The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event in mind sports created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the Summer and the Winter Olympics)".World Bridge Games . World Bridge Federation. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
History The inaugural 2008 World Mind Sports Games were held in Beijing from October 3 to 18, about two months after the Summer Olympics and one month after the Paralympics. Five mind sports participated in the first Games: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), go (weiqi), and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Thirty-five gold medals were contested by 2,763 competitors from 143 countries, using the Olympic Village in Beijing."2008 WMSG Results" . 2008WMSG. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
The sophomore 2012 World Mind Sports Games were held in Lille, France, from August 9 to August 23, 2012, with 30 events. It started during the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, England, and ended shortly before the 2012 Summer Paralympics. At the closing ceremony of the 2012 games, Rio de Janeiro was announced as hosts for the 2016 event, Retrieved 2012-10-03. but that did not happen and no further games have been held.
In April 2026, however, IMSA announced on their website that they had "opened the bidding process" for the World Mind Sports Games 2026, to be held in December."Call for Bids", Imsa.sport Retrieved 2026-06-15.
Editions Edition Year Host city Country Dates Countries Competitors Sports Medal events Events 1st 2008 Beijing China 3–18 October 2008 143 2,763 5 35 Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go, Xiangqi 2nd 2012 Lille France 9–23 August 2012 95 About 2,000 5 29 Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go, Xiangqi
The inaugural World Mind Sports Games were held in Beijing, China, from 3 to 18 October 2008. A total of 2,763 competitors from 143 countries took part in 35 medal events across five sports: bridge, chess, draughts, go, and xiangqi. The second edition was held in Lille, France, from 9 to 23 August 2012. Around 2,000 players from 95 countries competed in 29 medal events. The same five mind sports were included, although chess did not feature medal events in 2012.
Sports At the first two WMSG events, medals were contested in five different mind sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), go (weiqi), and xiangqi (Chinese chess)."2nd World Mind Sports Games: Lille 2012" (pdf presentation). IMSA. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
The International Federation of Poker (IFP) is an observer member of IMSA, so poker has been mentioned as a possible future sport at the WMSG. The Mahjong International League was accepted as the full member of IMSA in 2017.Mah Jong now a full member of IMSA . IMSA. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
+WMSG Sports Number Sport Organisation Web Join1 Chess World Chess Federation 20082 Draughts World Draughts Federation 20083 Go International Go Federation 20084 Xiangqi World Xiangqi Federation 20085 Bridge World Bridge Federation 2008Later additions– Mahjong Mahjong International League 2017– Card game Federation of Card Games 2018– Poker World Poker Federation 2022
Continuing competitions More than half of the 2008 participants were bridge players, partly because the World Bridge Federation transferred some important quadrennial competitions to the WMSG, especially the Open and Women flights of its World Team Olympiad.The third flight, contesting the Senior International Cup, also moved as a non-medal event sharing the same venues. In 2004 there had been in the main continuing events 72 Open and 43 Women "Olympiad" entries (national with six players on most squads). Under the Minds Sports rubric in Beijing there were 71 and 54 entries, about 700 players. The one-time, similar tournament with a 28 years age limit attracted another 400 players.
See also Mind sport Mind Sports Olympiad SportAccord World Mind Games World Team Olympiad World Bridge Games Computer Olympiad
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