Crafty Competitor [From MSO 1999 News 1]

Five-time world memory champion Dominic O'Brien walked a gauntlet of people demanding to know if he was going to compete in this year's Memory Skills event and try to wrest back the title from Andi Bell. There had been doubts, and rumours, that he was stepping down. Dominic, who is looking extremely determined, said he always knew he was going to participate, 'but I didn't want everyone else to know.'

[From MSO 1999 News 5]

The three things that enrich genius are contentment of mind, the cherishing of good thoughts, and exercising the memory. - Robert Southey 1774-1843 

This year's World Memory Championship is certainly living up to expectations that it will be one of the most exciting events of the whole Mind Sports Olympiad. The contest was billed as a battle between five-times winner Dominic O'Brien and the reigning champion, Andi Bell. However, these two memory stars were eclipsed in the early exchanges by the relatively unknown young American, Zhang Yu, who had raced into a shock lead after four of the nine rounds.

Zhang took a silver medal at what insiders called a rather weak national championship. However, he has since been studying hard under the wing of Frank Felberbaum, one of the first memory legends in the USA, and this partnership is beginning to bear fruit.

As the first day reached its conclusion, championship experience began to tell. O'Brien never finished below third in any event, and when he took his first top placing, in the day's final event, random words, it was enough to edge him in front of Zhang. The young American had earlier achieved two first places and two seconds, including the shattering of a world record. In the binary digits round he recalled an amazing 2745 digits, beating the previous best by 360.

However, Zhang's indifferent result of a ninth place in the fifth and final event of the day allowed O'Brien to slip past. With O'Brien and Bell requesting far more decks in the one-hour cards tomorrow, they seem determined to put some distance between themselves and the upstart Zhang, who looks certain to take the junior gold if not a senior medal.

The rivalry between Bell and O'Brien has produced some fantastic contests in the past. Their most recent duel, in 1997, was simply awesome, with world records falling in virtually every event, and several double world records were set. That year Bell finally crashed out when he lost concentration and actually left the room during an event. He had been trying to clear his head from his exertions in the previous discipline and suddenly realised that by wandering out he had forfeited his chances. 

O'Brien, who was unable to compete last year, told Olympiad News that he was having trouble getting his old rhythm back, which would perhaps explain his slow start to the competition. A third place in the first event, the one-hour numbers, was well below his usual standard.

Meanwhile, Bell says his physical condition is better than ever, and he has been working on his consistency. He has had a reputation for being reckless, often taking an all-or-nothing approach in search of smashing a world record. Conversely O'Brien tends to be steady, trying to balance what he feels to be his own limitations while still pushing for ever better scores. Bell says that he will try to be more stable this year.

Elsewhere in the competition, another training partnership is also proving its worth. Twelve-year-old Christiane Stenger, one of several pupils of fellow competitor Gunter Karsten, performed very strongly on the first day and has left the Women's World Memory Champion, Sue Whiting, far behind.  

Dominic Dominates [From MSO 1999 News 6]

Dominic O'Brien fully lived up to his reputation as the undisputed champion of memory. Although in some respects teenage sensation Yu Zhang stole the show with four firsts and two world records, he hasn't yet developed the key ingredient of consistency. Dominic never faltered, and notched up three firsts in a relentless march towards his sixth title. But a star was born at MSO III, and future events promise great battles.

Twelve-year-old Christiane Stenger earned the title of Grandmaster of Memory, awarded on performances in three specific events. She achieved her final norm with just half a second to spare in the single deck of cards.

Final Results of Memory Skills World Championship 
1 D. O'Brien (England) gold
2 Y. Zhang (USA) silver
3 A. Bell (England) bronze

Final Results of Memory Skills Junior World Championship 
1 Y. Zhang (USA) gold
2 C. Palmer (USA) silver
3 C. Stenger (Germany) bronze

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