Mind Sports in the Water City – Connecting the World through Wisdom

Where the two great rivers converge, youth competes with wisdom; travelling from Eurasia to the Grand Canal, university athletes from across the globe crossed mountains and seas to gather in the Water City North of the Yangtze River. Held from October 11 to 16, the 2026 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports, hosted by the International University Sports Federation and co-organized by the Chinese University Sports Association and the People’s Government of Liaocheng City in Shandong Province, drew to a successful close. This marks the first time that the world’s top-level mind sports event for university students has been staged in China. More than 200 student athletes from 21 countries and regions worldwide engaged in intellectual contests through chess and bridge, writing a brand-new chapter of youth friendship.

A press conference for the event was held in Beijing on September 29, where Liaocheng extended a global invitation. The city, located at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal, was introduced from four dimensions: profound cultural heritage, integrated water city landscape, abundant resource endowments and a concentration of sports events. Over 400 cultural relics and historic sites scatter across the land. Dongchang Lake embraces the ancient Song Dynasty city. The Jinan-Zhengzhou High-speed Railway and Beijing-Hong Kong High-speed Railway intersect here, continuously forging a new pattern of integrated development of sports, culture, tourism, commerce and health.

Chess Competition

The open classical chess event witnessed fierce competition. Chinese athlete Pang Tao claimed the gold medal. Engel, Luis from Germany took silver, and Hrbek, Stepan from the Czech Republic won bronze.

In the women’s classical event, the gold, silver and bronze medals went respectively to Schneider, Jana (Germany), Sevcikova, Lucia (Slovakia) and Jarocka, Liwia (Poland). Chinese athlete Yan Tianqi later secured the gold medal in the women’s rapid chess.

Germany topped the classical team event, while Team China earned the silver medal.

For rapid chess, Droin, Augustin from France won the open rapid gold. Yan Tianqi from China claimed the women’s rapid title. Germany also took the team gold in rapid chess, with China winning silver. Across multiple rounds of matches, athletes switched between deep strategic thinking in classical chess and intuitive battles in rapid chess, demonstrating solid skills and strong mental resilience of contemporary university competitors.

Bridge Competition

The bridge programme featured Butler Pairs, Open Teams, Women’s Teams, Open Teams and Mixed Teams. The Butler Pairs adopted the IMP scoring system, comparing each partnership’s results against the field benchmark to objectively evaluate the overall performance of pairs. Poland delivered an outstanding performance, claiming four gold medals: Butler Pairs, Open Teams, Women’s Teams and Open Teams. France won the Mixed Teams gold. Athletes of Team China competed steadily against strong rivals and captured silver medals in Women’s Teams and Mixed Teams. Duplicate bridge demands extreme tacit understanding between partners. Every step, including bidding analysis, offence-defence deduction and contract decisions, is critical, fully showcasing bridge’s unique competitive charm featuring teamwork, respect for partners and rational strategy.

For this championship, Zhu Jiaqi, Director of the Referees Committee, Chinese Chess Association and Member of the Rules Commission of FIDE, served as Chess Competition Director.

For this championship, Fu Qiang, Deputy Director of the Competition Committee, Chinese Contract Bridge Association and Member of the Laws Committee and Tournament Directors Committee of the World Bridge Federation, acted as Bridge Competition Director.

They led the referee team to conduct judging rigorously and guarantee fair and orderly operation of all matches. University athletes from all over the world respected opponents and enjoyed competition at chessboards and bridge tables, fully embodying the sporting spirit of excellence, friendship and respect.

Beyond the competition venues lies a vivid picture of cultural exchange and mutual learning. Breaking the boundaries of stadiums, the event adopted an integrated model of “sports + education + culture and tourism”. The Mind Sports Carnival and Fluorescent Night Run were successfully launched. Intangible cultural heritage performances including Dongchang block printing, woodblock New Year paintings and gourd carving allowed overseas youth to experience traditional Chinese culture up close. Activities such as visits to the Chinese Water Ancient City and the Dongwanyuan Food Carnival in Linqing were held in succession. Athletes wandered through ancient city streets and experienced the distinctive charm of the Water City North of the Yangtze River. Some foreign athletes toured the ancient city at night and praised the city for its safety and beauty, expressing hopes to revisit Liaocheng.

Liaocheng is known as “China’s Home of Chess”, with more than 300 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens offering regular mind sports courses. It has over 400,000 chess enthusiasts, laying a solid mass foundation for mind sports. From receiving the FISU flag in Uganda in 2024 to the multi-party coordination to ensure the smooth hosting of the event, volunteers, staff and local citizens offered warm services and welcomed young people worldwide with professional and well-organized event operations.

The chessboards are cleared and bridge games come to an end, yet friendship lasts forever. This grand gathering is more than an intellectual contest; it is a bridge connecting the hearts of university students around the world. Here, global student athletes honed their chess and bridge skills, experienced the culture of the two rivers, took home precious memories of Liaocheng and sowed seeds for cultural communication.

The two rivers surge forward, youth never fades; chess pieces and bridge cards connect the world. The story of the 2026 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports draws to a close here, while the youthful dreams of mind sports will march toward an even brighter future.