Editing Mind Sports Organisation (section)

== Mind Sports Olympiad ==
{{Main| Mind Sports Olympiad}}
The first Mind Sports Olympiad was held in London's [[Royal Festival Hall]] in 1997. It brought together an unprecedented number of strategy games and events. William Hartston in ''[[The Independent]]'' said, "The biggest gamesfest ever to hit these (or perhaps any other) shores".<ref name="ind_wh">William Hartston, [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-south-bank-brain-show-1256991.html''The South Bank Brain Show''], ''[[The Independent]]'' 21 June 1997, retrieved 2 August 1997</ref>

The inaugural MSO along with a very large number of games, introduced two new events of their own creation the Pentamind and the [[Decamentathlon]]. These were two events to parallel the multi-event games in athletics of the [[modern pentathlon]] and the [[decathlon]]. This was part of the ambition to create an Olympics of the mind.<ref name="times_mso1">''The Mind Sports Olympiad Supplement'' s, ''[[The Times]]'', July - August 1997</ref>

The Mind Sports Olympiad returned to London with sponsorship in both 1998<ref>Robert Sheehan, ''Sheehan on Bridge'', ''[[The Times]]'', 20 October 1998</ref> and 1999.<ref>Alan Hiron, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/games-bridge-1130510.html  ''Games: Bridge''], ''[[The Independent]]'', 5 December 1999, retrieved 2 August 2009</ref> Despite a falling out between the organisers (see controversy below) a successful event was held in [[Alexandra Palace]] the next year in 2000.<ref name="alex">Paul Sussman, [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/23/mind.olympiad/index.html  ''Fierce rivalry in 'Olympics' for brainboxes''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628014250/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/23/mind.olympiad/index.html |date=28 June 2013 }} 24 August 2000</ref>

The Mind Sports Olympiad main event continued to happen but without sponsorship the tournaments were held at a number of different universities. The event was still going strong for the years 2001 - 2006.<ref name="ward">David Ward, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/aug/22/davidward  ''Cerebral Athletes Play Mind Games''], ''[The Guardian]'', 22 August 2005, retrieved 2 August 2009</ref> The main 2004 event featured a separate event for schools, featuring competitions and activities in chess, Go, quizzes and intelligence puzzles. But in 2007 the Mind Sports Olympiad was reduced to a much smaller venue in Potters Bar due to no sponsorship and no advertising.<ref name="potters">Stephen Moss, [https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,,2156846,00.html  ''This time it's Personal''], [[The Guardian]], 27 August 2007</ref> In 2008 the MSO saw a revival returning to a central London venue, the [[Royal Horticultural Halls]], [[Westminster]] and again on 21–31 August 2009.<ref name="venue09">Information about venue for MSO XIII, http://www.boardability.com/mso/venue.html, 2 August 2009</ref> The 2010 event was held at the Soho Theatre in London.<ref name="venue10">Account of MSO XIV, http://www.boardability.com/result.php?id=mso14 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226015813/http://www.boardability.com/result.php?id=mso14 |date=26 February 2012 }}, 15 February 2011</ref> In 2011, the Mind Sports Olympiad moved to a bigger venue, the University of London Union. The 16th MSO will take place once again at the University of London Union in 18–27 August 2012.

Over the last few years, MSO has been flourishing both at its satellite events and at the main event in London, which attracted almost 800 entries in 2011. MSO London is a truly global event, and the 2010 Pentamind World Champion Paco Garcia De La Banda hails from Spain, while the 2011 Pentamind World Champion Andres Kuusk is from Estonia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://boardability.com/result.php?id=mso15 |title=Results for mso15 |access-date=21 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311042608/http://www.boardability.com/result.php?id=mso15 |archive-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The most widely read chess magazine in the world, Chess Life, featured an article in February 2012 about in the inauguration of Diving Chess into the 2011 Mind Sports Olympiad.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.yudu.com/A1vdb5/ChessLifeFeb2012/resources/12.htm|title = February 2012}}</ref>

=== Venues ===
The Mind Sports Olympiad main event has been annual since 1997 at the following locations in England:

* 1997 Royal Festival Hall, London<ref name="times_mso1" />
* 1998 [[Novotel Hotel]], [[Hammersmith]]<ref>Jon Spielman, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/independent-pursuits-chess-1195762.html  ''Independent Pursuits: Chess''], ''The Independent'', 3 September 1998, retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>
* 1999 [[Kensington Olympia]], London<ref>Robert Nurden. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mental-athletes-tune-up-for-mind-games-1114330.html ''Mental athletes tune up for Mind Games''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425055404/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mental-athletes-tune-up-for-mind-games-1114330.html |date=25 April 2019 }}, 22 August 1999, retrieved 2 August 2009</ref>
* 2000 Alexandra Palace, London<ref name="alex" />
* 2001 [[South Bank University]], London
* 2002 [[Loughborough University]], [[Loughborough]]
* 2003 [[Manchester University]], [[Manchester]]<ref name="man_council">''Manchester Hosts 9th Mind Sports Olympiad'', ''[[Manchester City Council]] News'', 2 August 2005, retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>
* 2004 Manchester University, Manchester<ref name="venue2004">Don's diary:games and gold medals in Mind, [[The Times Higher Education]], [[David Levy (chess player)|David Levy]], 17 October 2003, [http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=184239&sectioncode=26]. Retrieved 20 April 2011</ref>
* 2005 Manchester University, Manchester<ref name="venue2005">Mind games tournament under way, [[BBC]] Manchester, 19 August 2005 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4167626.stm]. Retrieved 30 April 2011</ref>
* 2006 [[University of Westminster|Westminster University]], London
* 2007 Potters Bar<ref name="potters" />
* 2008 Royal Horticultural Halls, London
* 2009 Royal Horticultural Halls, London<ref name="venue2009">Cheam man's mind bending puzzles at mental olympiad, Sutton Guardian, Kevin Barnesm 28 August 2009 [http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/4568630.Cheam_man_s_mind_bending_puzzles_at_mental_olympiad/]. Retrieved 30 April 2011</ref>
* 2010 Soho Theatre, London<ref name="tjc">Scrabble, Monopoly and more at xhul games fest, [[The Jewish Chronicle]], Robyn Rosen, 26 August 2010, [http://thejc.com/news/uk-news/37303/scrabble-monopoly-and-more-shul-games-fest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829140325/http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/37303/scrabble-monopoly-and-more-shul-games-fest |date=29 August 2010 }}. Retrieved 30 April 2011</ref>
* 2011 University of London Union, London.<ref name="venue11">Venue announcement for MSO XV, http://www.boardability.com/venue.php, 15 February 2011</ref>
* 2012 University of London Union, London.<ref name="venue12">Venue announcement for MSO XVI, http://www.boardability.com/, 15 February 2012</ref>
* 2013 University of London Union, London
* 2014 [[JW3]], London