Five mind sports participated in the first Games: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), go (weiqi), and xiangqi (Chinese chess).[6][7] Thirty-five gold medals were contested by 2,763 competitors from 143 countries.[8]
According to the World Bridge Federation, it incorporated the World Team Olympiad (1960–2004) and some established youth events in the Games "as the stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the 'regular' Olympics and the Paralympics)".[9]
The World Bridge Federation organized eleven events in Beijing that constituted the "World Bridge Games" including nine WMSG medal events. Six were among the established world bridge championships contested in even-number years.[a]
The other three were for "youth" under age 28, a one-time compromise.[9][b]
More than 1400 players participated, about half of all players in the Games. Entries from European Bridge League countries[c]
won 22 of the 27 medals, led by Norway with six medals including two gold.
Two other events were continued by the WBF from its quadrennial "Olympiad" program, as part of its new "World Bridge Games" but separate from the WMSG (non-medal events sharing the facilities). Japan won the third Senior International Cup, for national teams of seniors (age 58+). 'Yeh Bros' from Chinese Taipei won the second Transnational Mixed Teams, for teams of any nationality comprising mixed pairs, one man and one woman.[10]
Under the auspices of the World Draughts Federation 288 players participated in five medal events in Beijing. There was a strong regional showing as twelve of the fifteen medals were won by players from Russia, Latvia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Under the auspices of the International Go Federation 560 players participated in six medal events in Beijing. South Korea won half of the 18 medals and all were swept by competitors from Eastern Asia.
Xiangqi, or "Chinese chess", was the fifth sport to participate in Beijing, where 125 players participated in five events. Although the World Xiangqi Federation was not a member of IMSA at the time, the sport was included in the Beijing games as a traditional Chinese sport with a large number of players, especially in China. The host country won all five gold medals.
^
World-level bridge competition comprises some series contested every two years, some every four years, thus in odd-number or even-number years but not both.
^
Youth events are defined by age under 26 (U26) and age under 21 (U21).
• A mid-summer notice implies that one-time compromise will be extended to feature U28 youth at least once more in 2012. See the main article for more information. Clarification is anticipated for mid-November.
World Mind Sports Games. International Mind Sports Association. 2008 or earlier. Posted at usgo.org American Go Association. Confirmed 2011-08-31. (Second copy at World Bridge Federation.)
