# List of world championships in mind sports

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 Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Martyn Hamer | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Modern Abstract Games World Championship | Individuals | 2008 | Andres Kuusk | 2022 | 2023 | One year |
| Pentamind World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Andres Kuusk | 2024 | 2025 | 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 |
| Backgammon | Backgammon | Backgammon World Championship | Individuals | 1967 | Johan Moazed | 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Chaturanga variants | Chess | World Chess Championship | Individuals | 1886 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2024 | 2026 | Two years |
| Chaturanga variants | Shogi | Meijin (shogi) | Individuals | 1937 | Sōta Fujii | 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Chaturanga variants | Xiangqi | World Xiangqi Championship | Individuals | 1990 | Wang Tianyi | 2022 | 2024 | Two years |
| Draughts | International draughts | Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 1885 | Yuri Anikeev | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Draughts | English draughts | World Checkers Championship | Individuals | 1840 | Sergio Scarpetta (3-Move) Matteo Bernini (GAYP) | 2024 2024 | 2026 2026 | Two years |
| Draughts | Brazilian draughts and Russian draughts | World Draughts-64 Championship | Individuals | 1985 1998 1993 | Nikolay Struchkov (Classic) Igor Mikhalchenko (Rapid) Roman Shchukin (Blitz) | 2024 2024 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Draughts | Italian draughts | Italian Draughts World Championship | Individuals | 2024 | Damiano Sciuto | 2024 | ? | ? |
| Go | Go | Ing Cup | Individuals | 1988 | Ryo Ichiriki | 2024 | ? | Four years |
| Five in a row | Gomoku | Gomoku World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | Pavel Laube | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Five in a row | Renju | Renju World Championship | Individuals | 1989 | Lu Hai | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Reversi | Othello | World Othello Championship | Individuals | 1977 | Yasushi Nagano | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
* ↑ The Meijin match is not considered as a world championship. It is listed because Meijin is one of the most prestigious shogi titles in Japan.
* ↑ There is no official world championship in professional Go. The Ing Cup is one of the most influential professional Go tournaments.

## 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 bridge | Contract bridge | Bermuda Bowl | Teams (Open) | 1950 | Switzerland | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Contract bridge | Contract bridge | Venice Cup | Teams (Women) | 1937 | Israel | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Contract bridge | Contract bridge | d'Orsi Senior Bowl | Teams (Seniors) | 2001 | Denmark | 2023 | 2025 | Two years |
| Dominoes | Dominoes | World Championship Domino Tournament | Individuals | 1976 | Chris Authement | 2019 | 2020 | One year |
| Dominoes | Dominoes | Domino World Championship | Individuals | 1995 | Torsten Fornefeld | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Mahjong | Mahjong | World Mahjong Championship | Individuals | 2002 | Zhou Yong | 2019 | 2021 | Two years |
| Mahjong | Riichi mahjong | World Riichi Championship | Individuals | 2014 | Keijun Nara | 2022 | 2025 | Three years |
| Poker | Poker | World Series of Poker Main Event | Individuals | 1970 | Jonathan Tamayo | 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Skat | Skat | World Skat Championship | Individuals | 1978 | Deni Lazicic (Men) Angelika Pullig (Women) | 2022 | 2024 | Two years |
| Skat | Skat | World Skat Championship | Teams | 1978 | ISPAWORLD and Friends | 2022 | 2024 | Two years |
| Skat | Skat | World Skat Championship | Nations | 1978 | Canada | 2022 | 2024 | Two years |

## Mental disciplines

Competitions using mental tests.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
| Memory | World Memory Championships | Individuals | 1991 | Huang Jinyao | 2024 | One year |
| Mental calculation | Mental Calculation World Cup | Individuals | 2004 | Aaryan Nitin Shukla (2024) | 2026 | Two years |
| Mental calculation | MSO Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals | 1998 | Kaloyan Geshev (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Mental calculation | Junior Mental Calculation World Championship | Individuals (age restricted) | 2013 | (2023) Andrej Zivanovic (Juniors 1) Kaloyan Geshev (Juniors 2) Abhilakshya Arora(Seniors) | 2024 | One year |
| Mental calculation | Calculation League | Individuals | 2024 (Spring) | Wenzel Grüß (gold) Aaryan Nitin Shukla (silver) Kaloyan Geshev (bronze) | 2024 (fall) | Twice per year |

## 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 |
| Arimaa | Arimaa World Championship | Individuals | 2004 | Mathew Brown (2023) | 2024 | One year |
| Entropy/Hyle | Entropy World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Alain Dekker (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Kamisado | Kamisado World Championship | Individuals | 2011 | David Pearce (2024) | 2025 | One Year |
| Lines of Action | LoA World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | James Heppell (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Stratego | Stratego World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Vince van Geffen (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Twilight Struggle | International Twilight Struggle League | Individuals | 2005 | Tomas Tvaroh (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Twixt | TwixT 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 |
| Diplomacy | World Diplomacy Convention | Individuals | 1988 | Nicolas Sahuguet (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Hare and Tortoise | Hare and Tortoise World Championships | Individuals | 1997 | Dario de Toffoli | 2017 | One year |
| Monopoly | Monopoly World Championships | Individuals | 1973 | Nicolò Falcone | TBD | No regular schedule |
| Settlers of Catan | Catan World Championships | Individuals | 2002 | Hamish Dean (2022) | 2024 | Two years |
| 4 games | German Board Game Championship | Teams (4 players) | 1984 | Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag, Bonn | 2024 | One year |
| 4 games | Europe Masters - European Board Game Championship | Teams (4 players) | 1988 | Das Team mit dem Paukenschlag, Bonn | 2024 | 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 Gathering | Magic: The Gathering World Championship | Individuals | 1994 | Javier Dominguez | 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Pokémon Trading Card Game | Pokémon World Championships | Individuals | 2004 | Sakuya Ota (Junior) Evan Pavelski (Senior) Fernando Cifuentes (Master) | 2024 | 2025 | One year |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game | Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships | Individuals | 2003 | Paul Aronson Jian Yu Jian (Duel Links) snipehunters (Master Duel) | 2023 | 2024 | One year |
| Wizard Card Game | Wizard World Championship | Individuals | 2010 | Alexander Kube | 2023 | 2024 | One year |

## Speaking competitions

World championships in speaking.
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
| Auctioneering | World Livestock Auctioneer Championship | Individuals | 1963 | Jared Miller (2018) | 2019 | One year |
| Debating | World Universities Debating Championship | Pairs | 1979 | Mark Rothery & Aniket Chakravorty (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Debating | World Schools Debating Championships | Nations | 1988 | Scotland (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Debating (Spanish) | World Universities Debating Championship in Spanish Campeonato Mundial Universitario de Debate en Español | Pairs | 2011 | Francisco Vergara & Mauricio Jarufe (2021) | 2022 | One year |
| Debating (Portuguese) | World Debating Championship in Portuguese Campeonato Mundial de Debate em Língua Portuguesa | Pairs | 2018 | David Alatorre López & Brittany Garcia (2019) | TBD | One year |

## Tile games

World championships held in tile-based games include:
| Sport | Competition name | Competing entities | First held | Current holder | Next | Held every |
| Carcassonne | Carcassonne World Championship | Individuals | 2006 | Daniel Angelats (2024) | 2025 | One year |
| Continuo | Continuo World Championship | Individuals | 1997 | David M. Pearce (2016) | 2017 | One year |
| Saboteur | Saboteur World Championship | Individuals | 2016 | Alexander Mischke (2022) | 2023 | One year |
| Tantrix | Tantrix World Championship (online) | Individuals | 1998 | Richard Knese (2023) | 2024 | One year |
| Tantrix | Tantrix World Open (real tiles) | Individuals | 2009 | Attila Mikulán (2024) | 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 Championship | Individuals | 1991 | David Eldar (2023) | 2024 | Two years; one year since 2013 |
| Scrabble (Spanish) | Spanish World Scrabble Championship | Individuals | 1997 | Serge Emig (2019) | 2020 | One year |
| Scrabble (French) | French World Scrabble Championships Duplicate | Individuals | 1972 | Nigel Richards (2019) | 2020 | One year |
| Scrabble (French) | 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 |