World Mind Games 2013 - Day 5

The fifth day of the World Mind Games 2013 featured top level competitions in Bridge, Chess, Go, and Xiangqi.

In Bridge, the winners of the Pairs Open and Pairs Women's competitions were decided. The Pairs Team Fulvio Fantoni and Nunes from Monaco take home their second World Mind Games gold medals. Meanwhile, Feng Xuefeng and Zhang Yu added another gold to China's repertoire.

Chess Blitz competitions came to a close today after 30 rounds of intense elite matches.

In Draughts, players had a rest day while they prepare to start the Super Blitz tournaments tomorrow.

Yu Zhiying played Wang Chenxing in a deciding match for the gold medal in Go, as China showed their strengths in the sport. In Men’s Teams, Korea faced off with China for a 1st place victory.

Finally, the Xiangqi competition continued with the 5th round in Men’s Individual and the 4th round in Women’s Individual.

Cultural Programme: World Draughts Federation President and SportAccord Director General visit next generation of Draughts players

Today, the Beijing No.4 High School welcomed the World Draughts Federation, SportAccord and BODA for the Draughts school visit within the framework of the World Mind Games Cultural Programme.

The school’s headmaster, Mr. Liu Changming was proud to welcome the participants and share the history of the school that was described as "...the best in Beijing" by the Deputy Secretary General of BODA, Mr. Zhao Wei, also present.

Mr. Harry Otten, World Draughts Federation President, highlighted the importance of "...associating physical exercise to the training of the mind" as all representatives witnessed a physical education class of older students on campus. Mr. Otten strongly believes that the next generation of world champions will come from China and is motivated to support the evolution of the sport in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Mr. Joel Atse’s win in the draughts competition yesterday served as an example of this as he became the first ever African player to win gold in the World Mind Games.

Mr. Marinescu, SportAccord Director General was pleased with the cooperation between BODA, the World Draughts Federation and SportAccord to help facilitate this visit and "...inspire the next generation through the legacy of the cultural activities of the World Mind Games".

The two WMG Ambassadors, Ms. Darya Tkachenko and Ms. Zhao Hanqing were delighted to play against the youngsters. Although there was no surprise win against the champions, two children gave them a "run for their money". Ms. Tkachenko acknowledged that the Beijing champion who she was playing against, made it "...a tough game until the end." Ms. Hanqing thinks that "...many students could have won". One young boy in particular could have done so but "...he chose the wrong move." The World Draughts Federation officials couldn’t resist teaching the young boy how, next time, he could win against a professional player.

Both Ambassadors expressed their belief that playing draughts stimulates the mind and will help children become "...successful players, successful students and successful people".

Bridge: Finals Feature Fantastic Finishes

There was no shortage of excitement as the Men's and Women's Pairs Championships concluded at the 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games.

In the Men's Pairs the long-time leaders Monaco's Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes were overtaken in the third session, but they came back strong in the final one to secure their second gold medal of the games. The runners up were China's Haojun Shi and Jianming Dai, with the bronze medal going to Poland's Krzysztof Buras and Andrzej Narkiewicz.

In the Women's Championship a thrilling finish saw China's Xuefeng Feng and Yu Zhang secure victory just ahead of England's Heather Dhondy and Nevena Senior, while Israel's Dana and Noga Tal were third.

All three pairs had topped the table at various points during the final session.

Chess: Karjakin & Hou grab the golds

What an exciting day it was in the Blitz Chess Event.

The women began with a steady start but once the competition was under way, it instantly became more intense. Hou Yifan and Valentina Gunina were neck and neck, both giving it their all to grab the top spot.

Anna Muzychuk played excellently and assured herself the bronze. As they finally reached the last round, Hou Yifan claimed victory showing everyone how talented she really is.

In the men's blitz, the tables turned and Mamedyarov lost his position on the podium. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave put in an impressive performance today and crept by Mamedyarov to seal the third place finish. Ahead of Vachier-Lagrave were Levon Aronian and Karjakin Sergey.

Both finished with the same amount of points at 19.5. Since Karjakin beat Aronian in the direct encounter with 1.5 to 0.5, the Russian national anthem was played at the ceremony while Karjakin took the gold and Aronian the silver.

Draughts: Online Tournament Winner nearly defeats World Mind Games Champion

The Draughts exhibition match between our Online tournament Winner Thomy Mbongo (France) and the 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games Champion Joel Atse N`Cho proved to be a real highlight. In a best of three Blitz Game Thomy won the second game and forced a deciding third. The calmness and experience of the Africa Champion made the small difference, with N`Cho winning the game with one of the last moves.

Go: Medals for Korea, China, and Chinese Taipei

Today’s competitions were held in men’s team and women’s individual. The men's team competition came to a dramatic finish as China battled Korea for the gold medal. The games on the first two boards both ended in resignation after intense fighting, Korea's Park Jeonghwan winning on board one and China's Zhou Ruiyang on board two. On board three, Korea's Cho Hanseung, who had lost a game in the match against Chinese Taipei in the first round, faced China's undefeated Wang Xi. The winner? Cho, by a fraction of a stone, and the Korean team takes home the gold medals.

The other two matches were also dramatic. Chinese Taipei defeated the European team to capture the bronze medal, and Japan defeated North America to finish fourth, but Canada's Yongfei Ge ended the North Americans' winless streak by beating a Japanese opponent on board three. The European team also won a game, and they very nearly won two; Chinese Taipei's lead player Chou Chun-hsun was sweating profusely after a last-minute come-from-behind victory over France's Fan Hui.

In women's individual competition, Yu Zhiying defeated Wang Chenxing in the all-Chinese final match. Ms Yu takes the gold, Ms Wang takes the silver, and Korea's Park Jieun receives the bronze medal.

For more on the Mind Games, please visithttp://www.worldmindgames.net/en/.

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