World Mindset Championship 2012

A really successful last day then. Apparently, the matter was finally settled behind this chess. Otherwise, there wasn't much of a setback compared to last year, just a little less luck (the poker result from last years was now replaced by the Lost Cities result). Lines on action is definitely a bit shaky too, of course. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of these long areas to replace. The last underdog win, I would assume, gave 100 points anyway. If you had to do 12 more after two rounds, then presumably these participants were still supposed to be there. However, the issue of the coefficient always remains in the air. But the question as such arose for me despite the assumptions, the same as for poffic. But overall, a decent presentation. That's probably what makes it exciting every time about this competition, that you never know which areas will end up at the same time and how many participants there are in a certain area. You just have to combine it so that you are the best. A tactical game. Like Formula 1 would track.

4th place is not bad at all. Still a very good and solid result :) you can't become world champion every year. It's great that you always cover this event with entries almost in real time. Very interesting reading :)

A decent result, although definitely a disappointment for you overall, and a brilliant result on the last day in Boku and Lost Cities, especially in the last one, which I understand you hadn't played before! (y) I would have only hoped for some kind of result in Sudoku in this competition, but I have no idea what this ken-ken is :/ In response to the previous comment about Ryanair. I have only used it once myself and that was a few years ago also from London (Stansted Airport) to Riga. At that time, you couldn't even get from Tallinn to London with Ryanair. Otherwise, I have used both Estonian Air (although not in recent years due to the price) and EasyJet, the first one takes you to Gatwick and the second one to Stansted Airport. The last few flights have been made with EasyJet and it's not really true that their prices are twice as high as Ryanair's (at least last year it wasn't like that). Of course, the price always depends on how far in advance you book, and when booking on the same day or a few days in advance, the prices were more or less the same and in some cases EasyJet was cheaper, if I'm not mistaken (I last compared before booking a year ago). I can't say how big the differences are when booking far in advance, because this option doesn't suit me, I just might miss the plane because my time planning isn't the best (yes, it's happened) :D But last time I came to England on the passenger seat of a truck, completely free! :}

Great job! You won fourth place, not lost a medal. With a good finish, you took the maximum that was possible!

The Lost Cities victory really gave 100 points. It's such a fun area where everything is possible, so everyone hopes for the favor of the goddess of luck and that's why there are many participants (although in my opinion and in the opinion of most other participants, he shouldn't give his maximum like this and, for example, the new world champion Dario shouldn't be part of the program at all). PS. In the evening I'll write an analysis summarizing the entire competition, the summary of the new world champion Dario De Toffoli can be found here http://www.studiogiochi.com/en/p/MSO2012.html.

Congratulations from me too, 4th place is a good result! I'm still curious about one thing: Did anyone in the top three earn their points in an area that includes randomness? If so, how many points and would the ranking have been different if random games had not been included in the competition?

I'll list my points collected by area in chronological order. If you want, you can compare them with the predictions I made earlier, although I also made some changes between the areas I'm currently playing. Day 1: kamisado 57.1, Hare&Tortois 61.5 Day 2: checkers 60, 7 card stud 20.8 Day 3: lines of action 77.8, 5 card draw 60 Day 4: 960-checkers 72.7, Canadian stud 25.9 Day 5: mastermind 65.4, entropia 97.1 Day 6: carcassonne 89.3, London lowball 68.8 Day 7: sudoku and kenken 90, kings cribbage 3.8, TH 25 Day 8: shacru 77.8, azacru 88.9, omaha 64.7 Day 9: boku 100, lost cities 100 So, thanks to the last day, small areas managed to collect a decent harvest, but large areas were the ones that were fatal, where a 77-point result was left. I need to start practicing chess and lines of action even more. However, it is positive that entropy is becoming a real trump card for me thanks to Vindi (and Mindoku). By the way, poffic and puhh, if you were to take the London route, you would definitely have an excellent chance of winning a medal in entropy and why not gold. Seeing your name engraved on the proud victory trophy should be enough motivation. It must be admitted that my pre-tournament hopes were not really fulfilled, but at the same time there is nothing to cringe about, because there was no chance against Dario De Toffoli. Apparently, I managed to enjoy the favor of fortune enough in previous years, but since it happened twice in a row, I kept believing that I was that good. Looking back objectively, I had incredible jackpots in both 2010 and 2011: I won poker in both years, and also English checkers last year and mastermind the year before (tied for first place). In addition, both times the trump cards lines of action and boku were perfect, which as this year showed, may not always be the case. As for Dario De Toffoli (wikipedia profile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_De_Toffoli), who won first place, to be honest, his victory was somewhat of a surprise. After not reaching the top five in previous years, I was inclined to think that his days were over, but he convincingly proved that he is still a great champion. Winning titles over a ten-year period is something that even the living legend Demis Hassabis has not been able to do. Dario won his first medal (bronze) already in 1998 and in total he now has 8 medals - more than anyone else. How important this title was even for such a titled player as Dario, who has won first places in various competitions over the decades, is shown by the lines of his own chronicle: I really don't know how I did it, but finally I am the winner, among the 200 players coming from 32 different nations. Once again I am the Pentamind World Champion! Paco's good performance in second place was certainly not a surprise, I rather considered him the main favorite. Paco's versatility is almost unbelievable - to play go, chess, bridge and creative thinking at a very good level is completely unique in the world. Paco now has a full set of medals, in 2008 he earned bronze and in 2010 gold. For bronze winner James Heppell, this is his first medal, so it is undoubtedly a surprise. James is my type of player - with a chess background and relying on logic and strategic rather than dynamic thinking, who always prefers deterministic games. Along with Ankush Khandelwal, I think he is the main candidate to complete the list of world champions. That's what he was, the 2012 Mind Games and the World All-Around Championships. I went for a medal that didn't come, and I survived several disappointments, but interestingly, I am just as happy now as I was last year after winning gold. The positive emotions provided by the last day's defeats and the nice closing ceremony outweigh the disappointment of the first few days. Next year's competitions will be at the same time and place, at the end of August at the University of London.

Of course, it's nonsense to take Kaido Kaaberma's story as a basis, but considering the start, there wasn't much more to take. Since they didn't lose a medal, but won 4th place, that's a small consolation.

There's no way to call the result a dud. If someone says that, then try it yourself. 4th place among several hundred strong competitors is very tough. It would have been a dud if we had fallen behind in 20th place! It's just sad that there are detractors like Kaabermaa here, especially when it doesn't apply to the result we achieved.

Some comments from David Pearce. "I had pushed to have a bridge event that was cancelled which distracted me" "Andres, no doubt commented on how there was a hall of flags at the MSO but no Estonian flag but one of his friends bought him a flag. He needed it on the last day taking 3 golds." He also mentioned that his performance was mediocre because he was struggling with family problems. "It would have been great to see you but I understand how expensive it is - if the event were more successful then perhaps it would be easier to sort out sponsorship for players." Hopefully, such areas will be supported soon! Andres, you giant! You still need a chaperone for the competitions. I'll work hard for next year! Congratulations and good luck with your new training!