List of world championships in mind sports
This article gives a list of world championships in mind sports which usually represent the most prestigious competition for a specific board game, card game or mind sport. World championships can only be held for most games or mind sports with the ratification of an official body. Some Eastern games only have amateur world championships and separate professional competitions as can be seen for Go (list of professional Go tournaments).
Mind Sports Olympiad All-round
World championships organized by Mind Sports Olympiad, that consist of competitions across multiple events to find the strongest games all-rounders.
| Sport / Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last Held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decamentathlon World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Martyn Hamer | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Modern Abstract Games World Championship | Individuals | 2008 | Andres Kuusk | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
| Pentamind World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Andres Kuusk | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
Classic/traditional board games
Major world championships for classic strategy board games, such as chess or go.
| Category | Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backgammon | Backgammon | Backgammon World Championship | Individuals | 1967 | Frank Frigo | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Chaturanga variants | Chess | World Chess Championship | Individuals | 1886 | Ding Liren | 2023 | 2024 | Two years |
| Shogi | Meijin (shogi) | Individuals | 1937 | Akira Watanabe | 2022 | 2023 | One year | |
| Xiangqi | World Xiangqi Championship | Individuals | 1990 | Wang Tianyi | 2022 | 2024 | Two years | |
| Draughts | International draughts | Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 1885 | Yuri Anikeev | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| English draughts | World Checkers Championship | Individuals | 1840 |
Sergio Scarpetta (3-Move)
Matteo Bernini (GAYP) |
2022 2022 |
2024 2024 |
Two years | |
|
Brazilian draughts and Russian draughts |
World Draughts-64 Championship | Individuals | 1985 1993 |
Alexander Schwarzman (Braz) Andrei Fedotov (Rus) |
2018 2020 |
? 2021 |
? One year |
|
| Go | Go | Ing Cup | Individuals | 1988 | Shin Jin-seo | 2023 | ? | Four years |
| Five in a row | Gomoku | Gomoku World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | Pavel Laube | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Renju | Renju World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | Lu Hai | 2023 | 2025 | Two years | |
| Morris | Morabaraba | Morabaraba World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Senane Gadlela | 2015 | 2016 | One year |
| Reversi | Othello | World Othello Championship | Individuals | 1977 | Kento Urano | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
- The Meijin match is not considered as a world championship. It is listed because Meijin is one of the most prestigious shogi titles in Japan.
- There is no official world championship in professional Go. The Ing Cup is one of the most influential professional Go tournaments.
Classic/traditional card/tile games
World championships in Traditional card games and tile-based games.
| Category | Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract bridge | Contract bridge | Bermuda Bowl | Teams | 1950 | Poland | 2019 | 2021 | Two years |
| Dominoes | Dominoes | World Championship Domino Tournament | Individuals | 1976 | Chris Authement | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Domino World Championship | Individuals | 1995 | Hege Lofthus | 2011 | 2012 | One year | ||
| Mahjong | Mahjong | World Mahjong Championship | Individuals | 2002 | Baohua Sun | 2017 | 2019 | Two years |
| Riichi mahjong | World Riichi Championship | Individuals | 2014 | Keijun Nara | 2022 | 2025 | Three years | |
| Poker | Poker | World Series of Poker Main Event | Individuals | 1970 | Koray Aldemir | 2021 | 2022 | One year |
| Skat | Skat | World Skat Championship | Individuals | 1978 |
Maik Neumann (Men) Carmen Schulze (Women) |
2018 | 2022 | Two years |
| Teams | BABEDA | |||||||
| Nations | Netherlands |
Mental disciplines
Competitions using mental tests.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory | World Memory Championships | Individuals | 1991 | Munkhshur Narmandakh | 2022 | One year |
| Mental calculation | Mental Calculation World Cup | Individuals | 2004 | Aaryan Nitin Shukla - 2022 | 2024 | Two years |
| MSO Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals | 1998 | Aaryan Nitin Shukla - 2021 | 2022 | One year | |
| Junior Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals (age restricted) | 2013 | 2020 -
Aaryan Nitin Shukla (Juniors 1) |
2022 | One year | |
| Memory and Calculation | Memoriad | Individuals | 2008 | (15 winners) | 2020 | Four years |
Modern board games
Competitions in abstract strategy games and other modern board games.
Games made for 2 players:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arimaa | Arimaa World Championship | Individuals | 2004 | Jerome Richmond | 2020 | One year |
| Bōku | Bōku World Championship | Individuals | 2000 | Alain Dekker | 2017 | One year |
| Entropy/Hyle | Entropy World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | David Jameson | 2019 | One year |
| GIPF | Project Gipf World Championship | Individuals | 2008 | Mathijs Booden | (2008) | |
| Kamisado | Kamisado World Championship | Individuals | 2011 | Andres Kuusk | 2017 | One Year |
| Lines of Action | LoA World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | James Heppell | 2017 | One year |
| Stratego | Stratego World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Tim Slagboom | 2020 | One year |
| Twilight Struggle | International Twilight Struggle League | Individuals | 2005 | Min Cao | 2022 | One year |
| Twixt | TwixT World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Florian Jamain | 2017 | One Year |
Games supporting 3 or more players:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomacy | World Diplomacy Convention | Individuals | 1988 | Gwen Maggi | 2022 | One year |
| Hare and Tortoise | Hare and Tortoise World Championships | Individuals | 1997 | Dario de Toffoli | 2017 | One year |
| Monopoly | Monopoly World Championships | Individuals | 1973 | Nicolò Falcone | TBD | No regular schedule |
| Settlers of Catan | Catan World Championships | Individuals | 2002 | Quetzal Hernández | 2020 | Two years |
| 4 games | German Board Game Championship | Teams (4 players) | 1984 | Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag, Bonn | 2024 | One year |
| 4 games | EuropeMasters - European Championships Boardgames | Teams (4 players) | 1988 | Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag, Bonn | 2024 | One year |
Modern card games
Competitions in collectible card games and other modern card games.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Last held | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic: The Gathering | Magic: The Gathering World Championship | Individuals | 1994 | Jean-Emmanuel Depraz | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| World Magic Cup | Teams | 1995 | France | 2018 | Discontinued | One year | |
| Pokémon Trading Card Game | Pokémon World Championships | Individuals | 2004 |
Shao Tong Yen (Junior) Gabriel Fernandez (Senior) Vance Kelley (Master) |
2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game | Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships | Individuals | 2003 |
Paul Aronson Jian Yu Jian (Duel Links) snipehunters (Master Duel) |
2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Wizard Card Game | Wizard World Championship | Individuals | 2010 | Sebastian Holzer | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
Speaking competitions
World championships in speaking.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auctioneering | World Livestock Auctioneer Championship | Individuals | 1963 | Jared Miller (2018) | 2019 | One year |
| Debating | World Universities Debating Championship | Pairs | 1979 | Daniel A. DeBois & Archie J.W. Hall (2018) | 2019 | One year |
| World Schools Debating Championships | Nations | 1988 | China (2018) | 2019 | One year | |
| Debating (Spanish) |
World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español |
Pairs | 2011 | Antonio Fabregat & Javier De La Puerta (2017) | 2018 | One year |
| Debating (Portuguese) |
World Debating Championship in Portuguese Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa |
Pairs | 2018 | David Alatorre López & Brittany Garcia (2019) | TBD | One year |
Tile games
World championships held in tile-based games include:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carcassonne | Carcassonne World Championship | Individuals | 2006 | Matt Tucker | 2024 | One year |
| Continuo | Continuo World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | David M. Pearce | 2017 | One year |
| Hexago | Hexago World Championship | Individuals | 2007 | David M. Pearce | (2007) | |
| Saboteur | Saboteur World Championship | Individuals | 2016 | Alexander Mischke | 2023 | One year |
| Tantrix | Tantrix World Championship (online) | Individuals | 1998 | Tamás Gombkötő | 2023 | One year |
| Tantrix World Open (real tiles) | Individuals | 2009 | Marek Reniers | 2023 | One year (irregular) |
Word games
World championships in word games.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble (English) | World Scrabble Championship | Individuals | 1991 | Nigel Richards (2019) | 2020 | Two years; one year since 2013 |
| Scrabble (Spanish) | Spanish World Scrabble Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Selene Delgado (2017) | 2018 | One year |
| Scrabble (French) | French World Scrabble Championship Duplicate | Individuals | 1972 | Nigel Richards (2017) | 2018 | One year |
| French World Scrabble Championship Classic | Individuals | 2006 | Benjamin Valour (2017) | 2018 | One year |
Information technology
World championships in competitive programming.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitive programming | Topcoder Open | Individuals | 2001 | Gennady Korotkevich (2017) | 2020 | once a year |
| Corewars | ICWS | Individuals/teams | 1985 | ? | ? | yearly |
Quizzing
Quizzing competitions organized by the International Quizzing Association
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities |
First held |
Current holder | Next | Held every |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz | World Quizzing Championship | Individuals | 2003 | Didier Bruyere (2022) | 2023 | yearly |
See also
- Esports
- Mind Sports Organisation
- International Association of Memory
- World Memory Championships
- World Junior Memory Championships
- World Memory Tournament Federation
- World Mind Sports Games
- Mind Sports Olympiad
- International Philosophy Olympiad
- World cup competition
- World championship
- List of world championships
- List of world cups and world championships for juniors and youth