SA's official body continues to have sustainable growth.

All affiliated clubs have the ability to affect every aspect of MSSA's administration.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) was founded in 1985, and caters for a wide array of various mind sports. Such mind sports include the disciplines of Board Games, Card Games, Esports, and Wargames.

Since the founding of MSSA 212 clubs have affiliated. Some of the clubs have had the staying power and have been members right from the beginning, whereas others do not have the staying power. The lack of staying-power can often be ascribed to clubs not having the proper structures to enable hand-over from outgoing to incoming committees.

Where clubs are based on an individual, the club may not survive. It seems as though clubs without proper structures only seem to have a three to five year life expectancy.

Thus clubs based at established institutions seem to have a greater chance of surviving through the years and being able to deal with those unexpected events.

MSSA, with over 30 years under its belt, has seen many clubs, organisations, and operators come-and-go.

At MSSA's annual General Meeting held in December 2019, MSSA accepted no less than a further 23 clubs into full membership.

Such clubs now all enjoy all the rights of full membership and  are now able to help steer MSSA and help all the disciplines (Board Games, Card Games, Esports, and Wargames) grow.

The clubs accepted into membership are:

#	NAME
1	AHS Sasolburg
2	Boo Games
3	Curro Heritage House
4	Curro Krugersdorp
5	Curro Mosselbay
6	Curro Mount Richmore
7	Curro Secunda
8	Edenvale High School
9	HeronBridge College
10	Hoerskool Klerksdorp
11	Hoerskool Randburg
12	Hope Fountain Combined
13	Innovation Village Esports
14	Level 1 Gaming
15	MAD Esports
16	Makgofe Slaughters Mind Sports Club
17	Norman Henshilwood High School
18	Pyromania
19	Raving Mad Gamerz
20	Redhill High School
21	Royal Knights
22	Sigma eFootball
23	Tea Cup Clan

Also read:

• Entry fees for Provincial and National Championships for the period 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020.
• Advantages of affiliation

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.
• 28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1 & 2 February 2020
• The road to Eilat

Affiliation and registration fees for the 2019/2020 season.

Mind Sports South Africa's registration and affiliation fees increase in line with South Africa's CPI. For the period under review the CPI averaged at 4.16% with having experienced a high of 5.1% (November 2018) and a low of 3.9% (January 2019). Thus the fees charged by MSSA remain in line with the South African economy, and are not based on the whim of the administrators. For MSSA to increase fees by more than the CPI, the Board has to approach a General Meeting to do so. Every member club, in-good-standing, has the right and duty to vote in a General Meeting, so, any extraordinary increase is subject to the majority's wishes.

The affiliation and registration fees are, as per MSSA's Constitution, due and payable on the 1^st of November of each year.

However, member clubs may remit payment by 1 February 2020. Those that do not shall have their affiliation terminated and their members shall not be allowed to participate in Mind Sport South Africa's events or team selection.

Members may only participate in a MSSA event if such member is fully-paid-up at the time of such event.

The fees for the 2019/2020 gaming year (1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020) are:

Affiliation fees per club per annum			R104.00 per annum
Registration fees:	Registered with MSSA		R110.00 per player
	Players who are members of school clubs		R10.00 per player

Please note that Registration Fees may be waived by the Management Board should a player have reached the age of majority and is unemployed, or if the player is a minor and his/her parents are unemployed.

Registration forms may be found on: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ueL9ocHH1ftFJ7yOwnDkYT0ll54auFQs

Also read:

• Entry fees for Provincial and National Championships for the period 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020.
• Advantages of affiliation

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.
• 28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1 & 2 February 2020
• The road to Eilat

The importance of club championships.

Playing at club level develops players.

Many a player is only interested in participating in official championships where players may earn medals, colours, and qualification for national teams, as well as those for which prize-money is awarded.

However, a player should not only play in the above, but also participate in as many club championships as possible.

Club championships form the basis of all championships. It is at club championships that players are able to practice new tactics and strategies without putting their rankings and ladder positions at risk.

Also players are able to gain much needed competition practice.

Many top international players, including a three times World Champion, are of the opinion that for players to do well at any international championships, the team and/or individual should have played  no less than fifty (50) competition games. That is of course in addition to the hours of coaching, and other preparation, that a top-of-the-line competitor needs to do.

Clubs also use their own championships to solidify their member base by delivering to those who are already members as well as by attracting new members.

Thus, those clubs that put on their own championships are way ahead of the curve, as it is those clubs that will have the staying-power to survive from year-to-year.
Also read:

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.
• 28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1 & 2 February 2020
• The road to Eilat

28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS - 1 & 2 February 2020

Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club dominates wargames events in South Africa.

The 28th OLD EDWARDIAN SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS shall be held at the Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Avenue, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg, on 1 & 2 February 2020.

The championship is renown for having many of South Africa's top players play in such championships as a warm up to Mind Sports South Africa's Provincial Championships. Past participation in this event is a veritable 'who's who' in South African gaming. No less than eight world champions have used the Old Edwardian Summer Championships in which to hone their skills.

Since the Old Edwardian Summer Championships does not count for MSSA's official rankings, the players who participate in the board gaming, esports and wargames events, are able to dabble with new tactics, and ready themselves for the new season.

The championships shall start on both days at 9H00. The figure-games shall be played on both days.

This is an open championship and open to all.

Championship Details:
Venue:	Blue Room, Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg
Date:	1 & 2 February 2019
Game Entry Fees:	R50.00 for Checkers, Morabaraba, and PES 2020
	R80.00 for Ancients figure gaming
Entries:	Please contact Terry Allwright on: tj.allwright@gmail.com Entries must be submitted by 8 February 2020.
Food & refreshments:	A wide selection is available at the club at highly reasonable prices

The schedule of play is as follows:

	Saturday – 3 February 2018			Sunday – 4 February 2018
	Morabaraba	Checkers	Ancients	Ancients	Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES 2020)
Round 1	10H00-10H45	10H00-10H45	9H00 – 12H00		09H00
Round 2	11H00 - 11H45	11H00 - 11H45	14H00 – 17H00		10H30
Round 3	14H00 -14H45	14H00 -14H45		9H00 – 12H00	12H00
Round 4	15H00 - 15H45	15H00 - 15H45		14H00 – 17H00	14H00
Round 5	16H00 - 16H45	16H00 - 16H45			15H30
Awards shall be awarded immediately after play has ceased.

Medals are awarded to the first three places for Premier and High School divisions.

All MSSA rules shall apply for Checkers, PES 2020 and Morabaraba. 

However, for Ancients wargames the championship uses the very popular 600 points format where losses are carried forward. Should you require the full rules, please contact the club on tj.allwright@gmail.com .

Fees must please be deposited into the Old Edwardian Society's account, which is:

OEWC

F.N.B. - Killarney

Branch Code 256205

Account Number 62071433115

Also read:

• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The road to Eilat

A new day, a new year.

There is nothing as exciting, and rewarding, as heading off to represent your country in international competition.

Welcome to 2020!

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) wishes all its member clubs, Registered Players, and members of the media a Joyful and Prosperous New Year.

The year is full of optimism and opportunity.

MSSA is, of course, committed to carry on delivering LAN and online championships from grass-root level to the highest of standards.

International Esports Federation (IESF) has already declared the City of Eilat, Israel, to be the host of IESF's 12th World Championships. MSSA has already committed to send a full team to the event.

FMJD, the international body for draughts, has also released its calendar of international events.

Thus, a year of hard work presents itself to MSSA's Board of volunteers in order to make dreams and aspirations actual.

However, all athletes should note that the only way into the National Protea Team is through participation in MSSA events as a member of an affiliated club.

For more information please contact mindsportscorrespondence@gmail.com

Also read:

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.
• The road to Eilat

Winners of MSSA's 33rd S A National Championships.

Charlize Seremak went straight from MSSA's SA National Championships to IESF's 11th World Championships.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) held its 36th South African National Championships at Fakkel School of Skills on 7 and 8 December 2019.

As usual, the school was a superb host, and the championships ran smoothly and without a hitch.
MSSA's SA National Championships is the last event of the year, and is without doubt, the most important championships on the South African calendar as any player witshing to qualify for selection to the South African National Squad, from which the South African National Protea Team, shall be selected must participate at such SA National Championships. Of course there are exceptions in certain cases, but in such cases, MSSA must be contacted prior to the event. 

Having run for 36 continuous years, MSSA's SA National Championships is breaking records. However, not all the various disciplines have been played for the full 36 years. Wargames heads the bill at having been played at all 36 National Championships, with Board games (in the form of Morabaraba) having been included in 1996. Shortly thereafter, in 1997, checkers made its debut. It was only in 2005, even though MSSA had been running Provincial Esports events since 1998, that Esports made its way into the SA National Championships.

Despite the pedigree of the other disciplines, it is now esports that contributes the largest amount of participants, and has more games (periods) being hosted than any othe discipline.

Even with esports only having been represented at MSSA's SA National Championships since 2005, it makes the esports portion possibly the oldest running esports national championships in the world!

Eleven (11) games (periods) were played, of which one (1) was a wargame, two (2) were board games and the remaning eight (8) were esports titles.

It must also be stressed that only titles that are played at SA National Championships, qualify to have teams selected that will earn Protea Colours. There are exceptions to the rule, but they are exceptions...

The championship was hard fought, and the standard exhibited showed a marked improvement over previous years.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Ancients (DBM)	Terence Allwright	Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club	National Federation Colours
Checkers	Melikaya Nonyukela	Vultures	National Federation Colours
Clash Royale	Dale Spolander	Northcliff High School
	Daniel Lombard	Monument Park High School
	Wesley Pachai	Curro Klerksdorp
Counterstrike: GO	Team FiB	Monument Park High School	National Federation Colours
DotA 2	Pr0NHS	Northcliff High School	National Federation Colours
FIFA '19	Zuko Nomaqhiza	Curro Klerksdorp
FIFA '19 - High School	Kagiso Moagi	Curro Klerksdorp
Hearthstone -- Female	Vicky van Der Merwe	ZAG Academy	National Federation Colours
Hearthstone	Grey Craven	Curro Aurora
Morabaraba - Female	Saudah Bhaimia	Curro Klerksdorp	National Federation Colours
Morabaraba	Aidan Voster	Curro Aurora
Paladins	BOO Implode	BOO Gaming	National Federation Colours
Street Fighter V	Theunis van der Merwe	Hoerskool Klerksdorp
	Leonard Loftus	Masters of Mind Sports
Tekken 7 - Female	Charlize Seremak	ZAG Academy	National Federation Colours
Tekken 7	Shaun Claudio Lopes	North West University - Vaal	National Federation Colours
Tekken 7 - High School	Cilliers Swanepoel	Curro klerksdorp

Also read:

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
• MSSA's umpiring course - 25 January 2020.

Transfer season - 1 November 2019 to 28 February 2020

It is only through being a  member of an affiliated club, that a player may earn a spot in the National Protea Team.

In order to transfer from one club to another, a Registered Player needs to settle all of his debts with his current club, and apply to such club to leave.

MSSA, only allows this, unless in exceptional circumstances, to happen in the period 1 November to 28 February.

The reasons for only having one transfer period is to:

• Create stability in in both clubs and teams
  
  In the past, gamers were known to 'clan hop'. While this at the time may have rewarded certain players with immediate gratification (in sponsorships, prize-money, etc.) it did  nothing to allow a club to fully develop the gamer. If a club is not sure about the length of time that a gamer will be a member of the club, the club is more likely to abuse the gamer's skills and not further develop the gamer. So it has been in the past where MSSA has seen some gamers move from one club to another as soon as the club offered the gamer that little bit more.
  
  Teams that also stick together, learn how to deal with each other as a group, deal with problems, and work better as a team.

• Rationalise membership
  
  In terms of  MSSA's Constitution and Regulations, a Registered Player may only represent one club. The club that the Registered Player may represent is the first club that the Registered Player joined in the season. Such club is  then known as the 'first claim' club and only such club  may enter  the person into championships or count his/her membership for voting rights.
  
  Thus, MSSA's records apropos membership do not  show 'double-dipping' as a Registered Player may only be shown as a member of only one club and are  quite accurate.

• Ensure sustainability of clubs
  
  The strength of any  association remains  its members. Since it is the clubs that are the members of MSSA, it is vital that MSSA protects and  develops the clubs themselves. By regulating the movement of players, clubs are better able to budget and plan for how they want to develop themselves.

Thus the transfer 'window' is now open. If you as a player want to transfer your allegiance from one club to another, do it before 28 February 2020...

Also read:

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Premier Provincial and National Championships

• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's School Championships.
• Esports titles selected for all MSSA's Student championships.
• 2020 Calendar of Events
• The various events held by Mind Sports South Africa.
• Why schools and universities should invest in esports.
• New National Team Selection Criteria
• Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.

Turkish Open World Cup - Antalya, Turkey

Rules & Regulations

1. Organization:

FMJD - Brazilian Draughts Section Coordinator : Mr. İbrahim İSMAYİLOV
mail address : ibragim2002@mail.ru

2. Venue & Official hotel of the organization:

Corendon Hotels & Resorts
Grand Park Lara
Kemerağzı Mahallesi Yaşar Sobutay Bulvarı No: 339 Lara – Aksu – Antalya
www.corendonhotels.com.tr

Registration : Accommodation is possible only in the hotel, provided by organizer

3. Program:

4. Technical details:

4.1 Games rate – 1h20’ + 1 per move
4.2 Open – 9th rounds, FMJD Swiss system on Solkoff truncated with the following order of tie braking decisions:

1. Solkoff truncated
2. Solkoff plus
3. Solkoff Baliakin
4. Full Solkoff truncated

4.3 Offical FMJD software Draughts Arbiter will be used
4.4 All FMJD rules are valid

5. Competitions fee:

50 Euro per/person ( if residing in official hotel )
100 Euro per/person ( if residing in other hotel )

6. Prizes:

7. Hotel:

Corendon Hotels & Resorts
Grand Park Lara
Kemerağzı Mahallesi Yaşar Sobutay Bulvarı No: 339 Lara – Aksu – Antalya

www.corendonhotels.com.tr

Double room – 40 € ( per person / per day ) ( all inclusive - non-alcoholic )
Single room – 60 € ( per person / per day ) ( all inclusive - non-alcoholic )

8. Applications:

Deadline for registration and reservation of the hotel
* to be received before the 20th of February by the FMJD-64 Section.
* apply by e-mail to ibragim2002@mail.ru

9. Bank account for electronic payment of the hotel accommodation:

* Bank account on the electronic payment of the participation fees
Euro IBAN : 93 0006 4000 0023 4070 5687 00
Swift Kod : ISBKTRIS
Name : IBRAHIM ALIHAYDAR
* Deadline of subscription payment : 20th of February 2020

10. Transport:

The organizer will organize shuttle from and the airport of Antalya. The fee is airport - hotel –
airport 30 (Euro) both ways and should be notified to the organizer not later than March 3rd.

This document has been approved by:

İbrahim İSMAYİLOV
FMJD - Brazilian Draughts Section Coordinator