Report from the Logical Olympiad Finals 2014

The popularity of the Logical Olympiad has increased over recent years. This year, a total of 49,035 competitors from 2,056 schools from the entire Czech Republic registered for the first round. The contest is unique in its concept, in that it is not based on testing acquired knowledge, but predominantly the ability of independent logical thinking; in effect, this means that anyone can succeed, regardless of the quality of education they are receiving, or even their social background.

The national finals consisted of several parts, testing logical thinking along with other areas, such as an independent and creative approach to problem solving, quick decision-making, short-term memory, and spatial imagination. During the contest, the participants therefore had to wrestle with various logical series, as well as make decisions about the optimum distribution of fountains in the castle gardens, separating dormice into enclosures using a limited fence length, puzzles with matches, gopher cubes, deal with anagrams, and remember projected pictures and later reveal which one was added in the following projection.

The traditional paper test made up one of the principal parts of the competition, but many tasks were projected onto the screen, which required immediate reactions. Modern electronic voting devices were used for recording and evaluating these tasks.

“We are striving to prepare problems with the maximum level of diversity, with respect to both the type and form of the tasks. We want our problems to pose a challenge, and and at the same time to be fun for our competitors” says Tomas Blumenstein, the Chairman of Mensa, Logical Olympiad co-ordinator and, among other things, a presenter of the finals. 

The participants spent all day in the Ball Games Room, both catering and a programme for leisure time were provided – and as usual, the provided board games, puzzles, and jigsaws were very popular.

After completion of all parts of the competition, a presentation of the Logical Olympiad sponsors took place – the Kellner Family Foundation and the Open Gate primary and grammar school – followed by a presentation of the Mensa Grammar School.

Immediately after that, the winners were announced, and awards and prizes donated by the sponsors were handed over to the 30 most successful competitors. The most valuable prizes awaited the winners of individual categories, who were leaving with brand new laptops in their hands, however, no-one left empty-handed, as all of the competitors who fought their way through to the national finals were given at least little presents.

By the end of the day, both the competitors and organizers certainly felt that their hard work bore fruit. The organizers deserve a great “Thank You!” for the huge amount of time and energy they devoted to the project. The success of the event will certainly encourage them for the next year, and many of us are already looking forward to it!

Related topics

• Logical Olympiad
• News and reports from the Logical Olympiad

3.12.2014

Logical Olympiad 2014 - finals 1.12.2014

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