Contents 1 Date and location 2 Championship format 3 Final standings 4 Other attendees 5 Comments

Date and location Edit

Saturday 26 October, 1991

The Athenaeum Club, London

Championship format Edit

The first ever World Championship took place on one day, with seven disciplines. Most of the results have unfortunately been lost to history.

1. Names & Faces - won by Jonathan Hancock
2. 15-Minute Numbers - won by Dominic O'Brien, with 266 digits (a new world record)
3. Random Words - won by Jonathan Hancock
4. Chess Positions - won by Dominic O'Brien
5. Text - won by Jonathan Hancock
6. Chinese Vocabulary - won by Dominic O'Brien
7. Speed Cards - won by Dominic O'Brien, with 2 minutes, 29 seconds (a new world record)

It is not known if the scoring system in any of these disciplines was the same as it is today; it probably wasn't. There was only one trial of each discipline, including speed cards. Aside from Dominic O'Brien, nobody memorised a complete pack.

Final standingsEdit

1. Dominic O'Brien
2. Jonathan Hancock
3. Kenneth Wilshire
4. Creighton Carvello
5. Phillip Bond
6. Bruce Balmer
7. Nwodo Ohaka

Prizes (sponsored by Buzan Centres) included the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a set of 'Brain Books', the complete Shakespeare and membership of the Brain Club.

Other attendeesEdit

According to Synapsia magazine, also present at the first World Championships were Tony Buzan, Harry Lorayne, David Berglas, Raymond Keene, Elizabeth Valentine, Barry Buzan and David Levy.