Saturday, December 15, 2012

A bit more ludicrous stupidity

The results from yesterday's events came out like I expected - 56 in names, 3090 in binary and 1529 in hour numbers. I'm not exactly setting the world on fire here. Today I struggled my way through 225 abstract images, and probably made a fair few mistakes. In speed numbers I reverted to the mindset I had back in 2004 or so - I did a safe 240 in the first trial, then tried 360 in the second. My when-I've-been-training norm these days is a safe 360 then a risky 480. I got the 240, but then didn't improve in the second attempt.

Historic dates came in between the two trials - they've finally made that change, which saves a lot of time, since the rule is that we have to get the results of the first trial before starting the second (in accordance with WMC tradition, we started about an hour late and got later as the day went on, but at least we saved a bit of time with the speed numbers!) - and that went quite terribly for me; I read through them at my usual speed, and realised after a minute or so that I wasn't remembering anything. I think I got a score of sixty-something.

Finally, in hour cards, I'd brought 36 packs, and was thinking about attempting them all (an approach that Ed Cooke memorably described as "ludicrously stupid" in The Mentalists, back in 2007, when I'd actually done some practice) but when I'd got through about 24 I knew I was reaching my limit. I went on and tried 30, because really, what kind of memory champion only attempts 24, but the recall was full of holes - I think I wrote down 18 complete packs, and there were probably a few mistakes in those.

But enough about me, let's talk about some of the other competitors! It's still anybody's guess which of Simon Reinhard and Johannes Mallow will take the gold medal - they were neck and neck after three disciplines. The Germans, as always, have brought a huge and scarily talented team, also including Christian Schäfer (fighting for third place with Jonas von Essen) and Boris Konrad. Team England isn't quite so well-represented - it's me, nearly-newcomer Martin Mwaka, totally-newcomer Mohammed Afzal Khan and returning-newcomer (he competed once before, in 2008 or 2009) Ryan Smith. James Paterson is also there, but apparently Wales is officially a separate entity in memory circles nowadays.

Watch out also for Jonas and Marwin from Sweden - the Swedes have their own cheerleaders (Idriz, who's arbiting instead of competing this year, and other supporters) to shout woo-hoo whenever a Swede's name is read out, and also a strong team that also includes Mattias Ribbing (wearing a smart suit instead of the scruffy clothes favoured by most competitors) and Joachim Andersson. They look favourites for second place in the team competition.

Also of note, Ola Kåre Risa is producing some great scores again on behalf of Norway, and Erwin Balines of the Philippines was in the top ten in all three of the first day's disciplines! Someone suggested a world championship over there in the future, which would be awesome. There's certainly enough enthusiastic people there! Team USA, spearheaded by Nelson Dellis, are going well too.

Finally, it's worth congratulating Sri Vyshnavi Yarlagadda, a junior from India, who got the highest score in names and faces - another natural talent who might go far?

There's also a little article in the Times today, if you've still got time to go out and get one. It doesn't really say all that much about the competition, but there's a photo of me and a full report on the fact that I wear non-matching socks, so what more could you want?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

For some reason my compuer wasn't showing me your last few entries until this evening so, if it's not too late, good luck at the competition, Zoomy!

Dai Griffiths said...

Henry the VII was Welsh. When the poles melt and England floods we are going to take it over. The South at least. Scotland will take the North. We will make Great Britain great again. Ireland will dig a tunnel under and come from below.

p.s. Mattias became a Grandmaster today.

Good luck for tomorrow. Sorry I couldn't make it.

Unknown said...

Wow! Great memories of sex and violence with the Swedes makes my life seem tame by comparison! I love your descriptions of the people and competition, it seems like such great fun! It looks like Simon and Johannes will battle it out this year. Very strong German showing. I wonder if they do more promotion of the sport over there, and have a good pool of competitors? I still have fond memories of the Hopfbrau haus in Munich, and polka dancing with the Freulins back in 1982.
As for the Welch when the polar caps melt, I suggest Dr. Who use his Tardis, perhaps make a trip to the Ice Age, and bring back some more ice. Let's see... a hundred or so icebergs, a hundred or so polar bears, a few wooly mamoths, and perhaps the occasional sabertooth tiger. Hmmm... damn logistics...
Good luck, and have lots of fun,
Doc Savage

Darren said...

You have won the World Championships three times. The three Germans you mention have yet to win it. They have more to prove and are hungrier.
Also this championship is a bit of a non event as leading Chinese are not there so in reality the World Champion from this year should have an asterix next to their name, bit like that long haired chap did when he won in 1998 when the Scouser lookalike guy didn't turn up.

Anonymous said...

Darren: Last years event needs an asterix since no European came! Because the Chinese cheated on us. This year the top Chinese from the Chinese championships are there! Wang Feng retired.