CityLife

When it's all in the mind

AMID all the hype about bids for golden glory in Greece and putting the Great back into Great Britain, another lesser-known, but equally taxing, event is heading our way.

Next week sees the start of the Eighth Mind Sports Olympiad at the Manchester Conference Centre, where thousands of people are expected to pit their wits against each other in disciplines such as backgammon, bridge, chess, cribbage, dominoes, draughts, Othello, poker and Scrabble.

And the 11-day event, which features all manner of "thinking" games, attracts everyone from chess masters to schoolchildren.

So, the main muscle being exercised during the 11-day extravaganza is most definitely the grey one sitting inside your loaf.

But this mental marathon is no laughing matter. It was Greek philosopher Plato who said that contestants in mental games must train for battle with just as much care as the athlete.

That this Olympiad runs parallel to the one being held in Greece is a happy coincidence, but the timing has not been lost on the organisers.

There is a Pentamind competition for those who are good at five different games, and a Decamentathlon, where players can test their wits on situations from 10 different games and skills.

Almost all the tournaments at the Olympiad are run on the Swiss system: this means you don't get knocked out of a tournament if you lose a game.

Instead, you continue to play against opponents who have approximately the same score as you and you continue to play every round, no matter what your score may be.

Incentive

There is an incentive for putting all that grey matter to use, though. A total prize money of é14,000 is on offer for many games, and there are medals for winning adult and junior competitors.

Event founder, David Levy, is International Master at Chess, president of the International Computer Chess Association and founder of the Computer Olympiad.

In 1978, he won a famous bet with four Artificial Intelligence professors that no computer program would win a chess match against him. I am slightly nervous about talking to him.

He says: "Organising this event isn't my full-time job, it's just a hobby. I'm a software consultant by day, but I do enjoy the Olympiad.

"There's a giant festival atmosphere. It can be intense, because there are people who want to win, but there are also those who just want to have fun.

"It's not a geek convention, because the percentage of people who are deadly serious about winning are very few and far between. It's actually very friendly, because we get people of all ages entering the tournaments.

"The youngest was a six-year-old bridge player. He's very good, and last year there was an eight-year-old poker player who made it to the final table.

"We don't play for money - because we'd then need a gaming licence - but there are at least 50 players for the tournament every day."

He adds that the Pentamind tournament is also hotly contested, with some people entering 20 tournaments to push up their scores. But, he continues, however fierce the competition, the playing will always be fair.

"The range of players' strengths goes from complete beginners to grandmaster level and the Swiss system means that you're always playing against those more or less the same strength as you are.

"My favourite sport - apart from chess - is poker. I find it very exciting but I'm hopeless at Go [an Asian strategy game]. We're trying to get a mind sports movement started so that more people will take up things that require mental exercise.

"This Olympiad is the second that's been held in Manchester and we're hoping that the city will become the permanent home for the event."

The Eighth Mind Games Olympiad, Renold Building, Manchester Conference Centre, Sackville Street, August 19-30. Entry forms and information at: www.msoworld.com or by calling 01707 659080.