Nearly 8 years since the last event, Memoriad (official website) will be held again this November—registration is now open! This is an international competition of Mental Calculation and Memory where you have the opportunity to compete in various events—similar to athletics in the Olympic Games. Each event uses the Memoriad Simulator software, allowing for real-time results and leaderboards. I was at the last Memoriad (in 2016 in Las Vegas) and it was a great event, with a livestream and even prize money. It was also my introduction to competitive memory.
This year, it will be held in Dubai (UAE) on November 06–10 to coincide with the Future Minds Expo. You can participate in any of the following events:
Mental Calculation
- Calendar Dates: you have 1 minute to determine the day of the week for many dates between 1600–2099.
- Addition: you have 10 minutes for several sums of ten 10–digit numbers.
- Multiplication: you have 12 minutes to multiply several pairs of 8-digit numbers.
- Square Roots: you have 15 minutes to find the square root of several 6-digit numbers, to 8 significant digits.
- Divisions: you have 6 minutes to divide many 10-digit numbers by a 5-digit divisor; each answer is an integer.
- Flash Anzan Marathon: you add many numbers of different sizes that are flashed on the screen.
Memory
- Speed Cards: you memorize the order of a shuffled deck of 52 playing cards as fast as you can.
- Numbers Memory: you have 15 minutes to memorize a long written string of 0–9 digits.
- Binary Digits: you have 5 minutes to memorize a long written string of 0s and 1s.
- Flash Numbers: you memorize a long sequence of 0–9 digits while it is flashed on the screen, one digit at a time.
- Spoken Numbers: you memorize a long sequence of 0–9 digits while it is spoken aloud.
- Number–Shape Recognition: you match 3-digit numbers with abstract shapes.
Please note that for Multiplication, Binary digits and Numbers Memory, the time allowed is shorter than for Memoriad 2016. The following events will not be included: Names and Faces Memory; and Speed Reading.
Registration
To register for Memoriad 2024, fill in the form on MemoriadUAE. Note that on the second page, you’ll have to choose the categories you want to compete in. The fee is USD $150 per person. To contact the team of Memoriad, use their email [contact@memoriaduae.com] or use the WhatsApp number found on their website. (I’m Daniel Timms and not the person to contact about Memoriad.)
Practising for Memoriad 2024
You can practise these categories using the official Memoriad Simulators. In fact, many mental calculators and mnemonists (including me) use this software regularly for training mental calculation and/or memory.
You can read my articles explaining techniques for the following categories:
- Calendar Dates
- Multiplications of large numbers
- Square roots to many decimal places
- Divisions of large numbers
To learn more about competitive memory, I recommend the Art of Memory, and other online resources that describe the method of loci (“memory palaces”).
You can also read some old interviews with past competitors at Memoriad:
- Jeonghee Lee (winner of several calculation categories in 2016)
- Freddis Reyes (multiplication gold medallist from 2012)
- Nodas Boukovalas (with experience at both Memoriad 2012 and 2016)
On the official Memoriad website, you can find the full results for Memoriad 2016 and other past events.