The second edition of the World Mind Games is about to start on December 12, with final preparations now in progress. This year’s event, hosted in Beijing, 
China, will include 8 days of competitions in five mind sports; go, bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Players representing the different mind sports are some of the world’s best, including: GO: Jiang Weijie, Chen Yaone, Park Jeonghwan, Choi Chulhan; BRIDGE: Fu Zhong, Bauke Muller, Peter Bertheau and Fredryk Nystrom, Joe Grue, Ming Sun, Catherine d’Ovidio, Nicola Smith, Lynn Deas; CHESS: Humpy Koneru, Aronyan Levon, Rajabov Teymur, Karyakin Sergey, Hou Yifan, Muzychuk Anna; DRAUGHTS: Alexei Chizov, Alexander Georgiev, Zoja Golubeva; XIANGQI: Wang Tian Yi, Nguyen Hoang Lam, Lei Kam Fun, Ng Jun Ming, Chan, Chun Kit, Chen Li Chun, Jia Dan, Cao Phuong Thanh.
The 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games also have an extensive social, cultural and educational program which will run in parallel with the competitions and involve the local public, especially students. The following five ambassadors will represent the different participating sports and promote them among the public. Go: Joanne “Jia Jia” Missingham; Bridge: Sjoert Brink; Chess: Hou Yifan; Draughts: Alexey Chizhov; Xiangqi: Chan Chun Kit. In addition, the winners of the online tournament will join the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing to meet and play against the Grand Masters.
Twenty-four media platforms will air the event and the television broadcast will be available in 64 territories around the world. The live web-streaming will be available on the YouTube Mind Games Channel. American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock is part of the team — which includes Michael Redmond 9P and Janice Kim 3P — covering the SAWMG go event; watch for daily reports on the AGA website and in the E-Journal.
The SportAccord World Mind Games are a multi-sports event promoting the value of mind sports, with the world’s best players delivering top-level performances and creating valuable new experiences based on their intelligence, strategy and mental exercise.
photo: in the go playing room at the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games; photo by Chris Garlock
