The World Memory Championship 2026 is really two championships, both in December. The World Memory Sports Council (WMSC) holds the 35th World Memory Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 11 to 13 December 2026. The International Association of Memory (IAM) holds its 2026 World Memory Championship in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, from 17 to 19 December 2026. Both test the same ten memory events over three days.
If you are new to memory competitions, this guide explains everything in plain English: what the World Memory Championship is, why there are two, where and when each one takes place, what the competitors actually do in each event, who the current champions are, and how you could one day compete yourself. Every date and detail here comes from the organisers' own pages, checked on 6 November 2026. The sources are listed at the end.
World Memory Championship 2026 at a glance
| WMSC championship | IAM championship | |
|---|---|---|
| Official name | 35th World Memory Championships (WMC 2026) | 2026 World Memory Championship |
| Dates | 11–13 December 2026 | 17–19 December 2026 |
| City | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Kuta, Bali, Indonesia |
| Venue | Rex Hotel Saigon | Harris Convention Hall Sunset Road |
| Run by | Sanctioned by the World Memory Sports Council | Organised by the Indonesia Memory Sports Council, sanctioned by the IAM, GAMA and AMSA |
| Age groups | Kids, Juniors, Adults, Seniors | Kids (12 and under), Teens (13–17), Adults (18–59), Seniors (60+) |
| Registration | Closed on 31 October 2026 | Open; no closing date published |
| Results | To be published on 30 December 2026 | No date published |
For a live countdown to both, see the memory competitions calendar, which has a page for the WMSC championship and the IAM championship.
Illustration: Ho Chi Minh City hosts the WMSC championship on 11–13 December 2026, and Bali hosts the IAM championship on 17–19 December 2026.
What is the World Memory Championship?
The World Memory Championship is the biggest competition in memory sport. Competitors, often called memory athletes, memorize as much information as they can against the clock: long numbers, shuffled decks of playing cards, lists of words, names and faces, and more. Then they write down or rebuild what they remember, and every correct answer scores points.
It is often called a decathlon for the mind. Just as a decathlete runs, jumps and throws, a memory athlete competes in ten different events, and the champion is the person with the highest total across all ten. Being great at one event is not enough to win.
The first World Memory Championship was held in London in 1991. It was founded by Tony Buzan, the author known for Mind Maps, and the chess grandmaster Raymond Keene. Dominic O'Brien of England won that first title and went on to win eight in total, still the record. You can read the full list of champions since then in our guide to every World Memory Champion.
The champions are not people born with a "photographic memory". They use learnable techniques, mainly the memory palace, where you place vivid mental images along a route you know well, and number and card systems such as the Major System and PAO. Our article on whether photographic memory is real explains the difference.
Illustration: a memory palace in action. Athletes turn information into vivid pictures and place them along a mental route.
Why are there two World Memory Championships in 2026?
From 1991 to 2015 there was only one World Memory Championship. In 2016 the sport split into two governing bodies:
- The World Memory Sports Council (WMSC) kept the original championship and its numbering. That is why its 2026 event is the 35th World Memory Championships.
- The International Association of Memory (IAM) began holding its own world championship in 2017.
Since then, each body has crowned its own World Memory Champion every year it has held a championship. Both are real world championships, and many top athletes have competed in both. In December 2026 they take place six days apart, in two Southeast Asian countries.
The two championships share the same ten events, but the details differ: the memorization and recall times for some events, the number of attempts, the scoring tables, and whether recall is on paper or on a computer. If you train for one, read its rules carefully before you enter the other.
WMSC World Memory Championships 2026: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 11–13 December
The 35th World Memory Championships take place at the Rex Hotel Saigon, in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, from 11 to 13 December 2026. It is the second year in a row that Vietnam has hosted the WMSC championship: the 34th edition was also held in Ho Chi Minh City, in December 2025.
What the official site says about this year's event:
- Three disciplines, not just memory. The event combines the World Memory Championships with speed reading and mind mapping, the "three elite disciplines of mind sports".
- Competitors from more than 20 countries are expected.
- Four age categories: Kids, Juniors, Adults and Seniors. Each category has its own winners, alongside the overall champion.
- Real-time scoring: the organisers say real-time scoring technology makes its debut this year.
- Registration closed at 23:59 (GMT+7) on 31 October 2026. The registration site had separate tracks for international competitors and for Vietnamese competitors, who go through a Vietnam qualifier track.
- Results are due to be published on 30 December 2026.
For athletes from India, the official site adds that taking part in the 17th Indian National Open Memory Championship, held in Hyderabad on 14 November 2026, "is mandatory to compete at the World Memory Championships 2026". Athletes from other countries should check with their own national memory sports council.
The WMSC had not published a day-by-day timetable when we checked. Under its rules, a World-level championship uses the longest version of each event: one hour to memorize numbers and cards, for example, rather than the shorter versions used at national competitions. The table in the events section below shows those times.
IAM World Memory Championship 2026: Bali, Indonesia, 17–19 December
The IAM's 2026 World Memory Championship takes place at the Harris Convention Hall Sunset Road in Kuta, Bali, from 17 to 19 December 2026. It is organised by the Indonesia Memory Sports Council (IMSC) and sanctioned by the International Association of Memory, the Global Alliance of Memory Athletics (GAMA) and the Asia Memory Sports Alliance (AMSA). Indonesia has hosted the IAM championship before: the very first one, in Jakarta in 2017.
The registration site gives more practical detail than most championships publish:
- Who can enter. There is no qualifying score. The age categories are Kids (12 and under), Teens (13–17), Adults (18–59) and Seniors (60 and over), with age counted on 17 December 2026. Competitors under 18 need a parent or guardian's details.
- Bring a laptop. The competition runs on the GAMA/IAM computer platform, and every competitor has to bring their own laptop and set up a GAMA account before the event.
- Fees. The registration page lists USD 125 for international competitors. The early-bird price of USD 110 ended on 30 July 2026. Indonesian residents pay IDR 1,125,000. Lunch is included on all three days. Fees can change, so check the official page before you pay.
- Extras. An optional master class on 15 December, an optional gala dinner on the final evening, and a chance to attempt a world record.
- Registration is open, with a limited number of places. No closing date had been published when we checked.
The Bali schedule, day by day
The organisers have published the full timetable. Times are the memorization time, then the recall time.
| Day | Event | Memorize / recall |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 17 December | Opening ceremony | 9:00–9:55 |
| Thursday 17 December | Names and Faces | 15 min / 30 min |
| Thursday 17 December | Binary Numbers | 30 min / 60 min |
| Thursday 17 December | Random Numbers (the hour event) | 60 min / 120 min |
| Friday 18 December | Random Images | 5 min / 15 min |
| Friday 18 December | Speed Numbers, trial 1 | 5 min / 15 min |
| Friday 18 December | Fictional Dates | 5 min / 15 min |
| Friday 18 December | Speed Numbers, trial 2 | 5 min / 15 min |
| Friday 18 December | Random Cards (the hour event) | 60 min / 120 min |
| Saturday 19 December | Random Words | 15 min / 40 min |
| Saturday 19 December | Spoken Numbers: 200, 300 and 550 seconds | Recall 10, 15 and 25 min |
| Saturday 19 December | Speed Cards, trials 1 and 2 | 5 min / 5 min each |
| Saturday 19 December | Award ceremony and closing | 16:00–18:00 |
Notice how the hardest endurance events, the hour-long numbers and cards, come at the end of the first two days, when competitors are already tired. Managing energy across three long days is part of the challenge.
Illustration: at the IAM championship in Bali, every competitor brings a laptop, and the categories run from kids to seniors.
The ten World Memory Championship events, explained for beginners
Both championships use the same ten events. Here is what each one asks you to do, with the World-level times under WMSC rules and the times on the Bali schedule. Where the two differ, the difference is shown.
| Event | What you memorize | WMSC World format | IAM, Bali 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed Numbers | Random digits, as many as possible | 5 / 15 min | 5 / 15 min, two trials |
| Hour Numbers | Random digits, over a full hour | 60 / 120 min | 60 / 120 min |
| Binary Numbers | Rows of 0s and 1s | 30 / 60 min | 30 / 60 min |
| Spoken Numbers | Digits read aloud, one per second | Heard once, then recalled | Three trials: 200, 300 and 550 seconds |
| Speed Cards | One shuffled deck, as fast as possible | Up to 5 / 5 min | Up to 5 / 5 min, two trials |
| Hour Cards | As many shuffled decks as possible | 60 / 120 min | 60 / 120 min |
| Random Words | A list of unrelated words, in order | 15 / 30 min | 15 / 40 min |
| Abstract Images | Images, in order | 15 / 30 min (abstract shapes) | 5 / 15 min (called Random Images) |
| Names and Faces | First names and surnames for photos of faces | 15 / 30 min | 15 / 30 min |
| Historic Dates | Invented events and their years | 5 / 15 min | 5 / 15 min |
A little more about each, and how athletes approach it:
- Speed Numbers and Hour Numbers. Athletes turn every pair or group of three digits into a picture, using a system such as the Major System, and place the pictures along a memory palace. The hour event is the same task stretched out, so stamina and a reliable system matter more than raw speed. See how to memorize numbers.
- Binary Numbers. Strings of 0s and 1s are hard to picture, so competitors first convert each group of three binary digits into a single decimal digit, then memorize those. See how to memorize binary numbers.
- Spoken Numbers. The digits are read aloud and you cannot look back. One missed digit can end the scoring, because recall only counts up to the first mistake. See how to memorize spoken numbers.
- Speed Cards. The event people see in videos: one deck of 52 cards, memorized as fast as possible. The best athletes take under 20 seconds. See how to memorize a deck of cards.
- Hour Cards. Deck after deck for an hour, each scored on its own. See how to train for the hour events.
- Random Words. An ordered list of words such as "lamp, river, forgive, tiger". Abstract words have to be turned into pictures first. See how to memorize a list of words.
- Abstract Images. In the WMSC version these are shapes with no meaning, which you must remember in order, so athletes invent a quick label for each one. The IAM's version is called Random Images and is much shorter, at 5 minutes. See how to memorize abstract images.
- Names and Faces. The event closest to everyday life. Each correct name scores on its own. See how to remember names.
- Historic Dates. The events are made up, so history knowledge gives no advantage. You need a system for turning years into images. See how to memorize dates.
For a longer comparison of all ten, read the memory championship events explained.
The ten events of the World Memory Championship, from Speed Numbers to Historic Dates.
How the World Memory Champion is decided
A result like "800 digits" cannot be added directly to "a deck in 30 seconds". So each event's score is converted into championship points, and the points from all ten events are added up. The competitor with the highest total becomes World Memory Champion.
Under WMSC rules the conversion uses the Millennium Standard: each event has a target score, and reaching it is worth 1,000 points, so a perfect championship would be worth 10,000. The IAM uses its own scoring tables. In both, a strong overall champion needs good scores in every event, not a record in one. Our guide to memory championship scoring explains the details, and the championship points calculator converts your own scores.
There are also titles for each age category, so a 12-year-old or a 65-year-old has their own competition inside the championship.
The current World Memory Champions
Both 2026 championships have a reigning champion from 2025:
- WMSC: Naranzul Otgon-Ulaan of Mongolia won the 34th World Memory Championships in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2025, with 8,225 points, after finishing second in 2024.
- IAM: Vishvaa Rajakumar of India won the 2025 IAM World Memory Championship in Mumbai in November 2025, with 5,581 points. A month later he finished third at the WMSC championship.
The two years before tell the same story of young champions from Asia. The 2024 WMSC title went to Enkhjargal Uuriintsolmon of Mongolia, at 14 years old, and the 2024 IAM title to Enrico Marraffa of Italy. Mongolia has won more world titles than any other country since the 2016 split.
We do not make predictions here: entry lists for 2026 had not been published when we checked. The full history, including who has won the most titles, is in our list of World Memory Championship winners, and the best scores ever recorded are on the memory championship world records page.
How to follow the World Memory Championship 2026
- WMSC, Ho Chi Minh City: the official site is worldmemorychampionships.com. The organisers say real-time scoring makes its debut this year, and full results are due on 30 December 2026.
- IAM, Bali: news is posted on iam-memory.org, and event details are on the Bali registration site.
- Here: we will add the 2026 champions to our winners list once the organisers publish the results.
Can a beginner take part in a World Memory Championship?
Yes. The Bali championship has no qualifying score, and both championships have categories from children to seniors. In practice, though, a world championship is a long and demanding event. The hour events alone mean an hour of memorizing and two hours of writing, and the competition runs for three full days.
Most athletes start with a national or regional competition, which uses shorter versions of the same events. That is the best way to learn the rules, the paper or computer format and the pressure of a real event. Then, once you know your scores, a world championship is the natural next step. Our guide on how to prepare for your first memory competition covers the rulebook, practice and the day itself.
If you want to compete in 2026, the Bali championship is still taking entries. Registration for the Ho Chi Minh City championship has closed, so the next WMSC chance is 2027.
How to start training for a future World Memory Championship
You do not need talent to start, only a technique and regular practice. A simple path:
- Learn the memory palace. It is the foundation of almost every event. Start with the method of loci.
- Pick one first event. Speed Numbers, Random Words or Names and Faces are friendly places to begin. Our guide to which event to start with compares them.
- Learn a number system. The Major System is the usual first choice, and our Major System builder helps you make your own list.
- Practise in the real format. The training drills follow the official championship formats and scoring, with levels that start small and grow.
- Follow a plan. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to start. Try the four-week plan in memory training for beginners, and see how memory athletes train once you are hooked.
Not sure where you are starting from? Take a free memory test first, then come back to it after a month of training.
The Speed Numbers drill on MemoChamp, with the full 1,000-digit sheet used at championships.
Frequently asked questions
When is the World Memory Championship 2026?
There are two in December 2026. The WMSC's 35th World Memory Championships run from 11 to 13 December 2026, and the IAM's 2026 World Memory Championship runs from 17 to 19 December 2026.
Where is the World Memory Championship 2026 held?
The WMSC championship is at the Rex Hotel Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The IAM championship is at the Harris Convention Hall Sunset Road in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia.
Who is the current World Memory Champion?
There are two 2025 champions: Naranzul Otgon-Ulaan of Mongolia (WMSC, Ho Chi Minh City) and Vishvaa Rajakumar of India (IAM, Mumbai).
How many events are in the World Memory Championship?
Ten: Speed Numbers, Hour Numbers, Binary Numbers, Spoken Numbers, Speed Cards, Hour Cards, Random Words, Abstract Images, Names and Faces, and Historic Dates. The overall champion has the highest points total across all ten.
Can anyone enter the World Memory Championship 2026?
The IAM championship in Bali is open to all ages, with no qualifying score, and was still taking entries when we checked. Registration for the WMSC championship in Ho Chi Minh City closed on 31 October 2026, and the WMSC says Indian athletes had to take part in the Indian National Open Memory Championship first.
When will the 2026 results be published?
The WMSC says the results of the 35th World Memory Championships will be available on 30 December 2026. The IAM had not announced a date.
Is the World Memory Championship the same as Memory League?
No. Memory League is an online platform with short, head-to-head matches. The World Memory Championship is a three-day, in-person competition with long events of up to an hour. Our comparison of MemoChamp and Memory League explains how the formats differ.
Sources
All details were checked on the organisers' own pages on 6 November 2026. Dates, fees and schedules can change, so check them before you travel or register.
- WMSC championship (dates, venue, age categories, registration deadline, results date, Indian qualifier): The World Memory Championships
- IAM championship announcement and sanctioning bodies: IAM, Official Announcement, 9 June 2026
- IAM championship venue and registration: IAM, Registration Open, 23 June 2026
- Bali schedule, fees, age categories and laptop rule: World Memory Championship 2026 in Bali
- Indian National Open Memory Championship 2026: Indian Memory Sports Council
- 2025 champions and points: WMSC 2025 overall champions and the sources in our winners list
