Hello everyone!
We’ve been looking forward to a busy calendar of mental calculation events this Summer and Autumn, with 4 major competitions in the space of 4 weeks.
Unfortunately however, today I sadly have to announce the cancellation of all of these. This is of course due to the current pandemic and travel restrictions, which have caused great difficulties for the organizers, and would have meant that participants from many countries would anyway have been unable to travel to attend.
However this update does contain some good news for everyone interested in participating in mental calculation this year, and also looking ahead to 2021!
Remember to receive future updates from World Mental Calculation when they go live, you can sign up for email notifications and/or follow the World Mental Calculation Facebook Page. The individual organizers will of course also make their own announcements.
Mental Calculation World Cup 2021
Ralf Laue has announced that the Mental Calculation World Cup – which was due to take place in August 2020 – will be postponed until sometime in 2021, probably August or September.
56 participants had already applied to be selected to compete, and their applications will remain valid for the 2021 competition. In addition, applications have reopened! So you may register to compete until the new deadline of the 1st May 2021.
For more information, visit the official website of this competition, and Ralf also posts updates on a discussion group and by email.
Memoriad 2021
Memoriad – a major contest in Mental Calculation, Memory and Speed Reading that attracts more than 100 competitors – was anticipated to be held in Dubai in September 2020 but has been postponed until next year. The actual date has not yet been selected, but it is expected between September and December 2021.
Visit the official website of the competition for news and for details of past competitions.
Junior Mental Calculation World Championship 2021
This competition – open to all under-20s – was scheduled to take place in October 2020. The new date has not yet been chosen, but is likely around September 2021, in Germany.
Announcements from the organizers are posted on the official website.
However in place of the 2020 contest, I’m working with the organizers to put on an online contest! This will involve two rounds:
- individual qualification where participants answer a series questions for points
- a final where the top qualifiers compete for the medal
This will also be available to watch on a live stream (and you can compete yourself against the contestants). Further details about registration will be announced very soon, and details of the live stream will be announced later in Summer before the event is held.
Mind Sports Olympiad 2020
The Mind Sports Olympiad will not be a physical event this year, although the organizers are planning to hold something online. You can receive updates from their official website, and if there is any update relevant to mental calculation, it will also be announced here.
Online Mental Math Competition 2020
In addition to the Junior Mental Calculation Online Contest, I’m investigating the potential to host an equivalent contest open to a limited number of participants of all ages, in the early Autumn!
Please note that this is not yet confirmed – but all details will be shared here in June 2020.
World Mental Calculation Survey 2020
Every day many people visit this website from around the world – from Germany to Kyrgyzstan and from Peru to India… But what are your mental calculation interests? During the month of May, there’s a survey active to help me find out more about you and what content you are interested in.
The survey takes about 2 minutes, and I will be continuing to develop the content on this website based on your responses and suggestions. Thanks for your input!
World Mental Calculation Survey 2020
New Mental Calculation Resources
Finally I leave you with some assorted updates of new training material:
- Willem Bouman – a mental calculator with a long career – has recently published the English-language version of his book Mental Calculation – An Art, Apart, and the first readers have received their copy in the last few days. Check it out on your preferred provider below:
- I’ve written a new resource on Cross Multiplication for Multiplying Large Numbers. For novice calculators – this is one of the most important techniques in advanced written mental calculation. For regular competitors there won’t be anything new here, but it may be useful as a reference when talking about multiplication.
- Practical mental math for currency conversions: I’ve made a little tool that suggests quick and easy ways to convert between currencies mentally, based on the daily exchange rate.
