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Mental Calculation

ITALIAN MENTAL CALCULATION CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

Udine, Saturday 6 May 2023

Università degli Studi di Udine, Polo Economico-Giuridico
via Tomadini 30 – Aula 3M “Marzio Strassoldo”

8 May 2023

ONE CHAMPIONSHIP… TWO CHAMPIONS!

This year Mental Calculation enthusiasts met at the University of Udine on 6 May. A hundred finalists fought each other with calculations, shortcuts and lateral thinking on fifteen types of questions, each divided into three levels of difficulty.
A magnificent day made possible by the collaboration between us at studiogiochi and the synergies with our partners: University of Udine, AcegasApsAmga, Scuola Normale Superiore, Olimpiadi della Matematica and Mensa Italia.
After eighty minutes of testing, with an additional session in Cesenatico at the Olimpiadi della Matematica, the biggest surprise was crowning – not one, but well – TWO Italian Champions: the now infallible Domenico Mancuso (who reconfirms himself as Italian Champion also in edition 2023) and the ace Michelangelo Sabatini, who from the additional session in Cesenatico manages to reach the top of the standings and in turn become Italian Champion. Their performance is truly extraterrestrial: 400 points out of 400, no errors, a unique event since its origin in 2016! Third, with an equally stunning performance and 391 points out of 400, is Andrea Attili.
Among the high school students, awarded by Università degli Studi di Udine, the very young Samuel Stripoli from Bari prevailed with 353 points (who had won in the middle school category in the last edition).
However, the most surprising performance of the day was that of a middle school boy, in the AcegasApsAmga awarded category, Matteo Cappiello, who also took 6th place overall with his stratospheric score of 378.
Among the Over 60s, Antonella Fort from Arco established herself with an excellent score of 319.
In the photo gallery, the images of the event and the winners, and here the ranking of the top 50.
And while all those present awaited the results of the corrections, coordinated by Piero Modolo, the guests took turns on the stage, entertaining and intriguing those present.
The first two interventions by the University of Udine, Pietro De Poi with The eternal return of the same number and Alberto Policriti with What is an algorithm?; followed by Francesca Gagliardi and Sara Prapotnich of AcegasApsAmga, with How much does water count? and unsuspected curiosities about its management; finally Mensa Italia with a series of quizzes curated by Alberta Sestito and conducted by the engaging Giorgio Dendi.
A beautiful edition, and an always friendly and playful atmosphere. We are sure it was an unforgettable experience for those present, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Articolo pubblicato dal mensile Prisma – n. 53 giugno 2023
Articolo su Enigmistica24, supplemento del Sole 24 Ore del 2 giugno 2023

COMPETITION

GUESTS

AWARDS

7 April 2023

LIVE FINAL PROGRAM

Saturday 6 May 2023

Università degli Studi di Udine
Polo Economico-Giuridico, via Tomadini 30
Aula 3M “Marzio Strassoldo”

10:00-11:00 am Participants accreditation
11:00 am Institutional greetings and presentation of the competition
11:40 am Start of the competition (80 minutes)
1:00 pm Lunch break
2:30-5:30 pm Cultural and entertainment  program for participants and companions, while a team will correct the tests:
2:30 pm The eternal return of the same number

Pietro De Poi (University of Udine)
3:00 pm What is an algorithm?

Alberto Policriti (University of Udine)
3:30 pm How much does water COUNT?

Francesca Gagliardi and Sara Prapotnich
(AcegasApsAmga Networks Direction)
4:00 pm Mind the quiz with Mensa Italia

curated by Alberta Sestito, presents Giorgo Dendi
Little competition based on verbal, logical and numerical quizzes to better train the mind and make it capable of facing the most difficult challenges; imagination and speed of resolution are required.
5:30 Award ceremony with trophies, games and books for the winners:

  • Title of Italian Champion to the first classified
  • AcegasApsAmga Prize to the best of middle school
  • University of Udine Prize to the best of high school
  • Mensa Italia Prize to the best of Over 60

The winners of each category will be awarded.

 

5 April 2023

COLLABORATION WITH “OLIMPIADI DELLA MATEMATICA”

We are pleased to announce the new collaboration with Olimpiadi della Matematica.

Thanks to their sensitivity, an extraordinary external session was set up to allow competitors and companions involved in the team competitions of the Olimpiadi della Matematica (Cesenatico, 5-6 May 2023) to also participate in the Italian Mental Calculation Championship.

The session will take place in Cesenatico at the same times as that of Udine; 15 slots are available, which can be filled in order of registration.

Anyone wishing to register, send an email to
calcolomentale@studiogiochi.com
and will then be contacted by Piero Modolo to possibly complete the registration and receive the details for participation.

27 March 2023

RULES

The Rules of the Italian Mental Calculation Championship 2023 is available in PDF format, in the menu on the left.

24 March 2023

REGISTRATIONS

From today it is possible to register for the Italian Mental Calculation Championship 2023, which will be held live in Udine on 6 May at the Polo Economico-Giuridico, via Tomadini 30 – Aula 3M “Marzio Strassoldo”.
We remind you that registration is free and open to all Italian citizens and to all residents of Italy, without any distinction.
To register, each individual participant must complete the registration form.

You can sign up until April 30, 2023.

Competition rules and schedule of the day soon.

INTERNAL SELECTIONS FOR SCHOOLS OR GROUPS

Schools or groups can independently organize internal selections, with the aim of spreading the practice of mental calculation and selecting the best students.

Starting in April, we will make dedicated tests available to all schools that request them. It is therefore sufficient for a representative of the school to contact us at calcolomentale@studiogiochi.com, informing us of the scheduled date for the internal selections. We will send you the tests in advance to print and use.

HOTEL AGREEMENTS

For any hotel needs, we report below the proposals of affiliated hotels in the vicinity of the competition venue.

Hotel Friuli

Special rates:
double room for single use – 70.40 euros with breakfast
double and/or twin room – 89.00 euros with breakfast

For reservations, quote studiogiochi / Calcolo Mentale

friuli@hotelfriuli.udine.it

9 March 2023

First press release

We are pleased to announce that the next Italian Mental Calculation Championship will take place on 6th May 2023 in Udine, in collaboration with the University of Udine, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, AcegasApsAmga and Mensa Italia.

In the flyer below the very first information.

Anyone who wants to receive all the information as the details get finalized can send a short message to calcolomentale@studiogiochi.com and they will be added to the mailing list.

TRAINING TEST

The training test to prepare for the Mental Calculation Championship 2023 is available in PDF format, in the top left menu.

It is a facsimile of what will be proposed at the final on May 6, which will be similar, but not the same as the tests proposed in the past editions. In fact, in each edition, some new features are included.

The tests of the 2022 edition can be found here.
Tests of pre-2022 editions can be found here.

The test is one for all categories.
In each paragraph the questions are proposed in order of difficulty and it is not necessary to answer them all: everyone goes as far as they can answer. Broadly speaking, the questions with a WHITE background are accessible to everyone, those with a LIGHT PINK background already require a certain level of preparation and those with a DARK PINK background can only be solved by truly expert people.

So go as far as you can, the aim is to participate and have fun… not necessarily become champions.

Many of the problems proposed in the test may appear more difficult than they actually are, but in reality there are shortcuts that greatly simplify the solution.
All the possible shortcuts are dealt with in the volume Il grande libro del calcolo veloce e mentale (The great book of fast and mental calculation) by Dario De Toffoli, available in Italian bookstores in the Mondadori edition.

HISTORY

The history of Mental Calculation in Italy was born a little by chance. In 2016 Angelo Lissoni invited Dario De Toffoli to give a small conference in Cervia, on the occasion of the finals of the mathematics competitions of Kangourou Italia, the association that every year makes almost 100,000 children play mathematics. De Toffoli tells something of the mental calculation, which he experienced in London during the Mind Sports Olympiad, the thing is interesting and immediately that same evening an impromptu contest is organized, among the general entertainment.

In 2017, again in Cervia, the first national tournament. A real party that celebrated the meeting of Mathematics with Playing: we played with numbers and we had fun. Furio Honsell underlined how much this practice can contribute to mental well-being, a real elixir for the mind that in the meantime trains itself to be more and more flexible.

From there to a real Italian Championship the step is short, it took place in Udine on the occasion of the Pi Greco 2018 festival, organized by the Italian Games Archive, always in collaboration with Kangourou Italia.

Another Udinese edition in 2019 (just before the pandemic) in which the Turin Domenico Mancuso prevails and again in 2020, this time with online selections and a small final in attendance, in which Mancuso manages to do an encore, confirming himself as the man to beat.

In 2022 new steps forward, the Championship arrives in Rome at the prestigious headquarters of the Luiss Guido Carli University. Over 400 competitors of all ages participated in the online selections and the best 100 competed at Luiss to win the title of Italian Champion. Mancuso has won again!
Category titles were also awarded for best middle school competitor, best high school competitor and best over 60s.
It was a beautiful and joyful party, where the playful spirit was accompanied by a healthy and stimulating competition. The day was enriched by a series of top-level speakers, who entertained competitors and companions in anticipation of the results.

Competitors awarded at the first Italian mental calculation tournament - Cervia, 2017

PRESS REVIEW 2023

Articolo pubblicato dal mensile Prisma – n. 53 giugno 2023

La notizia è uscita anche su Enigmistica24, supplemento del Sole 24 Ore del 2 giugno 2023

PRESS REVIEW 2022