National Memory Championships

General Rules

GENERAL RULES The following rules are a subset of the World Memory Championships General Rules contained in the Competitor and Arbiter Handbook, and are carried out under the auspices of the World Memory Sports Council. Download extracts from the Handbook at http://www.worldmemorysportscouncil.com/DisciplinesAndRules.asp Note : Red Text denotes change since Version 7 - 2011

Conduct of each event Specific rules for each event and how they are scored can be found in The 10 Official Memory Disciplines http://buzan.com.au/learning/Ten_Memory_Disciplines_2012_Revisions.pdf. Generally, each event is run as follows:

Memorisation    

 

Contestants must be seated at their tables, ready to begin at least 5 minutes before the start of each event. Each contestant must be fully conversant with the rules, as events will not be delayed to explain or discuss how the event is scored. Contestants are presented with memorisation papers placed face down on the table in front of them. The adjudicator will announce that the event is about to commence and will check that each contestant has a memorisation paper. The organisers of the competition will provide all memorisation papers. Contestants may choose to use their favourite brand of playing cards providing that they give sufficient brand new, unopened packs (decks) to the organisers before the start of day 1 of the competition. Once the adjudicator is happy that everyone has a memorisation paper, she will give a one minute and a 10 second before starting signal. She will start the event by saying "Neurons at the ready …..Go!". At that point, the official timer will be started. An announcement at various time points will be made as follows: 30 Minute Events 20,15 and 10 Minute Events 5 Minute Events Spoken Number Event

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

15 minutes left 5 minutes left 1 minute left 5 minutes left 1 minute left 1 minute left No announcement is made during the running of the Spoken Number Event

Page 1

National Memory Championships

      

General Rules

No recording or listening devices may be used i.e. iPads, iPhones No measuring devices are permitted for “Abstract Images” Event Each contestant must maintain silence during each event. Contestants are encouraged to bring their own clocks to monitor the time during each event. Bleepers/buzzers etc must be switched off during each event. Mobile phones must also be switched off. As total silence during competition cannot be guaranteed, contestants may bring ear plugs, headphones and other noise reducing devices. Contestants may leave their tables to use the toilet at any time during memorisation. They must leave/return to the room quietly without disturbing other contestants. When the time allotted for memorisation is over, the adjudicator will announce "Stop memorising, turn your papers over". At that point all contestants must stop memorising and turn all memorisation papers, together with any paper used to make notes during the event, face down on the table in front of them. The adjudicator will then clear the desk of all papers and will provide blank recall sheets.

Recall       

Once the adjudicator is happy that everyone has a recall paper, she will start the recall period by saying "You may begin recall". At that point, the official timer will be started. Contestants may hand recall sheets to the adjudicator and quietly leave their table at any time during the recall period. Once a contestant has left the table during the recall period, that contestant will not be permitted to return/continue and if they have not already done so, must submit their papers to the adjudicator. Contestants must ensure their names are clearly marked on every recall sheet submitted to the adjudicator. It is the responsibility of each contestant to ensure that their recall papers are clear and that potential misunderstandings are clarified by writing notes to explain the meaning of an answer or by pointing it out to the adjudicator when the paper is collected. No other changes to the recall paper will be allowed once it has been handed to the adjudicator. The adjudicator's decision is final; however, if there is any doubt about the meaning of a contestant's answer, the contestant will be asked to do the following:

Event Number events (Speed, 15 Min, Spoken and Binary Numbers) Random Words Names and Faces 10 Min Cards Speed Cards

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

Action State the number on which the clarification is required, having been given the row number that it appeared on (eg row 22) and the position of the digit in the row (eg 28th digit). If it is the spoken number event, the contestant will be asked to clarify the number by being given its position in the sequence of numbers. Rewrite the word having been given its number from the memorisation sheet (eg Word 37). Shown the picture of the face and asked to write down the part of the name that needs clarifying. State the card having been given the pack number (eg the 3rd pack) and the position of the card in the pack (eg the 11th card). No clarification will be necessary once the contestant has stated that they believe they have correctly recalled the pack.

Page 2

National Memory Championships

General Rules

Categories There are 2 categories in the Australian National Memory Championships:  Junior – must be 17 or under in the year of competition.  Adult – for those aged 18 and above in the year of competition. Australian residents, 18 years and over, will compete for the trophy and title of the Australian Memory Champion (the highest placed competitor) Juniors 17 and under will be able to compete and an Award for the Highest Placed Entrant will be given if there are 3 or more Junior Participants. In addition, the competition is ‘open’ to Non Australian Residents who are invited to compete as part of an International Contingent.

Titles Australian NATIONAL Memory Champion Australian OPEN Memory Champion The overall Australian winner of the Championships will be entitled to call themselves THE AUSTRALIAN MEMORY CHAMPION (of the current competition year) regardless of the age category in which they have competed. They must be an Australian Citizen. If an International Competitor wins the event then there will be two titles - Australian NATIONAL Memory Champion (Australian Citizen) - Australian OPEN Memory Champion (International Competitor) If there are fewer than three competitors in any category, in order to be honoured with “The Australian Memory Champion”, the competitor must achieve a minimum total score in the 10 disciplines of 2,099 points (this applies to both Junior and Adults).

Grandmaster of Memory The Grandmaster qualifying criteria is as follows:  1 Hour Cards 520 cards (10 complete packs)  1 Hour Numbers 1000 numbers  Speed Cards a single deck of 52 cards in 2 minutes All three levels must be attained and can be attained at different competitions The 1 hour events are only held at a World Memory Championships, where as the Speed Cards results in a national championships are eligible for Grand Master qualification.

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

Page 3

National Memory Championships

General Rules

World and National Records World and National Records can only be set in WMSC authorised Memory Competitions or events (either regional, national, international or the World Memory Championships), invigilated in accordance with these rules. See “The Competitor and Arbiter Handbook” for details on how each event is conducted and scored. See the official World Memory Statistics Website for the current World and National Records.

http://www.world-memory-statistics.com/disciplines.php

  

Current   AUSTRALIAN    Records 

                       

Spoken Numbers 5 Minute Binary 5 Minute Names & Faces*  5 Minute Numbers 5 Minute Random Words 5 Minute Historic/Future Dates 5 minute "Speed" Cards 10 Minute Cards

                       

15 Minute Numbers 15 minute Abstract Images 15 Minute Random Words 15 minute Names & Faces 30 Minute Binary 30 Minute Cards 30 Minute Numbers 60 minute/Hour Cards

           

60 Minute/Hour Numbers 15 Minute Poem/Text (Old) 5 Minute Names (old format) 15 minute Names (old format)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Orton (M) Tansel Ali (M) Tansel Ali (M) Simon Orton (M) Simon Orton (M) Simon Orton (M) Simon Orton (M) Simon Orton (M)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Orton (M) Daniel Kilov (M) Nathan Walk (M) ‐‐  Simon Orton (M) ‐‐  Nathan Walk (M) Simon Orton (M)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Orton (M) Russell Bauer (M) Simon Orton (M) Simon Orton (M)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

As at   29 August   2012 

Championship 

80 digits  353 digits  38 points  175 digits  49 words  44 dates  81.25 seconds  165 cards  (3+ decks)  258 digits  99 points  110 words  ‐‐  1200 digits  ‐‐  400 digits  322 cards  (6+ decks)  755 digits  151 points  53 points  133 points 

WMC 2005 Australian 2006 Australian Open 2011 Australian 2006 Australian 2007 Australian 2005 Australian 2007 Australian 2007  

 

 

 

 

 

Australian 2006 Australian Open 2011 Australian 2005 ‐‐  WMC 2005 ‐‐  Australian 2005 WMC 2005  

 

 

 

 

WMC 2005 Australian 2002 Australian 2006 WMC 2005  

 

 

 

* The format for Names and Faces was changed to an international standard in February 2011 and the records set to zero worldwide. Online Video Examples of each of the 10 disciplines for a national competition can be found at http://www.fuzz2buzz.com/en/node/1054

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

 

 

Page 4

 

National Memory Championships

General Rules

Competition Events and Volume The ten Australian Memory Championship events are conducted over 2 days (see schedule). The volume of data is World Record + 20% rounded up to down to nearest multiple of columns / rows where applicable.

Time to Commit to Time to Recall memory

2012 Events

Layout

1

Speed Random Words

20 words/column, max. 140 words

5 min

15 min

2

Speed Binary Numbers

30 digits/line max. 1140 digits

5 min

15 min

3

Speed Names & Faces

9 per A4 page max. 42 faces

5 min

15 min

4

15 min Numbers

40 digits/line max. 1000 digits

15 min

30 min

5

10 min Playing Cards

max. 9 decks

10 min

20 min

6

Speed Numbers (2 Trials)

40 digits/line max. 600 digits

5 min

15 min

7

Abstract Images

10 rows per page max. 96 rows

15 min

30 min

8

Historic/Future Dates

40 dates per page max. 159 dates

5 min

15 min

100 s

5 min

300 s

10 min

< 5min

5 min

9

Spoken numbers 100 x1 second

Recall sheet 40 digits per line

300 x 1 second 10

Speed Cards (2 Trials) Speed Cards

*A National competition may conduct a second trial of Speed Numbers if the Championship is over two days (i.e. Sweden and Australia) – this assists those practicing for an International and/or World Memory Championships.

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

Page 5

National Memory Championships

General Rules

Millennium Standards - How Championship Points are awarded (from The Competitor and Arbiter Handbook) To ensure a fair and consistent scoring system for all competitions worldwide, the Millennium Standard Counting System for the Memory Championships was adopted. This was inspired by the standard points systems used in the World and Olympic track-and-field event, the Decathlon (a similar scoring system is used for the Pentathlon and Heptathlon). In the Decathlon, the International Athletic Committees set Future Standards in each event, which were comfortably above the world records in that event. They were set as future goals, and as 'Future Standards' against which any Decathlete could measure current performance, current world standing, and future goals. If an athlete were to reach the Future Standard in any of the 10 events, that athlete would receive 1,000 points for that event. Thus an 'ideal' performance would be to smash the World Records in each of the 10 events, and in the process reaching the 'Future Standard' goal. Such a performance would give the competitor a perfect 10,000 points. Each memory discipline has a Millennium Standard set that is above the World Record and seen as unachievable for some time. This scores 1000 points. The Millennium Standards for a National Competition – As at 31 July, 2012 The Calculation Factor is a useful guide/quick calculation to determine the number of Championship points for each result.

Discipline

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Millennium Standard 5 min Words 125 5 min Binary 1000 5 min Names and Faces 70 15 min Numbers 900 10 min Cards 365 5 min Numbers 470 15 min Abstract Images 400 5 min Historic /Future Dates 125 Speed Cards 25 seconds Spoken Numbers 204

Calc Factor 8.0000 1.0000 14.2857 1.1117 2.7397 2.1277 2.5000 8.0000 11180/(time to the power of 0.75) 70* square root (n)

Contact [email protected] for more information and to signup for the next competition.

Ver. 8.2 (21 November 2012)

Page 6