A man learns to play mahjong during a class in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Saturday. The student was one of around 15 foreigners who took the class taught in English. (File photo/CGTN Weibo account)
Chen Zelan, president of the International Mind Sport Association (IMSA) says the organization is working hard to include mahjong and other mind sports at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Bridge and chess have already been recognized by the International Olympic Committee and IMSA is making more efforts to promote other mind sports, including mahjong, Chen explained.
This April, Mahjong was approved by IMSA to become the sixth international mind sport after bridge, chess, draughts, go and Chinese chess.
The decision was announced at the Global Mind Sports Innovative and Development Forum, which just ended in Beijing. During the forum, IMSA officials proposed new rules for mahjong competitions in order for the game to be more widely recognized.
Chen is the first person to put forward the concept of a "global mind sports index," with the aim of introducing mahjong and other mind sports outside China.
"Mind sports is growing fast in China, but not so well in other countries. We therefore hope to use the index to boost the development of the sports worldwide," Chen explained.
The index model in the making will be released by the end of this year. Afterwards, the index will be announced once a year to inform the public which country is the best in mind sports.
Making the index public will enable more countries pay attention to mind sports, Chen said, adding that the practice of mind sports in China, Russia and U.S. will soon take a leading position in the world.
