MindSports–CurrentStatusandFutureProspect

PresentedattheFirstWeiqiSummit,Hangzhou,China,November2013ThomasHsiang

SecretaryGeneral,InternaFonalMindSportsAssociaFon

VicePresident,InternaFonalGoFederaFonDirector,WorldPairGoAssociaFon

VicePresidentforInternaFonalAffairs,AmericanGoAssociaFonProfessorofElectrical&ComputerEngineering,UniversityofRochester

Outline

•  WhatareMindSports?•  MajorMindSportEventsinRecentYears•  MindSports–theEduca;onalIni;a;ves•  MentalHealthBenefitofMindSports•  FutureProspectsandTasks•  Conclusion

WhatareMindSports?(1)•  Theterm“mindsport”isamoderntermstartedinUK–the

“MindSportOlympiad”hasbeenheldinUKsince1997.Itincludesmanyboardandcardgamespreviouslyconsidered“leisuregames”.

•  TheGeneralAssocia;onofInterna;onalSportFedera;on(GAISF)evolvedintoSportAccordandincludesmindsports.

•  SportAccorddefinesSPORTasanac;vitythat:-  Includestheelementofcompe;;on;-  Doesnotincludeanyelementof“luck”builtintothecompe;;on;

-  Doesnotposeunduerisktothehealthofsafetyofitspar;cipants;

-  Isnotharmfultoanylivingcreature;-  Doesnotrelyonequipmentprovidedbyasinglemanufacturer.

WhatareMindSports?(2)•  SportAccordclassifiessportsinto5categories:

–  Physicalsports– Mindsports– Motorizedsports–  Synchronizedsports–  Animal-assistedsports

•  Acommonthemeofsportsis“playtowin”–competewithhighconcentraFon,fighFngspirit,quickreflecFon,andstrongwill.Itmustcontainelementsoffairplay,discipline,rules,moralcode,training,andperformance.

•  Mindsportsarethendefinedwithinthesecriteria.

TheInterna;onalMindSportsAssocia;on(IMSA)

•  Foundedin2005,IMSAexistsinthesebngofSportAccord.•  FoundingmembersofIMSAincludeBridge(WBF),Chess(FIDE),Draughts(FMJD),Go(IGF).

•  Therearetwoobservers–Xiangqi(WXF)andDuplicatePoker(IFP).(PostHoc:WXFbecameamemberin2014)

•  IMSAwasformedtopromoteOlympic-styledeventsforallmindsports.

AdmissionCriteriaintoIMSA

•  Thesportmustbefreefromtheelementofluck.•  Thesportmustbeuniversal–mustnotbedependentonaspecificculture.

•  Thesportmustbewidespread–playedoverseveralcon;nents(>4)andinmanycountries(>70).

•  Thefedera;onrepresen;ngthatsportmustbeadmigedintoSportAccordpriortoIMSA.

–TheseareveryrestricFveandexclusivecriteria!

IMSA-organizedEventsSince2005

•  WMSG-I:Beijing,2008.•  WMSG-II:Lille,France,2012.•  SAWMG-1through4:Beijing,2011to2014.•  PartofAsianGames-2010:Guangzhou,2010.•  PartofAsianIndoorsandMarFalGames-2013:Incheon,SouthKorea,2013.

•  AddiFonally,thereareseveralregionalandnaFonalmindsportevents.

WorldMindSportGames,WMSG-I

•  HeldinBeijing,ChinainOctober2008;sharingtheinfrastructuresandorganiza;onoftheSummerOlympics.

•  Par;cipatedby>2,700athletesfrom140countries,800staff,and>300reportersfrom109countries.

•  105medalswereawardedinfivesports–bridge,chess,draughts,go,andxiangqi.

•  Thiswastheeventthatdefined“mindsportgames”.

WMSG-II

•  HeldattheGrandPalaisofLille,France,inAugust2012,incloseproximitytotheLondonSummerOlympics.

•  Par;cipatedby~2,000athletesfrom120countriesandanaddi;onal~500supportstaff.

•  105medalswereawardedinfivesports–bridge,chess,draughts,go,andxiangqi.

•  EstablishedthequadrennialtradiFonofWMSG.

SAWorldMindGames:SAWMG-1through-4

•  HeldattheBeijingInterna;onalConven;onCentre,thiseventiscommerciallysponsored.

•  ~150topathletesfromfivesportscompeteforsubstan;alcashprizes.

•  Inparallel,worldwideonlinetournamentsareheldinthreesports,par;cipatedbytensofthousands.

•  Representsanewcommercialsponsorshipformat

formindsports;establishesanewprecedentinbridgeanddraughtofplayingforprizes.

The2010AsianGames

•  Threesports,Chess,Go,Xiangqi,werefeaturedcompe;;onitemsintheAsianGames.MindsporteventswereheldatGuangzhouQiyuan.

•  10countries/regionspar;cipatedinGocompe;;ons,includingthreemedalitems.(Chesshad25countries.)

•  FirstFmemindsportsjoinedregularOlympicsports.

The2013AsianIndoorsandMar;alArtsGames

•  ChessandGowerefeaturedintheeventheldatIncheon,SouthKorea.

•  Itwasthethird;meChesswasincludedinthisevent,butitwasadebutforGo.

•  Long-termassociaFonispromised.

MindSportsDemonstra;ons

MindSportInternaFonalFesFvals:startedinPragueandLasVegasin2012,nowMarbella,Cardiff,LA,andVienna,twelvefes;valsareplannedinthenearfuture.

MindSportPartnersFesFval:November2011attheLondonEye,includingthefirstNaFons’CupDuplicatePokerChampionship.

TheEduca;onalIni;a;ves

•  Justascompe;;oneventshaveblossomed,therehavebeenmanyneweduca;onalini;a;vesaimedatpopularizingmindsportsandrealizingtheirhealthandeduca;onalbenefits.

•  Thefocushasbeendiverse:universityresearch,instruc;onalcourses,onlineeduca;on;schoolcurriculaandaqer-schoolprograms;educa;onpedagogyandtechnology,etc.

ExamplesofEduca;onalIni;a;ves(1)

•  Anumberofuniversi;esworldwidenowoffercoursesonGoandtheculturebehindthegame.

•  MyongjiUniversityoffersadegreeinGo.•  TheThaiUniversity-IndustryCoopProgramforGooffersemploymentguaranteesforstrongGoplayers.

•  Seriousresearchisbeingengagedbymanygroupsinar;ficialintelligenceforGo.

•  Thereisalarge-scaleprogramtoexploreusingnewtechnologiesinmindsporteduca;on(theMindResearchNetwork–MRN,ledbyBerkmanCenterofHarvardUniversity).

ExamplesofEduca;onalIni;a;ves(2)

•  TheFIDELa;n-Americaprogramthatincludeslarge-scaleequipmentdona;onandteachertraining.

•  TheFMJDAfricaprogramforaqerschool,includingequipmentdona;onandtournamentsponsorship.

•  TheIGFSouthAmericaprogram,includingdesigningteachingmaterialsinSpanishandtrainingSpanish-speakingGoteachers.

ExamplesofEduca;onalIni;a;ves(3)

•  Implemen;ngmindsportsintoschoolcurricula–Beijing,China.

•  “LA’sBest”–anaqerschoolprogramfortheCityofLosAngelesthataimsatpromo;ngintelligencedevelopment.Goandchessareincluded.

•  Jamaica(NY)schoolprogramusingiPad’stotrainstudentsinchessanddraughts.

•  “Cambridgeini;a;ve”–usingMITMediaLabexpertsandmindsportmasterstodesignaprogramthatimplementsmindsportsintheCambridgeschooldistrict.

•  AqerschoolprogramsorganizedbytheConfuciusIns;tute.

Example(4)–theedXprogram

•  Organizedby29universi;es(includingMIT,Harvard,Berkeley,Caltech,Tsinghua,Beida,Ecole,Münich,etc).

•  Usingtechnologyprovidedbymanytechlabs,ledbyMITMediaLab,tocreateneweduca;onaltools.

•  “Createbegersolu;ons”forthecampusandtheworld.•  Mindsportsareincluded,star;ngwiththechessXprogramcreatedbyMindResearchNetwork(MRN).

RETHINKYOURWORLD– experiencetheBESTEDUCATION whenever,whereveryouwant

HealthBenefitofMindSports

•  Manyanecdotalevidencepointstothebenefitofmindsportsinthereduc;onofmindaging.

•  Firstconcreteevidencewasin2003:Swedishresearcherslinkedleisuregameswithimprovementincogni;vefunc;ons.

•  Morerecentresearchusingbegermethodologypointstodirectlinkofmindsports(game-play)withdelayingtheonsetofdemen;aandwithbegercogni;on.

•  Lastmonth,anewresearch(publishedinNature)showedjust12hoursofgame-playingoveramonthmarkedlyimprovedmemoryfordrivingandsign-recogni;on!

•  PromoFngmindsportsamongtheelderlyisasocialresponsibility!

Conclusion

•  Sincethestartoforganizedmindsports,thecompe;;onaspecthasenjoyedanauspiciousstart.

•  Thefuturekeyisonreapingtheeduca;onalbenefitfortheyoungandthehealthbenefitfortheold.

•  Topicstoexploreinclude:– Developingthecommercialvalueofbroadcas;ng–  Sebngstandardra;ngsystem–a“rewardsystem”– AnInterna;onalMindSportDay(orGoDay)?