12th. US Memory Championship

Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by Flauwy in Memory Championships, News

On the 7th. of March 2009, the 12th. USA Memory Championships were held in New York again.

Although it is not a decathlon, the typical national and international standard, it is one of the most interesting tournaments in the field. Instead of just memorizing and recalling lots of data for themselves, the memory athletes directly compete against each other in the final rounds. It is a thrilling heads-up which is fun to watch. Since I never competed in a similar competition, I can only imagine the massive pressure on the competitors.

But let’s take it slow and see, how Tony Dottino, founder of the USA Memory Championship, has designed his tournament:

Qualification Round:

• No. 1: Names & Faces (15 minutes memorization, 20 minutes written recall)
• No. 2: Numbers (5 minutes memorization, 10 minutes written recall)
• No. 3: Speed Cards (5 minutes memorization, 10 minutes written recall)

From here on it gets different. The 3 top score athletes enter the finals. The rest of the competitors have to fight in forth discipline:

• No. 4: Poetry (15 minutes memorization, 20 minutes written recall)

End of the first round. The remaining top 4 overall scores join the lucky trio and can fight for the trophies.

Championship Round:

• No. 5: Words to Remember (15 minutes memorization time)

This is a heads-up. The 7 finalists have to prove accuracy under pressure, with a very short time interval to answer. The order of the recalling participant is randomly and oral. They have 15 seconds per turn for recall. Good thing: No spelling mistakes possible (I think), which often drives me crazy in the tournaments. The rules says: “The first 2 athletes who either identify the incorrect word or fail to recall are immediately eliminated.” 5 finalists enter the next discipline:

• No. 6: Tea Party – 3 Strikes, You’re Out (15 minutes memorization time)

This is a very good one: 5 People are presenting 24 pieces of informations, like Names, Numbers, Colours and other stuff. Each person talks for 90 seconds. The athletes have to try to remember as much as possible (what else ;-). The order of the recalling participant is randomly again and they also have 15 seconds per turn for recall. As the titel says: 3 Strikes and they are out. After the second elimination, the final three enter the last discipline:

• No. 7: Double Deck’O Cards (5 minutes memorization time)

Three athletes, two identical deck of cards for each one. After the memorization, the finalists have a two minutes hiatus until the oral recall. The order of recall is once again randomly and just like the other two final rounds, the competitors have 15 seconds per turn to recall. But now it is everything or nothing: The first two athletes to make a mistake are eliminated and the remaining one is crowned USA Memory Champion.

With great public interest, the competitors really fight for national honor. Compared to Europe, the americans create a spectacular show out of the event. With that amount of media and thrill, the USA Memory Championship can easily compete with the biggest fish in the sea: Tony Buzans World Memory Championships.

(Picture: www.wired.com)

Edit: The winner of this years competition is Afghanistan-Veteran Ron White. Congratulations Ron!