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 ChampionshipIndividuals1997 Martyn Hamer2019DiscontinuedOne yearAbstract Games World ChampionshipIndividuals2008 Andres Kuusk20252026 One yearPentamind World Championship Individuals 1997 Andres Kuusk 2025 2026 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 BackgammonBackgammonBackgammon World ChampionshipIndividuals19672026 Petko Kostadinov2026One yearChaturanga variantsChessWorld Chess ChampionshipIndividuals1886 Gukesh Dommaraju20242026Two yearsShogiMeijin (shogi) Individuals1937 Sōta Fujii20252026One yearXiangqiWorld Xiangqi ChampionshipIndividuals1990 Lai Ly Huynh20252027Two yearsDraughtsInternational draughtsDraughts World ChampionshipIndividuals1885 Yuri Anikeev20232024One yearEnglish draughtsWorld Checkers ChampionshipIndividuals1840 Sergio Scarpetta (3-Move) Matteo Bernini (GAYP)2024202420262026Two yearsBrazilian draughts andRussian draughtsWorld Draughts-64 ChampionshipIndividuals198519981993Nikolay Struchkov (Classic) Igor Mikhalchenko (Rapid) Roman Shchukin (Blitz)2024202420242025One yearItalian draughtsItalian Draughts World ChampionshipIndividuals2024 Damiano Sciuto2024??GoGoIng Cup Individuals1988Ryo Ichiriki2024?Four yearsFive in a rowGomokuGomoku World ChampionshipIndividuals1989 Pavel Laube20252027Two yearsRenjuRenju World ChampionshipIndividuals1989 Tomoharu Nakayama20252027Two yearsReversiOthelloWorld Othello ChampionshipIndividuals1977 Yasushi Nagano20232024One year
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 bridgeContract bridgeBermuda BowlTeams (Open)1950 Switzerland20252027Two yearsVenice CupTeams (Women)1937 Israel20232025Two yearsd'Orsi Senior BowlTeams (Seniors)2001 Denmark20232025Two years Dominoes DominoesWorld Championship Domino Tournamentby Rotary Club:Individuals1976 Chris Authement20192020One yearDomino World Championshipby Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO): Individuals1995 Torsten Fornefeld20232024One yearMahjongMahjongWorld Mahjong ChampionshipIndividuals2002 Zhou Yong20192021Two yearsRiichi mahjongWorld Riichi ChampionshipIndividuals2014 Kotaro Uchikawa20252028Three yearsPokerPokerWorld Series of Poker Main EventIndividuals1970 Michael Mizrachi20252026One yearSkatSkatWorld Skat ChampionshipIndividuals1978 Deni Lazicic (Men) Angelika Pullig (Women)20222024Two yearsTeams ISPAWORLD and FriendsNations
Mental disciplines Competitions using mental tests. Sport Competition name Competing entities First held Current holder Next Held every MemoryWorld Memory ChampionshipsIndividuals1991 Huang Jinyao2026 One year Mental calculationMental Calculation World CupIndividuals2004 Aaryan Nitin Shukla (2024)2026Two yearsMSO Mental Calculation World ChampionshipIndividuals1998Kaloyan Geshev (2024)2025One yearJunior Mental Calculation World ChampionshipIndividuals (age restricted)2013 (2023) Andrej Zivanovic (Juniors 1) Kaloyan Geshev (Juniors 2) Abhilakshya Arora (Seniors)2024One yearCalculation LeagueIndividuals 2024 (Spring) Wenzel Grüß (gold) Aaryan Nitin Shukla (silver) Kaloyan Geshev (bronze)2024 (fall)Twice per yearSpeedcubing (Rubik's Cube)Rubik's WCA World ChampionshipCube 3x3x31982 Wang Yiheng2027Two yearsSudokuWorld Sudoku ChampionshipIndividuals2006 Ming Letian2025One yearTeams2007 ChinaSpeed Jigsaw PuzzlingWorld Jigsaw Puzzle ChampionshipsSolo2019 Kristin Thuv2025One yearPairs Tereza Koptíková / Markéta FreislerováTeams Andrea Peng / Jeanne Roiter / Cathy Roiter / Becca Taylor
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 ArimaaArimaa World ChampionshipArimaa World Championship results pages, http://arimaa.com/arimaa/wc/, 31 Dec 2014Individuals2004 Mathew Brown (2023)2024 One yearEntropy/HyleEntropy World ChampionshipMind Sports Olympiad results pages, http://www.boardability.com/results.php, 15 February 2011Individuals1997 Andres Kuusk (2025)2026One yearKamisadoKamisado World Championship Individuals 2011 David Pearce (2024) 2025 One Year Lines of ActionLoA World Championship Individuals 1997 Andres Kuusk (2025) 2026 One yearStratego Stratego World Championship Individuals 1997 Vince van Geffen (2024) 2025 One yearTwilight StruggleInternational Twilight Struggle League Individuals 2005 Tomas Tvaroh (2024) 2025 One yearTwixtTwixT World Championship Individuals 1997 Florian Jamain (2024) 2025 One Year
Games supporting 3 or more players: Sport Competition name Competing entities First held Current holder Next Held every DiplomacyWorld Diplomacy Convention Individuals 1988 Nicolas Sahuguet (2024) 2025 One yearTwo years until 1994 then one year since 1994 but no world championship in 2020 and 2021 (coronavirus).Hare and TortoiseHare and Tortoise World Championships Individuals 1997 Madli Mirme (2025) 2026 One year MonopolyMonopoly World Championships Individuals 1973 Nicolò Falcone TBD No regular scheduleSettlers of CatanCatan World Championships Individuals 2002 Hamish Dean (2022) 2024 Two years 4 games German Board Game Championship Teams (4 players) 1984 FeSaJoTo (2025) 2026 One year 4 games Dutch Board Game Championship Teams (4 players) 2000 Desda (2024) 2025 One year 4 games Europe Masters - European Board Game Championship{} Teams (4 players) 1988 Brettspielverein Bindlach – Die Outlawkumpels (2024) 2025 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 GatheringMagic: The Gathering World ChampionshipIndividuals1994 Javier Dominguez20242025One yearPokémon Trading Card GamePokémon World ChampionshipsIndividuals2004 Sakuya Ota (Junior) Evan Pavelski (Senior) Fernando Cifuentes (Master)20242025One yearYu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card GameYu-Gi-Oh! World ChampionshipsIndividuals2003 Paul Aronson Jian Yu Jian (Duel Links) snipehunters (Master Duel)20232024One yearWizard Card GameWizard World ChampionshipIndividuals2010 Alexander Kube20232024One year
Speaking competitions World championships in speaking. Sport Competition name Competing entities First held Current holder Next Held every AuctioneeringWorld Livestock Auctioneer ChampionshipIndividuals1963 Jared Miller (2018)2019One yearDebatingWorld Universities Debating ChampionshipWorld Debating website, http://www.debating.ie// Pairs 1979 Mark Rothery & Aniket Chakravorty (2024) 2025 One yearWorld Schools Debating ChampionshipsNations1988 Scotland (2024)2025One yearDebating (Spanish)World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español Individuals 2011 Jessica Zapata (2024) 2025 One yearPairs2011 Mattias Durán & Marcela Goméz (2024)Debating (Portuguese)World Debating Championship in Portuguese Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa Individuals 2018 Jess Peixoto (2021) TBD TBDPairs2018 Jess Peixoto & Bernardo Rabelo (2021)
Tile games World championships held in tile-based games include: Sport Competition name Competing entities First held Current holder Next Held every CarcassonneCarcassonne World ChampionshipIndividuals2006 Xiangyu Qin (2025)2026One year Continuo Continuo World Championship Individuals 1997 David M. Pearce (2016) 2017 One yearSaboteur Saboteur World Championship Individuals 2016 Alexander Mischke (2022) 2023 One year TantrixTantrix World Championship (online)Tantrix official results (online) 2022 http://tournaments.tantrix.co.uk/auto/index.php?page=showph2&comp=WTC&do=final&year=2023 Individuals 1998 Richard Knese (2023) 2024 One yearTantrix World Open (real tiles)Tantrix official results 2022 http://www.tantrix.com/tournaments/index.php?page=home&comp=WTO&year=2024 Individuals 2009 Attila Mikulán (2024) 2025World Tantrix Open 2025 http://tantrix.com/tournaments/index.php?page=home&comp=WTO&year=2025] 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 ChampionshipOfficial Scrabble World Championship site, http://www.wscgames.com/ Individuals 1991 David Eldar (2023) 2024 Two years; one year since 2013 Scrabble (Spanish) Spanish World Scrabble ChampionshipFISE Scrabble site, http://fisescrabble.org/torneos/mundiales/ Individuals 1997 Serge Emig (2019) 2020 One year Scrabble (French) French World Scrabble Championships DuplicateFISF Scrabble site, http://www.fisf.net Individuals 1972 Nigel Richards (2019) 2020 One year French World Scrabble Championship Classic Individuals 2006 Francis Desjardins (2019) 2020 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 (2022) 2023 once a year Corewars ICWS Individuals/teams 1985 ? ? yearly
Quizzing Quizzing competitions organized by the private company International Quizzing Assoc. Sport Competition name Competing entities First held Current holder Next Held every Quiz World Quizzing Championship Individuals 2003 Victoria Groce (2024) 2025 yearly
See also
Esports List of esports leagues and tournaments Mind Sports Organisation International Association of Memory World Memory Championships World Junior Memory Championships World Mind Sports Games Mind Sports Olympiad International Philosophy Olympiad World cup competition World championship List of world sports championships List of world cups and world championships for juniors and youth
References