INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF MEMORY SPORTS
CHAMPIONSHIP GENERAL RULES

These rules dictate the conduct of Memory Championships carried out under the auspices of the International Federation of Memory Sports and are applicable to Regional, National, International competitions and of course the World Memory Championships.

Conduct of each event

Specific rules for each event and how they are scored can be found in the next section but generally, each event is run as follows:

Memorization

Contestants must be seated at their tables, ready to begin at least 5 minutes before the start of each event.

Each contestant should be fully conversant with the rules prior to the competition.

Contestants are presented with question 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 question paper. The organizers of the competition will provide all question papers.

Once the adjudicator is happy that everyone has a question paper, he will start the event by saying "Ready…..Start". At that point, the official timer will be started.

An announcement at various time points will be made as follows:

Pagers and mobile phones must be switched off during all events.

Contestants may leave their table to use the toilet at any time during the memorization but must leave/return to the room quietly without disturbing the other contestants.

Each contestant must maintain silence during each event.

When the time allotted for memorization is over the adjudicator will announce "Stop memorizing, turn your papers over". At that point all contestants must stop memorizing and turn all question 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 answer sheets.

Recall

Once the adjudicator is happy that everyone has an answer paper, he will start the recall period by saying "Ready…..Start". At that point, the official timer will be started.

A contestant may hand their answer sheet to the adjudicator and quietly leave their table at any time during the recall period. Raising their hand to attract the adjudicator who will then collect the answer papers from the contestant's table does this. Only then can the contestant leave their table.

Once a contestant has left his table during the recall period, they will not be permitted to return to continue and if they have not already done so, their answer papers will be submitted to the adjudicator.

Contestants must ensure that their name is clearly marked on every answer sheet submitted to the adjudicator. Points from an answer sheet will only be attributed to a contestant if their name is clearly marked on the sheet in question.

It is the responsibility of each contestant to ensure that their answer 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 changes to the answer 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:

Championship Scores

Each individual event has its own method of scoring but to work out the championship scores, championship points are derived by awarding the winner of each event 100 championship points. The other contestants' scores in each event are then expressed as a percentage of the winner's raw score. This percentage then gives the number of championship points for each contestant in that event. The winner of the championship is the contestant with the most championship points after all of the events.

In national competitions only, 10 bonus championship points are awarded if the national record is broken and 20 bonus championship points if the world record is broken.

General Rules

Any concrete or tangible memory aid used must be developed within the time allowed for each competition. Nothing other than a supply of paper, Post-It Notes and colored pens, a ruler and timing device is to be available to the candidates. A good luck talisman is the one exception. All used paper and the question paper must be collected prior to starting the recall session for each competition.

Quiet should be the order of the day whenever a competition is taking place. A candidate wishing to clarify some point or make a request once the competition has started should raise a hand to attract the attention of a supervisor. If the point raised is likely to be of significance to other contestants an appropriate method of communicating it should be found so as to cause the least possible disruption to the contestants.

Championship Scores

The championship scores are derived by awarding the winner of each event 100 championship points. The other contestants' scores in each event are then expressed as a percentage of the winner's raw score. This percentage then gives the number of championship points for each contestant in that event.

For example, the winner A of random digits scores 800 whilst another contestant B scores 160. A is awarded 100 CP for winning and B 20 CP as 160 is 20% of 800.

In national competitions only, 10 bonus championship points are awarded if the national record is broken and 20 bonus championship points if the world record is broken.

Competition and World Records

The current World Memory Championship and world records for each event are as follows:

The current National Memory Championship records for each event are as follows: