Today we’re talking with Andy Robertshaw, an International Master at Mental Calculations with a career spanning over 12 years, winning medals 7 times at the World Championships, and in 2012 recognised at the World Cup as the “3rd most versatile” calculator. He works as a credit risk manager, living with his wife Nadia.
So how did you first get involved in competitive mental calculation?
I was always good at mental arithmetic, but did not know about any tournaments until I was 30. Then, one evening I was watching “They Think it’s All Over” on BBC TV, and Rory McGrath mentioned the Mental Calculations World Championships at the MSO in one of his answers. After seeing this, I searched for more information online, and entered the 2005 World Championships at the MSO in Manchester. The rest is history.
You’ve had a lot of experience at training – so how do you prepare now for the competitions?
I make my own questions up, and consider past papers. I make sure I can do each type of question, and try to master the technique. I am very busy in life, so do not have the time I would like to train. As important as any amount of training is to make sure that one is fit for the tests. This means a good night’s sleep, and being energised.
And do you train differently for the World Cup and the MSO?
In the MSO we have a similar set of tasks year-on-year, so it is important to make sure one is comfortable with as many as possible of these tasks. However time is not a primary concern, given that this is a 3.5 hour paper.
For the World Cup, I train a lot less. There are four tasks which are fixed every time (addition, multiplication, square roots and calendar). I am not competitive in any of these, but do know my techniques. Therefore I do not train for these. My standing in the World Cup is from surprise tasks. In order to train for these, I ensure I’m ok with all the MSO techniques, and more importantly sleep well the night before.
It’s more than a decade now since you started – how has the world of mental calculation changed over this time?
During the past decade, tournaments have become more competitive. The MSO World Championship has seen two candidates achieve full marks in the past. The paper was made more difficult off the back of this.
We also have more people entering the World Cup tournament in comparison to a decade ago, and the diversity of of the competitors has also increased.
During the past decade, the Junior Mental Calculations World Championships has also been founded, which takes place in Germany. This is a fantastic opportunity for children to get a feel for the world of Mental Calculations, and participate in the adult tournaments if they later wish to.
In particular we have seen up-and-coming juniors from Germany and India performing well in the Mental Calculations World Cup, such as Wenzel Grüß, Granth Thakkar and Andreas Berger. I also have to mention Mohammad El Mir from Lebanon, and is the current junior world champion, showing lots of promise.
So how do you imagine the world of mental calculation changing in the next decade?
I believe there will be an emergence of Chinese mental calculators. As far as I recall we have not yet had a Chinese competitor in either competition, and I am sure there are some great mental calculators there. I believe it’s only a matter of time until we see something of their juniors, like we have seen the Indian ones.
In terms of practice, I can see the emergence of computer software and processing power. While there is interactive software available for many tasks, I believe the range of software available will increase, and there will be more opportunity to train interactively.
For newcomers to competitive mental calculation, what do you consider the most important skills to learn?
Fundamentally, knowing the times-tables and being able to add up are the essentials. Beyond this, it is difficult to say, since there are different types of mental calculator. Some calculators are very mechanical, and can conduct a fixed task very quickly (or perform a high volume of tasks in a few minutes). Others are more creative, and their strength is in deriving the technique, as opposed to their speed.
I would say the next most important skill is to be of the right mind. When faced with a numerical problem, to be determined to solve it oneself as opposed to using a calculator.
After 5 World Cup appearances and 13 years at the MSO, what’s your favourite memory from your career so far in mental calculation?
Single favourite memory was my silver medal in the Mental Calculations World Championships in 2007 – it’s probably my single biggest achievement in Mental Calculations, and it was in my relatively early days of tournaments.
What else do you do outside of mental calculation?
I play chess and bridge. In like KENKEN and SuDoku, in which I am also an International Master from the MSO. Enjoy doing maths in my spare time – currently reading books in the field in which I did my PhD.
Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts, Andy! If you would like to contact him directly, he is available at robertshaw_andy@yahoo.co.uk and you’ll soon be able to see more on his own website.