Xiangqi, commonly known as Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. Xiangqi is in the same family of games as shogi, janggi, Western chess, chaturanga, and Indian chess. Besides China and areas with significant ethnic Chinese communities, this game is also a popular pastime in Vietnam, where it is known as cờ tướng, literally 'General's chess', in contrast with Western chess or cờ vua, literally 'King's chess'.
A mind sport is a game of skill based on intellectual ability.
The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) is an association of the world governing bodies for contract bridge, chess, draughts, eSports, go, xiangqi, mahjong and card games.
The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigious championships are those for national teams in Open, Women, and Seniors categories: the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, and Senior Bowl, and the quadrennial World Team Olympiads, incorporated in the World Mind Sports Games beginning 2008.
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.
China is a major chess power, with the women's team winning silver medals at the Olympiad in 2010, 2012, and 2014; the men's team winning gold at the 2014 Olympiad, and the average rating for the country's top ten players third in the FIDE rankings as of April 2023.
The World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old.
Xu Yinchuan is a Chinese xiangqi grandmaster.
Hu Ronghua is a Chinese xiangqi grandmaster. Hu Ronghua has been referred to as the Bobby Fischer of xiangqi. Due to his excellent xiangqi skills, he was given the title of "一代宗师" and was nicknamed "胡司令".
The International Go Federation (IGF) is an international organization that connects the various national Go federations around the world.
The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games ".
Ye Rongguang is a retired Chinese chess grandmaster. In 1990, he became the first ever Chinese chess player to gain the title of Grandmaster. He was for more than ten years the coach of women's world chess champion Zhu Chen.
The Chinese Chess Association (CCA) (中国国际象棋协会) is the governing body of chess in China, one of the federations of FIDE, and a member of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF). It is the principal authority over all chess events in China, including the China Chess League (CCL). Founded in 1986, the CCA is headquartered in Beijing.
Lü Qin is a Chinese xiangqi grandmaster who is one of the world's best players in Xiangqi.
Fabien Lefèvre is a French slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 1998. As a permanent resident of the United States, he has competed for his country of residence since 2013. He represented France until 2011. He won two medals at the Summer Olympics in the K1 event with a silver in 2008 and a bronze in 2004. He has a son called Noe Lefèvre.
The first World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) were held in Beijing, China from October 3 to 18, 2008, about two months after the Olympic Games. They were sponsored and organised by the International Mind Sports Association with the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport.
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.
The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) inaugurated the SportAccord World Mind Games December 2011 in Beijing. For all sports, the meet was invitational and the events were not world championships. Beside satisfaction of the participating players and federations, the main objectives were to achieve "a worldwide TV coverage, and a large participation to the online tournament linked to the event."
The World Xiangqi Federation is the association of the national Xiangqi federations around the world, and has been a member of the International Mind Sports Association since 2015.
Singapore 
Lü Qin 
Winston Williams 
Mai Thanh Minh
Huang Yuying
Hong Kong 
Lin Ye
Kazuharu Shoshi 
Macau 
Gao Yiping
Paris 
Iwan Setiawan
Krishna Sankirtan [1] 
Munich 
Manila 
Joep Nabuurs
Jia Dan
Kuching 