![]() | This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.(November 2020) |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).
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 | ![]() | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
Modern Abstract Games World Championship [2] | Individuals | 2008 | ![]() | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
Pentamind World Championship [3] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
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 | ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
Chaturanga variants | Chess | World Chess Championship | Individuals | 1886 | ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | Two years |
Shogi | Meijin (shogi) [lower-alpha 1] | Individuals | 1937 | ![]() | 2022 | 2023 | One year | |
Xiangqi | World Xiangqi Championship | Individuals | 1990 | ![]() | 2022 | 2024 | Two years | |
Draughts | International draughts | Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 1885 | ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
English draughts | World Checkers Championship | Individuals | 1840 | ![]() | 2022 2022 | 2024 2024 | Two years | |
Brazilian draughts and Russian draughts | World Draughts-64 Championship | Individuals | 1985 1993 | ![]() ![]() | 2018 2020 | ? 2021 | ? One year | |
Italian draughts | Italian Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 2024 | ![]() | 2024 | ? | ? | |
Go | Go | Ing Cup [lower-alpha 2] | Individuals | 1988 | ![]() | 2023 | ? | Four years |
Five in a row | Gomoku | Gomoku World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | ![]() | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
Renju | Renju World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | ![]() | 2023 | 2025 | Two years | |
Morris | Morabaraba | Morabaraba World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2015 | 2016 | One year |
Reversi | Othello | World Othello Championship | Individuals | 1977 | ![]() | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
World championships in Traditional card games and tile-based games.
Category | Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contract bridge | Contract bridge | Bermuda Bowl | Teams | 1950 | ![]() | 2019 | 2021 | Two years |
Dominoes | Dominoes | World Championship Domino Tournament [5] | Individuals | 1976 | ![]() | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
Domino World Championship [6] | Individuals | 1995 | ![]() | 2011 | 2012 | One year | ||
Mahjong | Mahjong | World Mahjong Championship | Individuals | 2002 | ![]() | 2017 | 2019 | Two years |
Riichi mahjong | World Riichi Championship | Individuals | 2014 | ![]() | 2022 | 2025 | Three years | |
Poker | Poker | World Series of Poker Main Event | Individuals | 1970 | ![]() | 2021 | 2022 | One year |
Skat | Skat | World Skat Championship | Individuals | 1978 | ![]() ![]() | 2018 | 2022 | Two years |
Teams | ![]() | |||||||
Nations | ![]() |
Competitions using mental tests.
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Memory | World Memory Championships [7] | Individuals | 1991 | ![]() | 2022 | One year |
Mental calculation | Mental Calculation World Cup | Individuals | 2004 | ![]() | 2024 | Two years |
MSO Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals | 1998 | ![]() | 2022 | One year | |
Junior Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals (age restricted) | 2013 | 2020 - | 2022 | One year | |
Memory and Calculation | Memoriad | Individuals | 2008 | (15 winners) | 2020 | Four years |
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 | ![]() | 2020 | One year |
Bōku | Bōku World Championship [9] | Individuals | 2000 | ![]() | 2017 | One year |
Entropy/Hyle | Entropy World Championship [9] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2019 | One year |
GIPF | Project Gipf World Championship | Individuals | 2008 | ![]() | (2008) | |
Kamisado | Kamisado World Championship [9] | Individuals | 2011 | ![]() | 2017 | One Year |
Lines of Action | LoA World Championship [9] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2017 | One year |
Stratego | Stratego World Championship [9] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2020 | One year |
Twilight Struggle | International Twilight Struggle League [10] | Individuals | 2005 | ![]() | 2022 | One year |
Twixt | TwixT World Championship [9] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 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 [11] | Individuals | 1988 | ![]() | 2022 | One year [12] |
Hare and Tortoise | Hare and Tortoise World Championships [13] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2017 | One year |
Monopoly | Monopoly World Championships [14] | Individuals | 1973 | ![]() | TBD | No regular schedule |
Settlers of Catan | Catan World Championships [16] | Individuals | 2002 | ![]() | 2020 | Two years |
4 games | German Board Game Championship [17] | Teams (4 players) | 1984 | ![]() | 2024 | One year |
4 games | Europe Masters - European Board Game Championship [18] | Teams (4 players) | 1988 | ![]() | 2024 | One year |
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 | ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
World Magic Cup [19] | Teams | 1995 | ![]() | 2018 | Discontinued [20] | One year | |
Pokémon Trading Card Game | Pokémon World Championships [21] | Individuals | 2004 | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game | Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships [22] | Individuals | 2003 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
Wizard Card Game | Wizard World Championship [23] | Individuals | 2010 | ![]() | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
World championships in speaking.
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Auctioneering | World Livestock Auctioneer Championship | Individuals | 1963 | ![]() | 2019 | One year |
Debating | World Universities Debating Championship [24] | Pairs | 1979 | ![]() | 2019 | One year |
World Schools Debating Championships | Nations | 1988 | ![]() | 2019 | One year | |
Debating (Spanish) | World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español [24] | Pairs | 2011 | ![]() | 2018 | One year |
Debating (Portuguese) | World Debating Championship in Portuguese Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa [24] | Pairs | 2018 | ![]() ![]() | TBD | One year |
World championships held in tile-based games include:
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carcassonne | Carcassonne World Championship [25] | Individuals | 2006 | ![]() | 2024 | One year |
Continuo | Continuo World Championship [9] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2017 | One year |
Hexago | Hexago World Championship [9] | Individuals | 2007 | ![]() | (2007) | |
Saboteur | Saboteur World Championship [26] | Individuals | 2016 | ![]() | 2023 | One year |
Tantrix | Tantrix World Championship (online) [27] | Individuals | 1998 | ![]() | 2023 | One year |
Tantrix World Open (real tiles) [28] | Individuals | 2009 | ![]() | 2023 [29] | One year (irregular) |
World championships in word games.
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scrabble (English) | World Scrabble Championship [30] | Individuals | 1991 | ![]() | 2020 | Two years; one year since 2013 |
Scrabble (Spanish) | Spanish World Scrabble Championship [31] | Individuals | 1997 | ![]() | 2018 | One year |
Scrabble (French) | French World Scrabble Championship Duplicate [32] | Individuals | 1972 | ![]() | 2018 | One year |
French World Scrabble Championship Classic [32] | Individuals | 2006 | ![]() | 2018 | One year |
World championships in competitive programming.
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Competitive programming | Topcoder Open | Individuals | 2001 | ![]() | 2020 | once a year |
Corewars | ICWS | Individuals/teams | 1985 | ? | ? | yearly |
Quizzing competitions organized by the International Quizzing Association
Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quiz | World Quizzing Championship | Individuals | 2003 [33] | ![]() | 2023 | yearly |
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns and are included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.
The Mind Sports Organisation (MSO) is an association for promoting mind sports including Contract Bridge, Chess, Go, Mastermind, and Scrabble. Since 1997 it has annually organised in England a multi-sport competition, the Mind Sports Olympiad.
The Computer Olympiad is a multi-games event in which computer programs compete against each other. For many games, the Computer Olympiads are an opportunity to claim the "world's best computer player" title. First contested in 1989, the majority of the games are board games but other games such as bridge take place as well. In 2010, several puzzles were included in the competition.
Arimaa is a two-player strategy board game that was designed to be playable with a standard chess set and difficult for computers while still being easy to learn and fun to play for humans. It was invented between 1997 and 2002 by Omar Syed, an Indian-American computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which could be played with a standard chess set, would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his then four-year-old son Aamir to understand.
An abstract strategy game is a type of strategy game that has minimal or no narrative theme, an outcome determined only by player choice, and in which each player has perfect information about the game. For example, Go is a pure abstract strategy game since it fulfills all three criteria; chess and related games are nearly so but feature a recognizable theme of ancient warfare; and Stratego is borderline since it is deterministic, loosely based on 19th-century Napoleonic warfare, and features concealed information.
The Decamentathlon is a multi disciplined games event that was created as part of the first Mind Sports Olympiad. It was founded to try to find the best games all-rounder in the world and hence possibly the best games player. It was given a prize fund of £10,000 for the inaugural competition, that equalled that of the highest funded event at the first MSO sponsored by Skandia. However, the other events were spread over multiple playing sessions whereas the Decamentathlon was held over just a single session. This event was initially hailed as the MSO flagship event. Although, the Mind Sports Olympiad's other new event the Pentamind has since become regarded as the more significant event despite not having a fixed format.
A mind sport, is a game of skill based on intellectual ability.
Bōku is an abstract strategy board game played with marbles on a perforated hexagonal board with 80 spaces. The object of the game is to arrange five marbles in a row. The game has also been sold under the name Bollox, and later Bolix and won a Mensa Select award in 1999.
Continuo is an abstract strategy game by Maureen Hiron which was first published in 1982 and now distributed in board game form by David Westnedge Ltd. In the U.K and U.S. Games Systems in the U.S. It is played by arranging patterns printed on a deck of 42 cards, each card being printed with a grid of 16 colored squares. The goal is to place cards so that the tiles match as many chains of color as possible. Continuo sold over 200,000 units in the United Kingdom alone within a few months of being launched. Continuo won a 1995 Mensa Select games award. The tag line on the box is "The one rule game for all the family".
The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women. A parallel event for seniors was inaugurated in 2000.
Ben Pridmore is a former world memory champion, memory sport competitor and accountant.
The World Memory Championships is an organized competition of memory sports in which competitors memorize as much information as possible within a given period of time. The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of 1992. It was originated by Tony Buzan and co founded by Tony Buzan and Ray Keene. It continues to be organized by the World Memory Sports Council (WMSC), which was jointly founded by Tony Buzan and Ray Keene. In 2016, due to a dispute between some players and the WMSC, the International Association of Memory (IAM) was launched. From 2017 onward, both organizations have hosted their own world championships.
Takahashi Meijin, real name Toshiyuki Takahashi, is a former executive of Hudson Soft.
The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports by Mind Sports Organisation. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund and was described as possibly the biggest games festival ever held.
Dario De Toffoli is an Italian board game designer, gamebook author, and games player who founded the games company Studiogiochi and established many games events. Born in 1953 Venice, after an early career as a chemist he entered the world of games. Winner of over 60 medals at the Mind Sports Olympiad. He won the 2002 and 2012 Pentamind Competition for the best games all-rounder in the world. In 2006, he won a special award for his contribution to games which includes contribution to all aspects of games.
The World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA) is the overarching global body for English-language national Scrabble associations and similar entities.
The 2012 World Mind Sports Games were held in Lille, France, from 9 to 23 August 2012. The meeting started during the 2012 Summer Olympics and ending shortly before the 2012 Summer Paralympics, both in London. This was the second rendition of the World Mind Sports Games, which was inaugurated in 2008 in Beijing. The mind sport games had about 2000 players from 95 nations—down from 2,763 competitors and 143 countries at the 1st Games. More than half of the gold medals were contested at draughts and Russia, with the strongest draughts squad, won the most gold and most overall medals. China won five gold medals—all five events contested at Xiangqi. Chinese Taipei won four gold medals—four of the five events contested at go.
Natasha Katherine Regan is a chess player and an award-winning chess author, best known for her book Game Changer. She has represented England at two Chess Olympiads.
Anna Yolanda Cramling Bellón is a Spanish-Swedish chess player, Twitch live streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM). She had a peak FIDE rating of 2175 in March 2018. Cramling represented Sweden in the 2016 and 2022 Chess Olympiad as well as two European Team Chess Championships.