French Open Memory Championship 2019

The French Open took place on October 12-13, at ENSEA Graduate School in Cergy, north of Paris. It had the biggest turnout of any French championship to date, with 15 French memorisers and 10 international competitors, all overseen by chief arbiter Boris Konrad and veteran championship organiser Françoise Thuiller.

Competitors and arbiters gather for a group photo

The competition was in the new electronic format – no papers, just computers, with quick, accurate results immediately after every discipline. The event was dominated by Andrea Muzii, who continued his steady improvement at each championship he enters, winning eight out of ten disciplines and setting three new world records along the way! 1122 decimal digits in 15 minutes, 550 cards in 10 minutes, and 428 images in 5 minutes! These are all absolutely mind-blowing scores! The second day of the competition was Andrea’s 20th birthday, and I think we can all be sure it was a happy one!

A long way behind the leader, there was a very close contest for the other podium places, for the title of French Champion, and for the Best Newcomer award. Guillaume Petit-Jean, as well as helping fix a problem with the wifi at the start of the first day, was the top French competitor, setting two national records along the way. Florian Manicardi was the top newcomer, also setting a national record in the images!

Full results can be found on the stats page – here are the final scores. Congratulations to everyone who took part!

Florian, Guillaume and Andrea with their trophies