From: "STOUTEN, PIETER [R&D/0467]" PHARMACIA COM> Date: 28 may 2002 Subject: 6th Mind Sports Olympiad - Preliminary Information Hello Shogi fans, David Levy just informed me that the 6th Mind Sports Olympiad will take place from Wednesday 14 August through Sunday 18 August. I am very pleased that the tradition continues. Maybe even more important to us Shogi players is that there is no overlap with the European & WorldWide Open Championship , which takes place in Brussels from Thursday 22 through Sunday 25 August 2002! So, people can attend both events and even do some sightseeing in between. Below follow some excerpts from David's e-mail. All the best, Pieter _____________________________________________________________________ MSO Worldwide David Levy Chief Executive Officer May 28th 2002 We have been offered the opportunity to move the Mind Sports Olympiad from London to a venue that offers many advantages to our participants. Tony Corfe and I visited this venue where, in glorious sunshine, we saw facilities that can cater for as many players as we are ever likely to have at the Mind Sports Olympiad. There are many halls and rooms of different sizes that can be used for the tournaments. The venue offers very reasonably priced bed & breakfast accommodation on-site. A good choice of meals and snacks are available at extremely attractive prices - a decent main course is only £3.50 and a dessert is 75p. Recreational facilities at the venue include tennis courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, squash courts, table tennis, pool tables and darts. There are various bars and a pub. Car parking is free and there are ample parking spaces for everyone. We do not intend to announce the venue until we have signed the hire agreement but we can tell you that the dates of the event for 2002 will be Wednesday August 14th - Sunday August 18th. Next year, with the venue already known a year in advance, we will be able to increase the duration of the event to bring it in line with previous years. Moving the event from London is a decision that we have not made lightly. One of the factors that encourages us is the success of the Cambridge Mind Sports Olympiad, which this year attracted 450 entries over just one weekend. The growth of the Cambridge MSO has shown that events outside London can be extremely popular and we therefore plan to introduce Mind Sports weekends at other venues throughout the year, starting in the autumn. The detailed schedule of tournaments and all details of the venue, living accommodation, etc., will be published in early June.