala | Awale | International Awale Tournament[4] | Individuals | 1998 |  Trevor Simon
|
2020 | 2021 | One year |
| Morris | Morabaraba | Morabaraba World Championship | Individuals | 1997 |  Senane Gadlela
|
2015 | 2016 | One year |
| Reversi | Othello | World Othello Championship | Individuals | 1977 | Akihiro Takahashi
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
Classic/traditional card/tile games[]
World championships in Traditional card games and tile-based games.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract bridge | Bermuda Bowl | Teams | 1950 |  Poland
|
2019 | 2021 | Two years |
| Dominoes | [5] | Individuals | 1976 |  Chris Authement
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
| [6] | Individuals | 1995 | Hege Lofthus
|
2011 | 2012 | One year | |
| Mahjong | World Mahjong Championship | Individuals
Individuals |
2002
2014 |
Baohua Sun
|
2017
2017 |
2019
2020 |
Two years
Three years |
| Poker | World Series of Poker Main Event | Individuals | 1970 |  Hossein Ensan
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
Esports[]
All-round game competitions of esports.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esports | International e-Sports Federation | Nations | 2009 | Japan
|
2021 | One year |
Official world championships in both individual and team based esports.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena of Valor | Arena of Valor International Championship | Teams | 2017 |  MAD Team (2020)
|
2021 | One year |
| Arena of Valor World Cup | Nations (2018-19)
Teams (2021-) |
2018 |  TH dtac Talon Esports (2021)
|
2022 | One year | |
| Call of Duty | Call of Duty Championship | Teams | 2013 | Dallas Empire (2020)
|
2021 | One year |
| Clash Royale | Clash Royale Crown Championship | Individuals | 2017 |  Sérgio "Sergioramos" Ramos (2017)
|
TBD | No regular schedule |
| Clash Royale League | Teams | 2018 | Team Liquid (2019)
|
2020 | One year | |
| Counter Strike: Global Offensive | Major Championship | Teams | Fall 2013 |  Astralis (2019 Fall)
|
2020 Spring | Biyearly |
| Dota 2 | The International | Teams | 2011 |  OG (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
| EA Sports FIFA | FIFA eWorld Cup | Individuals | 2004 | Mohammed "MoAuba" Harkous (2019)
|
2022 | One year |
| Fortnite: Battle Royale | Fortnite World Cup | Solos | 2019 | Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
| Duos | Emil "Nyhrox" Pederson &  David "aqua" W. (2019)
| |||||
| Hearthstone | HearthStone Grandmasters - Global Finals | Individuals | 2019 | Sato "Glory" Kenta (2020)
|
2021 | One year |
| HearthStone Global Games | Nations | 2017 | Denmark (2019)
|
2020 | One year | |
| Heroes of the Storm | Heroes of the Storm Global Championship | Teams | 2016 |  Generation Gaming (2018)
|
One year | |
| League of Legends | League of Legends World Championship | Teams | 2011 | Damwon Gaming (2020)
|
2021 | One year |
| Overwatch | Overwatch World Cup | Nations | 2016 | United States (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
| Overwatch League | Teams | 2018 | San Francisco Shock (2020)
|
2021 | One year | |
| PES | PES League | Individuals | 2010 |  Walid "usmakabyle" Teban (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
| Teams | 2018 |  eLiga Sul Stars (2019)
| ||||
| Pokémon | Pokémon World Championships | Individuals | 2009 |
|
2016 | One year |
| PUBG | PUBG Global Invitational - TPP | Teams | 2018 | Generation Gaming Gold (2018)
|
2019 | One year |
| PUBG Global Invitational - FPP | Oh My God (2018)
| |||||
| PUBG Mobile Star Challenge | RRQ Athena (2018)
| |||||
| Smite | Smite World Championship | Teams | 2015 | eUnited (2018)
|
2019 | One year |
| StarCraft II | ESL Pro Tour StarCraft II | Individuals | 2020/21 | Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti (2021)
|
2021/22 | One year |
| Street Fighter | Capcom Cup | Individuals | 2017 | iDom (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
| Toribash | Toribash World Championship | Individuals | 2012 |  Watermagic (2020)
|
2020 | One year |
| Clan League | Team | 2007 | Alpha (2020)
|
2020 | One year | |
| World of Warcraft | World of Warcraft Arena World Championship | Teams | 2008 | Method Black (2019)
|
2020 | One year |
Mental disciplines[]
Competitions using mental tests.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory | World Memory Championships[7] | Individuals | 1991 | 
|
2021 | One year |
| Mental calculation | Mental Calculation World Cup | Individuals | 2004 | Tomohiro Iseda
|
2020 | Two years |
| MSO Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals | 1998 |  Aaryan Nitin Shukla
|
2022 | One year | |
| Individuals (age restricted) | 2013 |
|
2022 | One year | ||
| Memory and Calculation | Memoriad | Individuals | 2008 | (15 winners) | 2020 | Four years |
Modern board games[]
Competitions in abstract strategy games and other modern board games.
Games made for 2 players:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arimaa | Arimaa World Championship[8] | Individuals | 2004 |  Jerome Richmond
|
2020 | One year |
| Bōku | Bōku World Championship[9] | Individuals | 2000 | Alain Dekker
|
2017 | One year |
| Entropy/Hyle | Entropy World Championship[9] | Individuals | 1997 |  David Jameson
|
2019 | One year |
| GIPF | Project Gipf World Championship | Individuals | 2008 |  Mathijs Booden
|
(2008) | |
| Kamisado | Kamisado World Championship[9] | Individuals | 2011 | Andres Kuusk
|
2017 | One Year |
| Lines of Action | LoA World Championship[9] | Individuals | 1997 | James Heppell
|
2017 | One year |
| Stratego | Stratego World Championship[9] | Individuals | 1997 | Tim Slagboom
|
2020 | One year |
| Twixt | TwixT World Championship[9] | Individuals | 1997 | Florian Jamain
|
2017 | One Year |
Games supporting 3 or more players:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomacy | World Diplomacy Convention[10] | Individuals | 1988 | Gwen Maggi
|
2020 | One year (since 1994) |
| Hare and Tortoise | Hare and Tortoise World Championships[11] | Individuals | 1997 | Dario de Toffoli
|
2017 | One year |
| Monopoly | Monopoly World Championships[12] | Individuals | 1973 | Ashleigh Bailey
|
TBD | No regular schedule |
| Settlers of Catan | Catan World Championships[13] | Individuals | 2002 | Quetzal Hernández
|
2020 | Two years |
| Twilight Struggle | International Twilight Struggle League[14] | Individuals | 2005 | Min Cao
|
2022 | One year |
| 4 games | German Board Game Championship[15] | Teams (4 players) | 1984 | Team Bogdan, Bonn
|
2018 | One year |
| 4 games | EuropeMasters - European Championships Boardgames[16] | Teams (4 players) | 1988 | Nash Equilibrium, CZ
|
2018 | One year |
Modern card games[]
Competitions in collectible card games and other modern card games.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic: The Gathering | Magic: The Gathering World Championship | Individuals | 1994 | Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
| World Magic Cup[17] | Teams | 1995 | France
|
2018 | 2019 | One year | |
| Pokémon Trading Card Game | Pokémon World Championships[18] | Individuals | 2004 |
|
2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game | Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships[19] | Individuals | 2003 |
|
2019 | 2021 | One year |
| Wizard Card Game | Wizard World Championship[20] | Individuals | 2010 |  Spyros Keramas
|
2019 | 2021 | One year |
Speaking competitions[]
World championships in speaking.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auctioneering | World Livestock Auctioneer Championship | Individuals | 1963 | Jared Miller (2018)
|
2019 | One year |
| Debating | World Universities Debating Championship[21] | Pairs | 1979 | Daniel A. DeBois & Archie J.W. Hall (2018)
|
2019 | One year |
| World Schools Debating Championships | Nations | 1988 | China (2018)
|
2019 | One year | |
| Debating (Spanish) | World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español[21] |
Pairs | 2011 |  Antonio Fabregat & Javier De La Puerta (2017)
|
2018 | One year |
| Debating (Portuguese) | Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa[21] |
Pairs | 2018 | David Alatorre López & Brittany Garcia (2019)
|
TBD | One year |
Tile games[]
World championships held in tile-based games include:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carcassonne | Carcassone World Championship[22] | Individuals | 2006 | Genro Fujimoto
|
2019 | One year |
| Juniors | 2017 |  Samuel Pires
| ||||
| Continuo | Continuo World Championship[9] | Individuals | 1997 | David M. Pearce
|
2017 | One year |
| Hexago | Hexago World Championship[9] | Individuals | 2007 | David M. Pearce
|
(2007) | |
| Saboteur | Saboteur World Championship[23] | Individuals |  Oleg K.
|
2020 | One year | |
| Tantrix | Tantrix World Championship (online)[24] | Individuals | 1998 |  Tamás Gombkötő
|
2015 | One year |
| Tantrix World Open (real tiles)[25] | Individuals | 2009 |  Niklas Andersson
|
2015[26] | One year (irregular) |
Word games[]
World championships in word games.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble (English) | World Scrabble Championship[27] | Individuals | 1991 |  Nigel Richards (2019)
|
2020 | Two years; one year since 2013 |
| Scrabble (Spanish) | Spanish World Scrabble Championship[28] | Individuals | 1997 |  Selene Delgado (2017)
|
2018 | One year |
| Scrabble (French) | French World Scrabble Championship Duplicate[29] | Individuals | 1972 | Nigel Richards (2017)
|
2018 | One year |
| French World Scrabble Championship Classic[29] | Individuals | 2006 | Benjamin Valour (2017)
|
2018 | One year |
Information technology[]
World championships in competitive programming.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitive programming | Topcoder Open | Individuals | 2001 |  Gennady Korotkevich (2017)
|
2020 | once a year |
| Corewars | ICWS | Individuals/teams | 1985 | ? | ? | yearly |
See also[]
- Mind Sports Organisation
- International Association of Memory
- World Memory Championships
- World Junior Memory Championships
- World Memory Tournament Federation
- World Mind Sports Games
- Mind Sports Olympiad
- International Philosophy Olympiad
- World cup competition
- World championship
- List of world championships
- List of world cups and world championships for juniors and youth
References[]
- ^ "Full results for 2019 Decamentathlon World Championship - Mind Sports Olympiad".
- ^ "2020 Medal Table - Mind Sports OlympiadMind Sports Olympiad - Mind Sports Olympiad".
- ^ "Ankush Khandelwal Wins the 2020 Pentamind World Championship - Mind Sports Olympiad".
- ^ "International Awale Tournament - The Oware Society".
- ^ by Rotary Club:"World Championship Domino Tournament page".
- ^ by Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO): "Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO): World Championship page".
- ^ Omonira-Oyekanmi, Rebecca; Moyer, Justin (2010-09-13). "For this champion, life is (mostly) a memory game". The Washington Post.
- ^ Arimaa World Championship results pages, http://arimaa.com/arimaa/wc/, 31 Dec 2014
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Mind Sports Olympiad results pages, http://www.boardability.com/results.php, 15 February 2011
- ^ Peery, Larry. "A History of World DipCon". Diplomatic Corps.
- ^ "2015 Results". Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "Italy Defeats Defending Champion". www.businesswire.com.
- ^ "CATAN World Championship 2018 in Cologne: The new world champion comes from Mexico". Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "ITSL Season 10 Hall of Fame". www.twilight-league.com.
- ^ "German Board Game Championship for teams / www.DMMiB.de".
- ^ "EuropeMasters - Open European Championships Boardgames".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "2018 World Magic Cup - Deux fois c'est bien". Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Meet the 2019 Pokémon World Champions!". Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ https://www.konami.com/yugioh/worldchampionship/2019/en/
- ^ "Wizard World Champion 2018". Retrieved 20 Jan 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c World Debating website, http://www.debating.ie//
- ^ Moder, Peter Janshoff / Thomas. "Carcassonne - World Championship 2018 - Finals". www.spielezentrum.de. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
- ^ Möder, Felix (1 December 2018). "The Saboteur Award Ceremony". Amigo Spiele. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ Tantrix official results (online) 2013 http://tournaments.tantrix.co.uk/auto/index.php?page=showph2&comp=WTC&do=final&year=2013
- ^ Tantrix official results 2013 http://www.tantrix.com/tournaments/index.php?page=home&comp=WTO&year=2013
- ^ Announcement of 5th WTO (World Tantrix Open) Archived 2014-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Official Scrabble World Championship site, http://www.wscgames.com/
- ^ FISE Scrabble site, http://fisescrabble.org/torneos/mundiales/
- ^ Jump up to: a b FISF Scrabble site, http://www.fisf.net
Categories:
- World championships in mind sports
- Lists of sports championships