Disciplines

Seven games form the core of international mind sports. Each one has a dedicated hub with rules, strategy guidance and — where available — a playable browser board.

What Makes a Game a Mind Sport?

The common thread is that outcomes are decided overwhelmingly by decisions, not chance. Chess, go, draughts and xiangqi are pure-information games with no random element at all. Bridge, mahjong and backgammon include chance — the deal, the wall, the dice — but tame it through duplicate formats, long matches and statistical balance, so that the stronger player reliably wins over a session. That skill-versus-chance distinction is exactly what separates mind sports from gambling games, and we explore it in depth in the journal.