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”
The winners of each category will be awarded.
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:
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
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.
ITALIAN MENTAL CALCULATION CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
Rome, Saturday 9th April 2022
Università Luiss Guido Carli
DOWNLOAD AREA – edition 2022
Training test
11 April 2022
CHRONICLE OF A BEAUTIFUL CHAMPIONSHIP
Over 400 participants, of all ages.
A hundred finalists who met live on April 9 in the magnificent headquarters of the Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome.
Perfect collaboration between us at studiogiochi, Angelo Lissoni and his meritorious Kangourou and Luiss herself and in the end we are all really satisfied.
The photo gallery is however self-explanatory.
The venue has changed, the structure has changed… but in the end the title of Italian Champion remained in the hands of Domenico Mancuso from Turin, che se lo aggiudica per la terza volta consecutiva, con 381 su 400. who won it for the third consecutive time, with 381 out of 400. Second with 377 Michelangelo Sabatini and third to complete the podium Giovanni Battista Scambia with 375.
Among the high school boys Gabriele Podda from Udine won with 353 points, a boy who had already shown himself in excellent light in previous editions.
We had a great and very pleasant surprise among the middle school kids, and in fact Samuel Stripoli from Bari won with a stratospheric score of 354, which places him in 8th place overall.
Among the seniors, the Neapolitan Ciro Annunziata, an old fox of competitions of all types of board games, has imposed himself.
In the photo gallery the images of all the winners with their diplomas and here the ranking of the top 50.
But the day wasn’t just the competition! While the team coordinated by Piero Modolo scrupulously corrected all the tests, on stage guests “truly exceptional” took turns.
Applause to the “playologist” Ennio Peres who was unable to join us for health reasons, the legendary Furio Honsell began; after having presented Il grande libro del calcolo veloce e mentale (The great book of fast and mental calculation) by Dario De Toffoli with all too flattering words, he ranged between Shakespeare and Dante, Buzzati and Ionesco and many others, leaving the crowded audience of competitors and companions breathless.
Then it was the turn of Irene Finocchi, Luiss delegate for Digital Transformation, who proposed a sort of computer version of the Mastermind, thrilling the young people present.
Andrea Muzii, World Memory Champion, left everyone speechless, giving a small sample of his incredible abilities and then explaining how much creativity counts in memorization techniques: a real star!
Andrea Angiolino closed the session with a learned historical excursus between games and numbers.
But above all it was a beautiful and joyful atmosphere and we like to think that for many it was a positive and indelible experience!
PRE-COMPETITION
COMPETITION
GUESTS
AWARDS
31 March 2022
LIVE FINAL PROGRAM
| 10:00-11:00 am | Participants accreditation |
| 11:00 am | Greeting addresses Lia Di Giovanni, Head of Orientation, Tutoring and Skill Development at Luiss Angelo Lissoni, President of Kangourou Italy |
| 11:10 am | Presentation of the day and the rules; test distribution by Dario De Toffoli, owner of studiogiochi and Competition Director, assisted by Piero Modolo, Head Judge. |
| 11:30 am | Start of the competition |
| 1:00 pm | Work break (canteen lunch) |
| 2:00-4:30 pm | Conversation “Playing with numbers” by Dario De Toffoli and Angelo Lissoni
Themes and guests:
Il grande libro del calcolo veloce e mentale (The great book of fast and mental calculation) will also be presented during the conversation, in its editions Kangourou (for schools) and Mondadori (in bookstores and online platforms). |
| 5:00 pm | Award ceremony (trophies for the first, games and books) |
| 6:00 pm | Closing of the works |
21 March 2022
QUALIFIED – SELECTION COMPETITION
Here is the list of qualified partecipants for the live final on April 9th in Rome!
Congratulations to everyone, you were relly numerous, and for this reason we have decided to expand access to the final to 120 participants (including the best results of the previous three editions as stated in the rules).
Qualified participants will receive an email with all the instructions to follow in order to better organize the live final, which will take place on 9th of April at the Luiss University of Rome.
More details in the coming days.
Thank you all for participating, and we hope you enjoyed playing with the numbers!
16 March 2022
SELECTION COMPETITION CHECK-IN
From today all registered members of the Italian Mental Calculation Championship can check-in at the online selection competition which will take place on Saturday 19 March 2022 starting at 15:00.
Check-in is a necessary step in order to access the competition platform. All subscribers have received instructions on how to do it to their email address (the one communicated at the time of registration).
The competition regulations can be downloaded from the menu on the left, and with access to the competition it is considered accepted and signed.
RESULTS AND QUALIFICATIONS
At the end of the selection, the best among the participants will be announced on this page (there is no ranking for the online selection), who will qualify for the final scheduled in attendance on 9 April 2022 in Rome, at the LUISS University.
In the days following the conclusion of the selection, the qualified will be contacted by the organization, which will provide all the information and facilities to participate in the event.
It is possible to register up until 13:00 of the day of competition (19 March 2022), by sending your personal details to calcolomentale@studiogiochi.com
8 March 2022
REGULATION
The rules of the Mental Computing Championship 2022 are available in PDF format, in the menu on the left.
Furthermore, we would like to point out that the online platform where the selection will take place is currently undergoing maintenance.
During the next week, all participants will receive instructions to complete the check-in to their registration email.
25 November 2021
TRAINING TEST
The training test to prepare for the 2022 Mental Calculation Championship is available in PDF format, in the menu on the left.
The test is unique for all categories.
In each paragraph the questions are proposed in order of difficulty and it is not necessary to answer all of them: everyone should reach 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 those who are truly experts.
So go as far as you can, the aim is to participate and have fun… not necessarily become a champion.
Many of the operations 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, which will be distributed by Kangourou in the second half of February to all schools belonging to the Association and in the same period it will also be available in bookstores in the Mondadori edition.
8 November 2021
Preliminary details
1 December 2021: TRAINING TEST
A training test will be published, similar to those that will be proposed in the selection and in the final; it will be a similar test, but not the same as those proposed in the previous edition.
All previous tests can be found here.
1 January 2022: REGISTRATION
Registrations will be open and the complete competition rules will be communicated.
Just send an email with general information and contact details (the more formal document will be required at check-in); registrations will be made by individuals (not schools) and will be free and open to all Italian citizens and all residents in Italy, without any distinction.
Subscribers will receive a password with which they can try again the last year’s selection test, with the aim of both training and above all to become familiar with the platform on which they will then have to compete; all instructions for accessing the platform will also be provided.
It is possible to do the registration until the day of the competition (19th March 2022).
Second half of February: BOOK
All schools that join Kangourou will receive Il grande libro del calcolo veloce e mentale (The great book of fast and mental calculation) (Dario De Toffoli, Kangourou, 2021, pp. 487) and an invitation to suggest to their students to partecipate to the championship.
Saturday 19 March: ONLINE SELECTION COMPETITION
- 11:00 opening of check-in
- 15:00 the selection test begins
All subscribers will receive an address and a password with which to check-in: they will have to fill in a form with all the release clauses for privacy, acceptance of the regulations, etc.
Those who have checked in will then be able to access the actual selection competition.
The race can be started at any time between 15:00 and 15:20 and will last a maximum of 80 min. The number of competitors admitted to the final will depend on the general health regulations, as well as on the number of participants in each category.
Saturday 9 April: LIVE FINAL IN ROME AT LUISS
- 10:00-11:00 registration of participants
- 11:00 greetings and presentation of the day and the rules; test distribution
- 11:30 the final begins
- 13:00 lunch break
- 14:00-16:30 corrections and entertainment program
Among the guests have already confirmed personalities of the caliber of Furio Honsell (Mathematician-computer scientist, former rector of the University of Udine, as well as past mayor of that city), Andrea Muzii (World Memory Champion), Andrea Angiolino (Historian and popularizer of game culture), Ennio Peres (the “Giocologist” par excellence). But we are waiting for other amazing confirmations!!!
- 17:00 awards ceremony: trophies for the first, games, books and above all applause for the best classified in each category.
All the participants compete for the absolute title, but the best “OVER 60”, the best students of the HIGH SCHOOL and the best of the MIDDLE SCHOOL will also be awarded; any elementary students will compete in the MIDDLE SCHOOL category… after all, the World Champion of Mental Calculation is 11 years old and is Indian.
- 18:00 everyone free
Race director: Dario De Toffoli
Secretary: Piero Modolo
Competition platform: Daniele Ferri (Evolinfo)
Kangourou supervision: Angelo Lissoni
LUISS contact reference: Giovanni Zanco
12 October 2021
First announcement
We are pleased to announce that the next Italian Mental Calculation Championship will take place on 9th April 2022 in Rome, at the LUISS University and in collaboration with Kangourou. In the flyer the very first information.
Anyone who wants to receive all the information as the details are fine-tuned can send a short message to calcolomentale@studiogiochi.com to be added to the mailing list.
PREVIOUS EDITIONS
| 2016 | Gara di Calcolo Mentale Kangourou | Cervia, May 2016 |
| 2017 | 1° Torneo Nazionale di Calcolo Mentale Kangourou | Cervia, May 2017 |
| 2017 | Gara di Calcolo Mentale Kangourou | Udine, December 2017 |
| 2018 | 2° Campionato Italiano di Calcolo Mentale Kangourou | Cervia, May 2018 |
| 2019 | Campionato Italiano di Calcolo Mentale 2019 | Udine, March 2019 |
| 2020 | Campionato Italiano di Calcolo Mentale 2020 Qualificazioni |
online, September 2020 |
| 2020 | Campionato Italiano di Calcolo Mentale 2020 Finalissima |
Udine, October 2020 |
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.
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
