The First World Mind Sports Games officially opened on Friday October 3 night in Beijing. Nearly 4,000 competitors and officials from 143 countries and regions are taking part in the two-week event, the first ever mental sports competition.
 China National Convention Center (CNCC) is proudly one of the only two competition sites after it successfully served the Beijing 2008 Olympics as the Main Press Center (MPC), International Broadcasting Center (IBC) and site for fencing. A display of mental strength and intelligence is under way at CNCC's 6,400sqm pillar-free Plenary Hall.
Bridge, Chess and Draughts, Go, and Xiangqi or Chinese chess are on the program. There are 35 gold medals on offer. It is a mixed variety of hugely popular board and card games from the East and West. Chess and bridge, which originated in the West, now have 400 million players across five continents.
Chinese chess is played by 200 million players in 20 countries.
The game of Go, invented in China more than 3,000 years ago, now boasts 60 million players in five continents, mostly in China, Japan, and South Korea.
The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) President José Damiani said that at present almost 1 billion people play the mind sports.
CNCC will also be hosting (China) Zhongguancun Science Park 20 Years' Achievement Exhibition between Thursday October 9 and Tuesday October 14.
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