List of world championships in mind sports

Last updated

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).

Contents

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 nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderLast HeldNextHeld every
Decamentathlon World Championship [1] Individuals1997 Flag of England.svg Martyn Hamer20192020One year
Modern Abstract Games World Championship [2] Individuals2008 Flag of Estonia.svg Andres Kuusk20222023One year
Pentamind World Championship [3] Individuals 1997 Flag of Estonia.svg Andres Kuusk20242025One year

Classic/traditional board games

Major world championships for classic strategy board games, such as chess or go.

CategorySportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderLast heldNextHeld every
Backgammon Backgammon Backgammon World Championship Individuals19672025

Flag of Finland.svg Timo Väätäinen

2025One year
Chaturanga variants Chess World Chess Championship Individuals1886 Flag of India.svg Gukesh Dommaraju 20242026Two years
Shogi Meijin (shogi) [a] Individuals1937 Flag of Japan.svg Sōta Fujii 20242025One year
Xiangqi World Xiangqi Championship Individuals1990 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Meng Chen20232025Two years
Draughts International draughts Draughts World Championship Individuals1885 Flag of Ukraine.svg Yuri Anikeev 20232024One year
English draughts World Checkers Championship Individuals1840 Flag of Italy.svg Sergio Scarpetta (3-Move)

Flag of Italy.svg Matteo Bernini (GAYP)

2024
2024		2026
2026		Two years
Brazilian draughts and
Russian draughts 		World Draughts-64 Championship Individuals1985
1998
1993		 Nikolay Struchkov (Classic)
Igor Mikhalchenko (Rapid)
Roman Shchukin (Blitz)		2024
2024
2024		2025One year
Italian draughts Italian Draughts World ChampionshipIndividuals2024 Flag of Italy.svg Damiano Sciuto [4] 2024??
Go Go Ing Cup [b] Individuals1988 Flag of Japan.svg Ryo Ichiriki 2024?Four years
Five in a row Gomoku Gomoku World Championship Individuals1989 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Pavel Laube20252027Two years
Renju Renju World Championship Individuals1989 Flag of Japan.svg Tomoharu Nakayama20252027Two years
Reversi Othello World Othello Championship Individuals1977 Flag of Japan.svg Yasushi Nagano20232024One year
  1. ↑ The Meijin match is not considered as a world championship. It is listed because Meijin is one of the most prestigious shogi titles in Japan.
  2. ↑ There is no official world championship in professional Go. The Ing Cup is one of the most influential professional Go tournaments.

Classic/traditional card/tile games

World championships in Traditional card games and tile-based games.

CategorySportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderLast heldNextHeld every
Contract bridge Contract bridge Bermuda Bowl Teams (Open)1950 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland 20232025Two years
Venice Cup Teams (Women)1937 Flag of Israel.svg Israel 20232025Two years
d'Orsi Senior Bowl Teams (Seniors)2001 Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 20232025Two years
Dominoes Dominoes World Championship Domino Tournament [5] Individuals1976 Flag of the United States.svg Chris Authement20192020One year
Domino World Championship [6] Individuals1995 Flag of Germany.svg Torsten Fornefeld20232024One year
Mahjong Mahjong World Mahjong Championship Individuals2002 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Yong20192021Two years
Riichi mahjong World Riichi Championship Individuals2014 Flag of Japan.svg Kotaro Uchikawa20252028Three years
Poker Poker World Series of Poker Main Event Individuals1970 Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Tamayo 20242025One year
Skat Skat World Skat Championship Individuals1978 Flag of Germany.svg Deni Lazicic (Men)
Flag of Germany.svg Angelika Pullig (Women)		20222024Two years
Teams Flag of Germany.svg ISPAWORLD and Friends
NationsFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada

Mental disciplines

Competitions using mental tests.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Memory World Memory Championships [7] Individuals1991 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Huang Jinyao2024One year
Mental calculation Mental Calculation World Cup Individuals2004 Flag of India.svg Aaryan Nitin Shukla (2024)2026Two years
MSO Mental Calculation World Championship Individuals1998Kaloyan Geshev (2024)2025One year
Junior Mental Calculation World Championship Individuals (age restricted)2013(2023)

Andrej Zivanovic (Juniors 1)
Kaloyan Geshev (Juniors 2)
Abhilakshya Arora(Seniors)

2024One year
Calculation League Individuals2024 (Spring)

Wenzel Grüß (gold)
Aaryan Nitin Shukla (silver)
Kaloyan Geshev (bronze)

2024 (fall)Twice per year
Speedcubing

(Rubik's Cube)

 Rubik's WCA World Championship Cube 3x3x31982 Flag of the United States.svg Max Park2025Two years
Sudoku World Sudoku Championship Individuals2006 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ming Letian2025One year
Teams2007 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China
Speed Jigsaw Puzzling World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships Solo2019 Flag of Norway.svg Kristin Thuv2025One year
Pairs Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Tereza Koptíková / Markéta Freislerová
Teams Flag of the United States.svg Andrea Peng / Jeanne Roiter / Cathy Roiter / Becca Taylor

Modern board games

Competitions in abstract strategy games and other modern board games.

Games made for 2 players:

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Arimaa Arimaa World Championship [8] Individuals2004 Flag of the United States.svg Mathew Brown (2023)2024One year
Entropy/Hyle Entropy World Championship [9] Individuals1997 Flag of South Africa.svg Alain Dekker (2024)2025One year
Kamisado Kamisado World Championship [9] Individuals2011 Flag of England.svg David Pearce (2024)2025One Year
Lines of Action LoA World Championship [9] Individuals1997 Flag of England.svg James Heppell (2024)2025One year
Stratego Stratego World Championship [9] Individuals1997 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Vince van Geffen (2024)2025One year
Twilight Struggle International Twilight Struggle League [10] Individuals2005 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Tomas Tvaroh (2024)2025One year
Twixt TwixT World Championship [9] Individuals1997 Flag of France.svg Florian Jamain (2024)2025One Year

Games supporting 3 or more players:

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Diplomacy World Diplomacy Convention [11] Individuals1988 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Flag of France.svg Nicolas Sahuguet (2024)2025One year [12]
Hare and Tortoise Hare and Tortoise World Championships [13] Individuals1997 Flag of Italy.svg Dario de Toffoli2017One year
Monopoly Monopoly World Championships [14] Individuals1973 Flag of Italy.svg Nicolò Falcone [15] TBDNo regular schedule
Settlers of Catan Catan World Championships [16] Individuals2002 Flag of New Zealand.svg Hamish Dean (2022)2024Two years
4 gamesGerman Board Game Championship [17] Teams (4 players)1984 Flag of Germany.svg FeSaJoTo (2025)2026One year
4 gamesDutch Board Game Championship [18] Teams (4 players)2000 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Desda (2024)2025One year
4 gamesEurope Masters - European Board Game Championship [19] Teams (4 players)1988 Flag of Germany.svg Brettspielverein Bindlach – Die Outlawkumpels (2024)2025One year

Modern card games

Competitions in collectible card games and other modern card games.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderLast heldNextHeld every
Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering World Championship Individuals1994 Flag of Spain.svg Javier Dominguez 20242025One year
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pokémon World Championships [20] Individuals2004 Flag of Japan.svg Sakuya Ota (Junior)
Flag of the United States.svg Evan Pavelski (Senior)
Flag of the United States.svg Fernando Cifuentes (Master) [21] 		20242025One year
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships [22] Individuals2003 Flag of the United States.svg Paul Aronson
Flag of None.svg Jian Yu Jian (Duel Links)
Flag of Germany.svg Flag of the Netherlands.svg snipehunters (Master Duel)		20232024One year
Wizard Card Game Wizard World Championship [23] Individuals2010 Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Kube20232024One year

Speaking competitions

World championships in speaking.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Auctioneering World Livestock Auctioneer Championship Individuals1963 Flag of the United States.svg Jared Miller (2018)2019One year
Debating World Universities Debating Championship [24] Pairs1979 Flag of England.svg Mark Rothery & Aniket Chakravorty (2024)2025One year
World Schools Debating Championships Nations1988 Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland (2024)2025One year
Debating (Spanish) World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish
Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español [24] 		Individuals2011 Flag of Colombia.svg Jessica Zapata (2024)2025One year
Pairs2011 Flag of Chile.svg Mattias Durán & Flag of Mexico.svg Marcela Goméz (2024)
Debating (Portuguese) World Debating Championship in Portuguese
Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa [24] 		Individuals2018 Flag of Brazil.svg Jess Peixoto (2021)TBDTBD
Pairs2018 Flag of Brazil.svg Jess Peixoto & Bernardo Rabelo (2021)

Tile games

World championships held in tile-based games include:

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Carcassonne Carcassonne World Championship [25] Individuals2006 Flag of Catalonia.svg Daniel Angelats (2024)2025One year
Continuo Continuo World Championship [9] Individuals1997 Flag of England.svg David M. Pearce (2016)2017One year
Saboteur Saboteur World Championship [26] Individuals2016 Flag of Germany.svg Alexander Mischke (2022)2023One year
Tantrix Tantrix World Championship (online) [27] Individuals1998 Flag of Germany.svg Richard Knese (2023)2024One year
Tantrix World Open (real tiles) [28] Individuals2009 Flag of Hungary.svg Attila Mikulán (2024)2025 [29] One year (irregular)

Word games

World championships in word games.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Scrabble (English) World Scrabble Championship [30] Individuals1991 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Eldar (2023)2024Two years; one year since 2013
Scrabble (Spanish) Spanish World Scrabble Championship [31] Individuals1997 Flag of France.svg Serge Emig (2019)2020One year
Scrabble (French) French World Scrabble Championships Duplicate [32] Individuals1972 Flag of New Zealand.svg Nigel Richards (2019)2020One year
French World Scrabble Championship Classic [32] Individuals2006 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Francis Desjardins (2019)2020One year

Information technology

World championships in competitive programming.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Competitive programming Topcoder Open Individuals2001 Flag of Belarus.svg Gennady Korotkevich (2022)2023once a year
Corewars ICWS Individuals/teams1985??yearly

Quizzing

Quizzing competitions organized by the private company International Quizzing Assoc.

SportCompetition nameCompeting
entities		First
held		Current holderNextHeld every
Quiz World Quizzing Championship Individuals2003 [33] Flag of the United States.svg Victoria Groce (2024)2025yearly

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Full results for 2019 Decamentathlon World Championship - Mind Sports Olympiad".
  2. ↑ "2020 Medal Table - Mind Sports OlympiadMind Sports Olympiad - Mind Sports Olympiad".
  3. ↑ "Ankush Khandelwal Wins the 2020 Pentamind World Championship - Mind Sports Olympiad".
  4. ↑ "1st World Championship Italian Draughts Final standings". FMJD Results. 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  5. ↑ by Rotary Club: "World Championship Domino Tournament page". Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  6. ↑ by Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO): "Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO): World Championship page".
  7. ↑ Omonira-Oyekanmi, Rebecca; Moyer, Justin (2010-09-13). "For this champion, life is (mostly) a memory game". The Washington Post.
  8. ↑ Arimaa World Championship results pages, http://arimaa.com/arimaa/wc/, 31 Dec 2014
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mind Sports Olympiad results pages, http://www.boardability.com/results.php, 15 February 2011
  10. ↑ "ITSL Season 10 Hall of Fame". www.twilight-league.com.
  11. ↑ Peery, Larry. "A History of World DipCon". Diplomatic Corps.
  12. ↑ Two years until 1994 then one year since 1994 but no world championship in 2020 and 2021 (coronavirus).
  13. ↑ "2015 Results" . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Italy Defeats Defending Champion". www.businesswire.com.
  15. ↑ "Nicoló Falcone of Italy Defeats Defending Champion Bjørn Halvard Knappskog of Norway to Win 2015 Monopoly World Championship! – Business Wire". businesswire.com. September 8, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  16. ↑ "CATAN World Championship 2018 in Cologne: The new world champion comes from Mexico" . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "German Board Game Championship for teams / www.DMMiB.de".
  18. ↑ "Dutch Board Game Championship for teams". www.rollthedice.nl.
  19. ↑ "EuropeMasters - Open European Championships Boardgames".{}
  20. ↑ "2023 Pokémon World Championships | News" . Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "Meet the Winners of the 2024 Pokémon World Championships". The Pokémon Company International. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2023 (WCS2023)".
  23. ↑ "Wizard Tournaments".
  24. 1 2 3 World Debating website, http://www.debating.ie//
  25. ↑ Moder, Peter Janshoff / Thomas. "Carcassonne - World Championship 2022 - Finals". www.spielezentrum.de. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  26. ↑ "Saboteur Tournaments".
  27. ↑ Tantrix official results (online) 2022 http://tournaments.tantrix.co.uk/auto/index.php?page=showph2&comp=WTC&do=final&year=2023
  28. ↑ Tantrix official results 2022 http://www.tantrix.com/tournaments/index.php?page=home&comp=WTO&year=2024
  29. ↑ World Tantrix Open 2025 http://tantrix.com/tournaments/index.php?page=home&comp=WTO&year=2025]
  30. ↑ Official Scrabble World Championship site, http://www.wscgames.com/
  31. ↑ FISE Scrabble site, http://fisescrabble.org/torneos/mundiales/
  32. 1 2 FISF Scrabble site, http://www.fisf.net
  33. ↑ "History – World Quizzing Championships" . Retrieved 2022-11-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.