1st World Mind Sports Games (Beijing, China)

World Minds Sports Games (October 3rd-18th, Beijing, China)

The 1st World Minds Sports Games will kick off tomorrow in Beijing, China, the main site of the magnificent and historic 2008 Olympic Games. This unique tournament will feature five sports including bridge, go, draughts, xiangqi (Chinese chess) and international chess. Shogi was not included.

Official Site: https://www.2008wmsg.org/

15 Comments

  1. Mark Paragua wins the blitz preliminary at the World Minds Sport Games with 8.5/11 while Hou Yifan won for the women with 9.5/11. Hou sends a strong message of domination. There will now be a four person two-game match to determine the medals.

    Results (men): https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16419.aspx?tnr=16419&art=1&lan=1&fedb=

    Results: (women): https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16418.aspx?tnr=16418&art=1&lan=1&fedb=

    Games: https://wmsg2008.fide.com/blitzindiv/round.asp

  2. Blitz (men semi-finals)
    Drozdovskij, Yuri (UKR) beat Paragua, Mark (PHI), 2-0
    Kravtsiv, Martyn (UKR) beat Banikas, Christos (GRE), 2-0

    Blitz (men finals)
    Kravtsiv, Martyn (UKR) beat Drozdovskij, Yuri (UKR), 2-1

    Blitz (men-3rd-4th place)
    Banikas, Christos (GRE) beat Paragua, Mark (PHI), 2-1

    GOLD: Kravtsiv, Martyn (UKR)
    SILVER: Drozdovskij, Yuri (UKR)
    BRONZE: Banikas, Christos (GRE)

    Blitz (women semi-finals)
    Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL) beat Hou Yifan (CHN), 2-1
    Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) beat Zhao Xue (CHN), 2-0

    Blitz (women finals)
    Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) beat Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL), 2-1

    Blitz (women-3rd-4th place)
    Hou Yifan (CHN) beat Zhao Xue (CHN), 2-0

    GOLD: Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS)
    SILVER: Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL)
    BRONZE: Hou Yifan (CHN)

  3. Photos from the World Mind Sports Games

    Xiangzhi

    Go

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    Bridge

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    Draughts

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    Chess

    Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria (silver)
    Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia (gold)
    Hou Yifan of China (bronze)

    Martyn Kravtsiv (right) from Ukraine beat his compatriot Yuriy Drozdovsky to win the men's chess individual blitz of the First World Mind Sports Games today in Beijing with 12.5 while Yuriy Drozdovsky got the silver medal with 11.5.

    Martyn Kravtsiv (right) from Ukraine beat his compatriot Yuriy Drozdovsky to win the men’s chess individual blitz.

  4. Rapid (men semi-finals)
    Korobov Anton (UKR) beat Fier Alexandr (BRA), 2-1
    Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) beat Zhang Zhong (SIN), 2-1

    Rapid (men finals)
    Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) beat Korobov Anton (UKR), 2-0

    Rapid (men-3rd-4th place)
    Zhang Zhong (SIN) beat Fier Alexandr (BRA), 2-1

    GOLD: Bu Xiangzhi (CHN)
    SILVER: Korobov Anton (UKR)
    BRONZE: Zhang Zhong (SIN)

    Rapid (women semi-finals)
    Stefanova A. (BUL) beat Houska Jovanka (ENG), 1½-½
    Zhao Xue (CHN) beat Huang Qian (CHN), 2-0

    Rapid (women finals)
    Stefanova A. (BUL) beat Zhao Xue (CHN), 2-0

    Rapid (women-3rd-4th place)
    Huang Qian (CHN) beat Houska Jovanka (ENG), 2-1

    GOLD: Stefanova A. (BUL)
    SILVER: Zhao Xue (CHN)
    BRONZE: Huang Qian (CHN)

  5. Another tournament has been decided… the mixed pairs for blitz. The surprise winner is Ecuador (GM Carlos Matamoros and WIM Martica Fierro), but it was in the midst of controversy. The following explanation is given at the official site:

    There was however great drama in the finals between India and Ecuador. All four players won and lost one game each in their two matches (1-1 and 1-1) and in the playoff game between GM Sasikiran Krishnan of India and GM Carlos Franco Matamoros of Ecuador, Sasikiran had the White pieces and 6 minutes while Matamoros had Black and 5 minutes and draw odds. In a time scramble in a position where Black could not realistically lose in normal conditions, Matamoros accidently displaced a piece after pressing his clock.

    Under the tournament rules he did not have the opportunity to reset the piece as it was not on his time and so Sasikiran made a claim which had to be upheld by the arbiter. So pending the decision of the appeals committee, India has won Gold and Ecuador the Silver.

    The appeals committee comfirmed the decision of the arbiter but ordered the game replayed in interests if fair play, in the replay, GM Matamoros beat GM Sasikiran to secure Ecuador the Gold Medal!

    Final

    GOLD: Ecuador
    SILVER: India
    BRONZE: Ukraine

    Results: (preliminary) https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16499.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    Results: (final) https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16556.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    Games: https://wmsg2008.fide.com/blitzpairs/round.asp

  6. Coverage is woefully inadequate for chess in terms of photojournalism. There are few pictures and the FIDE.com site has only a handful.

    By the way, IM Kenny Solomon and WIM Melissa Greef are representing South Africa at the Games.

  7. The results from the rapid mixed pairs has finished and China has won the gold! GM Ni Hua and GM-elect Hou Yifan dominated the preliminary and the final losing only one match (to blitz pair champ, Ecuador). China, seeded #1 in men’s and women’s have now broken into a tie with the Ukraine with a total of four medals … 3 individual, 1 team… two golds, one silver and one bronze. The Ukraine also has 3 individual and 1 team… one gold, two silvers and one bronze. Bulgaria has two medals, both won by Antoaneta Stefanova. She has one gold (individual rapid) and one silver (individual blitz).

    Final

    GOLD: China
    SILVER: Vietnam
    BRONZE: Iran

    Results: (preliminary) https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16585.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    Results: (final) https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16620.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    Games: https://wmsg2008.fide.com/rapidpairs/round.asp

    Vietnam (silver), China (gold), Iran (bronze)

    Vietnam (Dao Thien Hai, Le Kieu Thien,Kim-silver)
    China (Hou Yifan, Ni Hua-gold)
    Iran (Atousa Pourkashiyan, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami-bronze)

  8. China dominated the preliminaries once again, but came up short in the finals of blitz team. Hungary upset China in the men’s finals while Russia beat China in women’s competition. Alexandra Kosteniuk beat Hou Yifan twice to lead Russia to gold. Ruan Lufei scored an amazing 14/15 in her matches, but could not carry China. Hou Yifan is probably suffering from fatigue as she lost three games.

    Final

    GOLD: Hungary
    SILVER: China
    BRONZE: Ukraine

    Results (men): https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16622.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    GOLD: Russia
    SILVER: China
    BRONZE: Vietnam

    Results (women): https://www.chess-results.com/tnr16623.aspx?art=0&lan=1&flag=30&m=-1

    Games: https://wmsg2008.fide.com/blitzteams/round.asp

  9. GM Li Chao

    Seems to be another repeat in the permutation of teams in the rapid team finals with one exception… the USA. The American team will make the first attempt at a medal in the men’s final and will compete against China, the Ukraine and upstart Iran. Li Chao (pictured left) got 8/9 for China and will be a wonderful addition for the Olympiad team. In the women’s bracket, a surging Russia will try for its third gold medal lead by World Championship Alexandra Kosteniuk. China hopes to add to the cache of medals and will compete with Vietnam and the Ukraine.

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