We just wanted to let you know about an upcoming tournament in China that you may be interested in. It will take place in 21-22 January in Zunyi, Guizhou, China and is being organised by a potential partner organization that we are currently in talks with to host a big tournament in China together sometime later during 2018 (some players have already been contacted by us in that regard for availability). Our first contact with them was during last year’s WMC applications. Lately they have asked us if we can forward some information to our athletes about one of their upcoming events in China, which is much smaller in size and more unconventional in format.

We have only been informed very recently about this, so we guess it will not be feasible for many at such very short notice, also taking into account the few memory disciplines in that event, but perhaps this information can still prove useful for some of you, taking into account the rather decent prize money for the memory section and the travel bonuses.

Some details: It’s a digital tournament that will make use of iPads and WeChat software (WeChat is roughly the Chinese equivalent of whatsapp with more functionality). There are 2 memory events: 100 digits in as fast a time as possible, and a speed cards event, both using different scoring systems from the ones you will be used to (you can find out more details from the link below). Prize money will be awarded to the top 7 in the memory section (in RMB: 20k, 10k, 8k, 5k, 3k, 2k, 2k – roughly divide by 6.5 for USD, by 8 for Euro and by 9 for GBP). In addition, there are 10 travel packages of 5k RMB each for non-Chinese athletes, to help cover the costs of flights and accommodation. The top 50 in the IAM world ranking list will have priority for these travel packages until 12 January, with a max of 3 per country.

To practise the disciplines or register, go to: http://m.gjnlyd.com/match/show/status:1.html (a WeChat account is needed in order to access this).