A mind sport is a game of skill based on intellectual ability.
Etymology
The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997.
The phrase had been used prior to this event such as
backgammon being described as a mind sport by
Tony Buzan in 1996; Tony Buzan was also a co-founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad.
Bodies such as the World Memory Sports Council
use the term retrospectively.
It is a term that became fixed from games trying to obtain equal status to sports. For example, from 2002 British Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn said:
...I believe we should have the same obligation to mental agility as we do to physical agility. Mind sports have to form UK national bodies and get together with the government to devise an acceptable amendment to the 1937 Act that clearly differentiates mind sports from parlour board games.
Many of the games' official bodies which had come together for the Mind Sports Olympiad, formed larger organisations such as the Mind Sports Council and International Mind Sports Association (IMSA). With IMSA organising the World Mind Sports Games in Beijing 2008
The term also includes mental calculation or memory disciplines as presented in International competitions such as the Mental Calculation World Cup (held bi-annually since 2004) and the World Memory Championships (held annually since 1991).
Games called mind sports
As well as
board games and
card game,
other disciplines that have been described as mind sports are
speed reading,
Quiz, competitive programming,
and
cybersecurity wargames.
Other events that have been included where the physical element is comparable to the mental component such as when the official Mind Sports South Africa accepted speed-
texting as a mind sport.
The World Mind Sports Federation additionally classifies
esports as mind sports.
See also
-
International Mathematical Olympiad
-
International Olympiad in Informatics
-
International Science Olympiad
-
List of Go organizations
-
List of world championships in mind sports
-
World Chess Championship
-
World Bridge Championships
-
Backgammon World Championship
-
World Xiangqi Championship
-
World Memory Championships
-
Extreme Memory Tournament
-
World Puzzle Championship
-
World Rubik's Cube Championships
-
World Sudoku Championship
-
World Quizzing Championship
-
Mensa Mind Games
External links
