Memory Competitions

2011 USA Memory Championship Nelson Dellis wins – Recap

2016-10-22T09:06:14+00:00

My focus for the 2011 USA Memory Championship began in earnest in October. I had set out to implement Ben Pridmore's memory system for cards. Yep, that is right - I was out to create an image for every possible card combination of two random cards. If you pull two cards out of a deck at random and place them side by side there are 2704 different possibilities. I hired someone to put all these combination in a Power Point presentation. Once this 2704 slide monstrosity had been assembled the task of creating images for all the combination's began. Finally by the first week in December and two months later it was complete. By December 18th I had memorized 1300 of the slides but soon realized that if I was to master this system it could very easily take a full year and I was only 80 days out from the tournament. Two months had been wasted and on Dec 18th I scrapped the plan and the real training for the 3-Peat began.....

2011 USA Memory Championship Nelson Dellis wins – Recap2016-10-22T09:06:14+00:00

The Day Before The USA Memory Championship

2016-10-22T09:06:14+00:00

Ron White memory expert and USA Memory Champion shares his thoughts on the USA Memory Championship: As I type this I am sitting in my hotel room in New York City for the fourth year in a row. The first time was March 2008 and I had just returned from Afghanistan two months prior. The next year, in 2009 I ended up winning the USA Memory Championship and followed that with another victory in 2010.

The Day Before The USA Memory Championship2016-10-22T09:06:14+00:00

Training for the USA Memory Championship

2016-10-22T09:06:10+00:00

Ron White memory expert reveals why he would go swimming in 33 degree weather to train for the USA Memory Championship: After my win in the 2009 USA Memory Championship the story of me training by memorizing cards under water spread like wild fire. I would train under water because the theory was I would have to deal with the distractions of floating in the water, breathing through a snorkel tube and the cold water.

Training for the USA Memory Championship2016-10-22T09:06:10+00:00

My Second Memory Tournament

2016-10-22T09:06:09+00:00

With the experience of 2008 behind me I was not focused on becoming the national memory champion. It is no secret that I am proud to be an American and to represent my country in the national tournament for my sport was an enticing idea. My strategy sessions for the 2009 tournament began about two months after the 2008 tournament in May of 2008. My first order of business was to email David Thomas (the former Guinness Record Holder for memorizing pi to 20,000). When I had met David a few months prior at the 2008 USA Memory Championship he said he was willing and ready to share his 'unbeatable' strategy for the tournament with anyone who would listen but no one had ever taken him up on the offer. I certainly wasn't above asking for help and I did just that by emailing David.

My Second Memory Tournament2016-10-22T09:06:09+00:00

My First Memory Tournament

2016-10-22T09:06:06+00:00

Ron White memory training expert gives his account on the 2008 USA Memory Championship: What was it like to compete in my first memory tournament? A once in a life time experience :) It was 2008 and my first memory tournament but the story started years before. I don't know exactly when but a few years prior I had seen an online story about something called the USA Memory Championship in New York. I read the amount of numbers that the participants were memorizing in 5 minutes and I was frankly FLOORED! I thought...no WAY!

My First Memory Tournament2016-10-22T09:06:06+00:00

Memory Competitions

2016-10-22T08:52:58+00:00

Competing in memory competitions is very exciting for me. Every year in March Tony Dottino hosts the USA Memory Championship in New York City. I first competed in this tournament in 2008 after returning from my deployment to Afghanistan (I was a reservist). I first won the tournament March 7, 2009 and set two national [...]

Memory Competitions2016-10-22T08:52:58+00:00