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THE Festival of the Mind is coming to Bahrain with legends coming out of retirement to compete in the World Memory Championship which runs alongside it.
The festival is a showcase for the five learning mind sports of memory, speed reading, IQ, creativity and mind mapping.
Since its launch at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1995, it has been held in various countries around the world and this is its second time in Bahrain.
The festival presents an exciting four days of mind games, inspiring feats and amazing workshops that will draw some of the most talented masterminds to the kingdom.
Acclaimed worldwide as an excellent educational entertainment event, last year's festival received an extraordinary response from visitors of all ages, performing participants and reputed speakers.
And organisers expect this year's event, at the Gulf International Conference Centre, Gulf Hotel, from October 23 to 26, to be bigger and better than ever.
One of the prime attractions will be the World Memory Championship which is attracting a great deal of interest.
Ben Pridmore, from the UK, has a special reason for looking forward to his next visit to Bahrain. The 2004 World Memory champion was narrowly defeated in last year's final and will be vying to win back the title from the reigning champ, Dr Gunther Karsten, from Germany, who is also expected to attend.
Joining them to do battle in the 10 categories, which include gruelling mental challenges from memorising a sequence of random words in 15 minutes to remembering the sequence of playing cards in as many decks as possible in one hour, will be other top-ranked memory stars.
The lure of competing on the island has attracted a last minute entry from former world champion Andi Bell of the USA and now Grand Master of Memory Astrid Plessl from Austria is coming out of retirement to take part.
Astrid last competed in 2004 when, for the second year running, she achieved the silver medal in the World Memory Championships.
With a record total of 63 competitors from 14 countries now registered for the 2008 World Memory Championships, it would be a very brave person who could predict the result.
And organisers boast 'Without a doubt this is going to be the most exciting and exhaustive test of human memory that has ever taken place.'
Fuad Mubarak, deputy CEO of INTELNACOM, which is hosting the event said: "We are absolutely thrilled that Bahrain has attracted the highest number of competitors ever to the competition and, with the addition of these very skilled masters of memory, we are looking forward to a really exciting event."
A prize fund of $30,000 (BD11,310) is on offer to competitors with a top prize for the World Memory Champion of $10,000.
Mr Mubarak welcomed challengers saying: "If you think you have a good memory, you might be tempted to challenge for the title but, be warned, it is a mind sport that takes months of training."
But don't despair. If you don't think your memory is up to the task there are plenty of other mind tasks you can try.
As well as keynote speakers, including Tony Buzan, who established the Festival of the Mind, the curious, both young and old, can find out about mind skills and learn how to develop their mental faculties.
There will be a giant sized mind games exhibit and workshops and the chance to join in and learn various mind sports such as sudoku, bridge and chess - particularly interesting since chess has recently been identified by American scientists as being helpful in warding off Alzheimer's disease.
To provide a taste of what's to come, organisers will hold various mind game challenges leading up to the main event. Starting two weeks prior to Festival of the Mind, the pre-event games will be held at local shopping malls all over Bahrain and will include:
The Community Challenge
Eligibility: Open to all
Challenge: A large board with different pictures will be displayed. The board is then covered and participants have to correctly recall them. Weekly winners will meet for a final showdown on a weekend. The overall winner will receive a prize from the sponsor.
Inter-School Mind Games Challenge
Eligibility: School students
Competition: Schools compete in a mind games tournament comprising chess, Scrabble, I.Q. and Sudoku.
Inter-Universities Challenge
Eligibility: University students
Competition: An event including memory games, dama, Sudoku and Scrabble where universities will compete for the title of 'The Brain University'. In addition to Bahrain University, other GCC universities will also be invited take part.
Regional Memory Championship
Eligibility: Residents of UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain
Format: During the Festival, participants will be prepared and trained by leading memory champions on the rules and techniques of the World Memory Championship to compete for the First Regional title of Memory.
A championship is planned to take place in the first quarter of next year and winners will qualify to compete for the world title in the World Memory Championship 2009.
To find out more about the Festival of the Mind and World Memory Championship log on to https://www.worldfestivalofthemind.com.
BRAIN FLASH
The human memory can be quite astounding. Hiroyuki Goto (born 1973) of Tokyo, Japan, has memorised a staggering 42,195 digits of the number Pi, reciting them at the MHK Broadcasting Centre on February 18, 1995.
A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME
In the run-up to the Festival of the Mind GulfWeekly will be offering you a series of brain teasers to give you a taste of what to expect.
1. Can you think of two English words that look like opposites but actually have the same meaning?
2. Starting in 1948, which city follows London, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome?
3. What New Year resolution is impossible to keep and yet also impossible to break?
4. It takes three days to go from A to B, but four days to go from B to A. Name A and B.
See next week's issue for the answers.
