The Mind Sports Olympiad Grand Prix, a global competition between top board-game players, concluded on June 1st, with a Polish chess master taking the top prize.
News Highlights
- Mind Sports Olympiad goes online for Grand Prix
- The event draws board game players from 88 countries
- Polish AI researcher wins overall points
A Closer Look at Mind Sports Olympiad Grand Prix 2022
The Mindsports Olympiad Grand Prix is the online version of an event that has taken place for 25 years. The MSO attracts players worldwide competing in the most brain-challenging and internationally popular board games. The games also include poker and bridge.
Hosted in London, where the in-person event is traditionally played, this year’s online MSO Grand Prix drew participants from 88 countries. The players battled for a month and a half and accrued points in a series of tournaments and head-to-head competitions.
The games ranged from well-known board games such as chess, draughts (checkers), and backgammon to more intricate but popular games like 7 Wonders, Catan, and Entropy.
MSO Grand Prix 2022 Winner
Maciej Bzreski, Poland’s chess master and artificial intelligence researcher, was the MSO Grand Prix’s top point-getter.
He won eight Gold Medals and amassed 744 points, far ahead of second-place player Yuki Shibata of Japan, who had 363. England’s David Pearce was a close third with 359.
Rafayel Ordyan of Armenia won the Junior Grand Prix title, while Natasha Regan of England was the winner of the Women’s crown. Dario De Toffoli, an Italian board game designer, captured the Senior competition.
Here are the top players, their home countries, and scores:
- Maciej Brzeski, Poland – 744
- Yuki Shibata, Japan – 363
- David Pearce, England – 359
- James Heppell, England – 316
- Alain Dekker, South Africa – 294
- Nicolas Wittmann, France – 292
- Martyn Hamer, England – 255
- Florin Popa, Romania – 252
- Matt Tucker, England – 247
- Marian Curcan, Romania – 246
Top 10 MSO Grand Prix Winners
Mind Sports Olympiad, 25 Years of Brain Power
The Mind Sports Olympiad debuted in 1997 as an “Olympics of the mind,” a way to gather the best board-game players in the world for competition.
Though it was established for board games, poker soon became a favorite, and the competition added bridge to its card games. Altogether, over 80 games, both old and new, exist in the MSO’s various competitions.
The main event of the Mind Sports Olympiad was called Pentamind and held in person at a single site in or around London until Covid forced it online in 2020. Organizers plan to return to the in-person format later this year. There have also been MSO satellite events across the globe.
A Mind Skill Competition That Will Prevail
The MSO Grand Prix is a true test of mental skills for game players who want to know exactly how good they are. It has crowned the best of the best board-game players for a quarter of a century and now will feature its online Grand Prix as a separate event to expand participation even more.
