View source for World Memory Championships

{{short description|Annual memory competition}}
[[Image:Memory Sports.jpg|thumb|300px|The cards to be used in the competition]]

The '''World Memory Championships''' is an organized competition of [[memory sport|memory sports]] in which competitors [[Memory|memorize]] as much information as possible within a given period of time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mem/0998wrld.htm |title=The World Memory Championships - Memory Training - Accelerated Learning<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-01-26 |archive-date=2012-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617205840/http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mem/0998wrld.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The championship has taken place annually since 1991, with the exception of 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.world-memory-statistics.com/c_world.php|title=World Memory Championships {{!}} World Memory Statistics|website=www.world-memory-statistics.com|access-date=2016-12-21|archive-date=2023-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519175845/http://www.world-memory-statistics.com/c_world.php|url-status=live}}</ref> It was originated by [[Tony Buzan]] and co founded by Tony Buzan and [[Ray Keene]]. It continues to be organized by the World Memory Sports Council (WMSC), which was jointly founded by Tony Buzan and Ray Keene. In 2016, due to a dispute between some players and the WMSC, the [[International Association of Memory]] (IAM) was launched.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://memory-sports.com/blog/memory-championships/the-international-association-of-memory/|title=International Association of Memory {{!}} Memory Sports|website=memory-sports.com|access-date=2017-12-06|archive-date=2017-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206010005/http://memory-sports.com/blog/memory-championships/the-international-association-of-memory/|url-status=live}}</ref> From 2017 onward, both organizations have hosted their own world championships. 

The current WMSC world champion is Enkhjargal Uuriintsolmon of Mongolia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WMC 2024 |url=https://www.worldmemorychampionships.com/wmc2024/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The World Memory Championships |language=en-GB}}</ref> The current IAM world champion is Enrico Marraffa of Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IAM Statistics |url=https://iam-stats.org/competition.php?id=WMC2023 |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=iam-stats.org |archive-date=2024-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412223530/https://iam-stats.org/competition.php?id=WMC2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Format==
The World Championships consist of ten different disciplines, where the competitors have to memorize as much as they can in a period of time:
# One-hour numbers (23712892....)
# 5-minute numbers
# Spoken numbers, read out one per second
# 30-minute binary digits (011100110001001....)
# One-hour playing cards (as many decks of cards as possible)
# 15-minute random lists of words (house, playing, orphan, encyclopedia....)
# 15-minute names and faces
# 5-minute historic dates (fictional events and historic years)
# 15-minute abstract images (WMSC, black and white randomly generated spots) / 5-minute random images (IAM, concrete images)
# Speed cards - Always the last discipline. Memorize the order of one shuffled deck of 52 playing cards as fast as possible.

==Venues and winners==
'''World Champions (1991-2016)'''
{| class="wikitable" 
! # !! Year !!  Venue !! Winner 
|-
| 1 || 1991 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]]
|-
| 2 || 1993 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]]
|-
| 3 || 1994 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Jonathan Hancock]]
|-
| 4 || 1995 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]] 
|-
| 5 || 1996 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]]
|-
| 6 || 1997 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]]  
|-
| 7 || 1998 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Andi Bell]]
|-
| 8 || 1999 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]] 
|-
| 9 || 2000 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]]
|-
| 10 || 2001 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Dominic O'Brien]] 
|-
| 11 ||2002 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Andi Bell]]
|-
| 12 ||2003 || [[Kuala Lumpur]] ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Andi Bell]]
|-
| 13 || 2004 || [[Manchester]] ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Ben Pridmore]]
|-
| 14 || 2005 || [[Oxford]] ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Clemens Mayer]]
|-
| 15 || 2006 || London ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Clemens Mayer]]
|-
| 16 || 2007 || [[Bahrain]] ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Gunther Karsten]]
|-
| 17 || 2008 || Bahrain ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Ben Pridmore]]
|-
| 18 || 2009 || London ||{{flagicon|England}} [[Ben Pridmore]]
|-
| 19 || 2010 || [[Guangzhou]] ||{{flagicon|China}} [[Wang Feng (mnemonist)|Wang Feng]]
|-
| 20 || 2011 || Guangzhou  ||{{flagicon|China}} [[Wang Feng (mnemonist)|Wang Feng]]
|-
| 21 || 2012 || London ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Johannes Mallow]]
|-
| 22 || 2013 || London  ||{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Jonas von Essen]]
|-
| 23 || 2014 || [[Hainan]]  ||{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Jonas von Essen]]
|-
| 24 || 2015 || [[Chengdu]]  ||{{flagicon|United States}} [[Alex Mullen (memory athlete)|Alex Mullen]]
|-
| 25 || 2016<sup>{{asterisk}}</sup> || [[Singapore]]  ||{{flagicon|United States}} [[Alex Mullen (memory athlete)|Alex Mullen]]
|}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===IAM  world champions {{Clear}}(2017–present)===
[[International Association of Memory]]

{| class="wikitable" 
! # !! Year !!  Venue !! Winner !! Combined Rankings
|-
| 1 || 2017 || [[Jakarta]] ||{{flagicon|United States}} [[Alex Mullen (memory athlete)|Alex Mullen]] || Champion
|-
| 2 || 2018 || [[Vienna]]  ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Johannes Mallow]] || Non-Champion
|-
| 3 || 2019 || [[Zhuhai]]  ||{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Andrea Muzii]] || Non-Champion
|-
| - || 2020 || colspan="6" align="center" | [[Competition Not Held]] 
|-
| - || 2021 || colspan="6" align="center" | [[Competition Not Held]] 
|-
| - || 2022 || colspan="6" align="center" | [[Competition Not Held]] 
|-
| 4 || 2023 || [[Mumbai]]  ||{{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Tenuun Tamir]] || Non-Champion
|-
| 5 || 2024 || [[Lund]]  ||{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Enrico Marraffa]] || Non-Champion
|}

===WMSC world champions {{Clear}}(2017–present)===

WMSC ([[World Memory Sports Council]])

{| class="wikitable" 
! # !! Year !!  Venue !! Winner !! Combined Rankings
|-
|26
|2017
|[[Shenzhen]]
|{{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Munkhshur Narmandakh]]
| Non-Champion
|-
|27
|2018
|[[Hong Kong]]
|{{flagicon|China}} [[Wei Qinru]]
| Champion
|-
|28
|2019
|[[Wuhan]]
|{{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Ryu Song I]]
| Champion
|-
|29
|2020
|[[Karachi]]§
|{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Emma Alam]]
| -
|-
|30
|2021
|[[Ulaanbaatar]]§
|{{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Munkhshur Narmandakh]]
| -
|-
|31
|2022
|[[Ulaanbaatar]]§
|{{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Tenuun Tamir]]
| -
|-
|32
|2023
|[[Sanya]]
|{{flagicon|China}} [[Huang Jinyao]]
| Champion
|-
|33
|2024
|[[Istanbul]]
|{{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Enkhjargal Uuriintsolmon]]
| Champion
|}
{{col-end}}


*{{asterisk}} – The 2016 World Championships was hosted by the WMSC and was the first world championship not recognized by the IAM, who did not host their own world championship that year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iam-stats.org/competitions_list.php?id=World|title=World Memory Championships {{!}} International Association of Memory Statistics|website=www.iam-stats.org|access-date=2017-12-10}}</ref>

*§ – Athletes generally competed in their respective countries given COVID-19 restrictions, with results combined to determine the world champion.

==Records== 
Up-to-date lists of world and national records can be found on the statistics websites of the IAM<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iam-stats.org/records.php|title=World Records {{!}} International Association of Memory statistics|website=iam-stats.org|access-date=2018-12-19|archive-date=2019-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024073446/http://iam-stats.org/records.php|url-status=live}}</ref> and WMSC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.world-memory-statistics.co.uk/disciplines.php|title=World Records {{!}} World Memory Statistics|website=www.world-memory-statistics.co.uk|access-date=2018-12-19|archive-date=2018-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220232031/http://www.world-memory-statistics.co.uk/disciplines.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The best of them are listed in the following table.
{| class="wikitable"

|-
! Discipline !! Record !! Athlete !! Event
|-
| Hour numbers || 4620 digits || {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Ryu Song I]] || WMSC World Championship 2019
|-
| 5-minute numbers || 642 digits || {{flagicon|China}} [[Wei Qinru]] || Korea Open Memory Championship 2024
|-
| Spoken numbers || 660 digits || {{flagicon|China}} [[Hu Xueyan]] || WMSC World Championship 2024
|-
| 30-minute binary digits || 7485 digits || {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Ryu Song I]] || WMSC World Championship 2019
|-
| Hour cards || 2530 cards || {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[Kim Su Rim]] || WMSC World Championship 2019
|-
| Speed cards || 12.74 seconds || {{flagicon|Mongolia}} [[Shijir-Erdene Bat-Enkh]] || IAM Korea Open 2018
|-
| 15-minute random words || 335 words || {{flagicon|India}} [[Prateek Yadav]]|| WMSC World Championship 2019
|-
| 15-minute names and faces || 224 names || {{flagicon|England}} [[Katie Kermode]]|| IAM World Championship 2018
|-
| 5-minute historic dates || 154 dates || {{flagicon|India}} [[Prateek Yadav]] || WMSC World Championship 2019
|-
| 15-minute abstract images (WMSC) || 1048 points || {{flagicon|China}} [[Huang Jinyao]] || China Memory Championships 2022
|-
| 5-minute random images (IAM) || 711 points || {{flagicon|Italy}} Enrico Marraffa || IAM World Championship 2024
|}

==Championships by country==
{|class="wikitable "
!Country
!Titles{{ref label|id1|1|1}}
|-
|{{Flag|England}}
|15
|-
|{{Flag|Germany}}
|5
|-
|{{Flag|Mongolia}}
|5
|-
|{{Flag|China}}
|4
|-
|{{Flag|USA}}
|3
|-
|{{Flag|Italy}}
|2
|-
|{{Flag|Sweden}}
|2
|-
|{{Flag|North Korea}}
|1
|-
|{{Flag|Pakistan}}
|1
|}

== See also ==
* [[World championship]]
* [[Eidetic memory]]
* [[Grand Master of Memory]]
* [[List of world championships in mind sports]]
* [[Memory sport]]
* [[Method of loci]]
* [[Mnemonist]]
* [[Mnemonic major system]]
* [[Extreme Memory Tournament]]
* [[World Junior Memory Championships]]
* [[World Mind Sports Games]]
* [[Mind Sports Olympiad]]
* [[Memory sport]]
* [[Mind sport]]
* [[Mind Sports Organisation]]
* [[International Association of Memory]]
* [[Mental Calculation World Cup]]
* [[Mental calculation]]
* [[Mental abacus]]
* [[WorldSkills]]
* Memoride
* Asian Memory Championship - The first Asia Memory Open in 2020 / 2010<ref>{{Cite web |title=Final Results of the 4th Asia Pacific Open Memory Championships – Asia Pacific Memory Sports Council & The World Memory Championships |url=https://www.wmc-asia.com/final-results-of-the-asia-pacific-memory-open-championships-2/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |language=zh-CN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wmc-asia.com/final-results-of-world-memory-championships-vietnam-tournament/|title=Final Results of the 2024 World Memory Championships Vietnam Tournament on Jan.27th-28th – Asia Pacific Memory Sports Council & The World Memory Championships}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Asia Memory Sports Alliance |url=https://www.asia-memory.org/competition.php |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.asia-memory.org}}</ref>
* Robo Cup
* Patent
* World competition of inventions

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.worldmemorychampionships.com World Memory Championships website]
* [http://www.world-memory-statistics.co.uk WMSC Statistics website]
* [http://www.iam-memory.org IAM website]
* [http://www.iam-stats.org IAM Statistics website]
* [http://www.memoriad.com Memoriad - World Memory Olympics website]
* [http://mt.artofmemory.com/wiki/Category:Memory_Competitions List of Memory Competitions]
* [http://mytechit.blogspot.com.es/2014/01/rng.html RNG v1.0] Random Number Generator for training Working Memory
{{Main world championships}}
{{Memory}}

[[Category:Memory games]]
[[Category:International competitions]]
[[Category:World championships in mind sports|Memory]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1991]]