World Mind Sports Games

     The World Mind Sports Games features chess, draughts(checkers), bridge, go, and xiangqi(Chinese chess).
     The first edition was held in 2008 and now plans are for 2012 along with the
Olympic Games.  The concept is similar to the Pentathlon and the Decathlon
in sports, as one has to be good in many disciplines.
     Although I am partial to chess as the hardest game many prefer
these other fine pursuits.  I also like checkers(I know it is trendy to call checkers
a "dead sport" since it was "solved" by a computer but as a math tutor I know
it is an incredibly complex game and improving at checkers is quite difficult).
The checkers legend Marion Tinsley was also a 2405 at chess(when
he wasn't being a math professor) and he only lost 8 times at checkers in over 30 years!!!
     I am learning xiangqi and it is a fascinating chess variation.  I have never
played bridge or go, although I would like to sometime.
     So what other games would be good for a concept like this if it were to
go from 5 to 10 games?

Poker!

I love poker as well but what about the element of luck involved?  In the WSOP
amateurs often beat the professionals, which never happens in chess or checkers.
Over time the professionals will win but in a short-term event like an Olympics
an amateur could win the poker event.

The two most dominant game players in history may be Tinsley, who once
supposedly claimed he could see ahead 150 moves in checkers and lost only
8 times(2 of which were to a computer) and Stu Ungar, who so dominate gin
rummy he gave a handicap to the #2 player in the world and still won(Ungar was also a poker legend).

Of course chess is tougher to dominate.

Poker, definetely, if the match is long enough, it's much more skill, less luck. And of course, my second favourite game, Backgammon ;)

The first World Mind Sports Games lasted 16 days, from October 3-18, 2008.

Backgammon is a great game to play at the beach although the dice bring a
large element of luck into the equation.

There's no more luck than in Poker. THe better player will always win in the long run.

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