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The 2019
National Memory Championship
I
had made it to the finals last year! This gave me a bunch of motivation. I had
been training for about two and a half hours per day. But the national
championship had a different format than the tournaments I was preparing for.
Both of them had cards and numbers, but in the qualifier, we also had to
memorize poetry and names. So I added those to my routine. But I only had a few
months to train for names and poetry, so I knew I wouldn’t be great at them.
However, I would run up the score in cards and numbers, where I had made
enormous progress. I thought that I would qualify for the finals comfortably.
If all goes well, I could even finish in the top 5. I faced a tougher field
this year. All of the best memories in America were there except for former
World Champion Alex Mullen. And only 8 of us would advance to the final. But I
had improved so much that I was still very confident.
The
first event: Names. They passed out sheets with names and headshots. We had 15
minutes to memorize as many as possible. Then we got new sheets with just the
headshots. We had to fill in the names from memory. I memorized 100 names.
Decent, but not great. Four-time US champ Nelson Dellis set a national record
by recalling 235 names – an astounding performance. But I didn’t need to beat
Nelson at names. I just had to stay close to the top 8 and then compensate with
cards and numbers. So far, it was going according to plan. I had been hoping to
break my personal record (104 names), but 100 was good enough. It was way
better than my performance last year, which was just 56 names.
The
second event: Numbers. We had 5 minutes to memorize as many as possible. In
training, I was usually getting about 160-200. There were two attempts. My plan
was to try 160 in the first round. That way I would have time to review it
thoroughly and I should nail it. In the second round, we get a new sheet of
numbers and I would shoot for 200. Only the best score counts. Because of that,
it’s common to memorize a smaller amount in round 1. Once you’ve done that and
secured a decent score, you can get ambitious in round 2.
I
turned the sheet over and started memorizing. The font was noticeably smaller
than what I was used to. I tried not to let it bother me. The five minutes
zipped by faster than I had expected. I turned in my sheet and then tried to
write down the 160-digit number from memory.
The
small font, the pressure – it must have gotten to me. There were several places
where I just drew a blank. And the scoring system severely punishes stuff like
that. Make one mistake in a row of 20 digits, and you get zero points for that
row. You have to get the row perfect in order to get 20 points. I messed up 2
rows. Five rows were perfect and in the last row, I only wrote down the first
14 digits because I wasn’t sure about the last 6. I scored just 114 points.
That’s reasonable by the standards of the national championship, but I really
needed to do well here in order to compensate for names and poetry. Defending
champ John Graham memorized more than 300 digits.
Then
they passed out the second sheet of numbers. I tried 160 digits again, but I
really needed to get it right this time. I was able to go faster; perhaps I had
adjusted to the font size. I reviewed it twice. When I was writing the number
down from memory, there was just one row that I was uncertain about. Was there
a “1655” in the middle of that row or was it a “5516”? All I could remember is
that I had made a mental note to be careful about that part. I put down “5516”
on my sheet. I recalled the rest of the number comfortably, so I went back to
double check. Then I erased the “5516” and replaced it with “1655.”
It
was 5516! No points for that row, but the other 7 rows were perfect. I scored
140. A bit disappointing. I was in 10th place and only the top 8
would advance to the final. One of the high schoolers had put up a phenomenal
score in names and then there was a new guy who somehow memorized 260 digits in
his very first tournament. There were still two more events in the qualifier,
but suddenly I was not sure if I could make it to the final.
Event
#3: Poetry. They passed out sheets of paper with an unpublished poem. We had 15
minutes to memorize as much as we could. In a last minute rule change, the
author read the poem aloud at the beginning. I knew that there was no way I
could keep up; people read faster than I can memorize. I tried to ignore it and
focus on the paper. I just hoped it wouldn’t throw me off. And given my
precarious situation in the tournament, I really could not afford to screw up. I
budgeted 9 minutes for memorization and 6 minutes for review.
Time’s
up! I handed in the poem and started writing down as much of it as I could
remember. I was pretty sure that I had all the words right. But I was a bit
unsure about some of the punctuation. Is there a comma at the end of that line?
If I got it wrong, I would score zero points for that line; you only get points
for the lines that are perfect. I had to make some guesses. Only a day ago I
thought I would sail through the qualifier comfortably; now my sloppiness with
punctuation might eliminate me.
Event
#4: Cards. We had to memorize a deck in five minutes or less. They were still
scoring the poetry event, so I didn’t know where I was in the standings. I did
know that I had to hit it out of the park in order to qualify. Just like last year’s situation, I
thought. That was not very comforting. Last year, I screwed up the first deck.
The pressure. But I had improved at cards and it was one of my strongest areas.
But that’s what you told yourself before
the numbers event and look at how that turned out. Take it slow on the
first deck, make sure you get it right this time. I started my timer. I got
through the deck and reviewed it. I put it down and stopped the clock.
Immediately I was disappointed by what I saw. A minute and thirty-nine
seconds?! In practice, I could go at least 15-20 seconds faster without losing
any accuracy. The pressure – it must have gotten to me again. I didn’t feel
nervous. But memorizing in a competition and memorizing at home are two very
different things. If you look up a memory tournament and scroll down to the
bottom of the standings, there will probably be somebody who memorized just 6
or 7 cards in 5 minutes. You know
they can do better than that. But the pressure gets to people. I reviewed the
deck in my mind while waiting for everyone to finish. Everything was clear. At
least I wouldn’t mess up like I did last year.
I
got it right. Though it was slow by my standards, a minute thirty-nine might be
enough to propel me to the final. My dreams were still alive. As with numbers,
there were two rounds and only your top score counts. Since I had already
secured a good result, now I could go at top speed with the second deck and not
worry so much about making a mistake. I zipped through the deck and reviewed it
quickly. Usually “top speed” means under 70 seconds for me. But in a
competition, there’s so much pressure… I stopped the clock. A minute and
twenty-five seconds. Mildly disappointing. I recalled the deck perfectly. Now
we just had to wait for the judges to tally up the scores. Maybe I would make
it to the final. Maybe I wouldn’t.
During
the lunch break, I talked to a few of the other competitors. Some of last
year’s finalists stumbled in the cards event. The pressure! It affects
everyone. When I finished up lunch, the organizers were still working on the
results. All I could do now was wait and hope.
A
spreadsheet appeared on the big screen. “The names highlighted in green are the
finalists,” the organizer said. I was sitting in the back and couldn’t read it.
I got up and went over for a closer look. Predictably, the “Big Four” made it.
That’s defending champion John Graham, 4-time champion Nelson Dellis, world
record holder Lance Tschirhart, and Livan Grijalva. I knew I couldn’t beat
them. New-guy-who-memorized-260-digits-in-his-first-tournament made it. A pair
of outstanding high schoolers qualified. And so did Matt Wilson! I finished 7th.
When
they passed out the awards, I got a special mention. The announcer told
everyone about the Boston Globe article I appeared in last year.
I reenacted the pose in my famous photo.
But
there was not much time to celebrate. The final would begin shortly. They took
the finalists to a separate room and handed us a sheet with 300 random English
words. We had 15 minutes to memorize as many as we could. Then on stage, the
finalist in the first seat would say the first word. If they got it right, then
the next person would have to say the next word. But if the first person screws
up, they’re out. In that case, the second person would have to say the first
word. This continues until 3 people are eliminated.
I
was prepared for this event. You never have to memorize all 300 words; in the
past, enough people would mess up early on that it never went past 100. But the
field was stronger this year. In training, I had been targeting 120 words in
order to be safe. But I had lost confidence after my performance in the
qualifier. At the last moment, I decided to do just 100 words. Then I would
have plenty of time to review and I should nail it. The 15 minutes flew by. We
went back to the stage and took our seats.
I
was a bit slow at recalling the first words, but then I got into the groove. The
new guy stumbled quickly. In his training, he had focused on the qualifier, so
he was not ready for this event. Seven finalists were left. Only five of us
would advance.
It
was John Graham’s turn. The defending champion. He hesitated. You only have 15
seconds to answer. I know he can
memorize a ton of words. But on stage, in front of a large audience, facing
high expectations…the pressure is so huge. He drew a blank. The champ was
eliminated!
I
only had to outlast one more finalist in order to advance. Whenever it was my
turn, I recalled everything quickly and accurately. But I only knew the first
100 words. Would that be enough in today’s hypercompetitive championship?
Around the 95th word, I realized that I might be in trouble. No one
else was stumbling.
Livan
correctly recalled Word #101. He passed the mic to me. My turn. “That’s as far
as I got – I’m out.” I got down from the stage. I left the room to get some
water. A few kids in the audience congratulated me. I have fans!
Seventh
place in the qualifier, sixth in the final. That sounds great, but I’m mildly
disappointed. Officially, the Random Words event finished when I was
eliminated, but they kept going to see how much everyone had memorized. One of
the finalists messed up in the very next round. So if I had memorized just two
more words, I would have outlasted her. And the pressure got to me in the
qualifier and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. The 1655 will haunt me for a
while. They say that baseball is a game of inches. I feel the same way about
memory tournaments. I knew I was not going to win the championship. But
finishing in the top 5 was very much within reach.
How far could I have
gotten? On a good day, I might have forced a tiebreak (but it’s more likely
that I would have collapsed under pressure). The next event was the Tea Party.
Six “tea party guests” read a script with a bunch of personal information.
Name, birthday, phone number, etc. The finalists had 15 minutes to memorize it
all. They could also review a sheet with the same information printed on it. In
training, I had struggled with this event. But at the last minute, the
organizers changed it to just 5 guests instead of 6. However, the finalists
still had the full 15 minutes to memorize. Due to that rule change, I might
have survived this event if I hadn’t been eliminated earlier. Livan was
eliminated quickly, but Lance, Nelson, and the two high schoolers advanced.
The last event was the
Double Deck. The finalists would have 5 minutes to memorize 2 decks of cards.
Even at my slow pace of 1 deck in a minute twenty-five, this isn’t hard. But in
the tiebreak, I would have been busted. There would be two decks again, but
this time we would only have 3 minutes. That is beyond me. Memorizing a deck in
1:25 is very different from memorizing 2 decks in 2:50. It doesn’t scale up
like that. For example, memorizing a single card in 1 second is easy, but doing
52 cards in 52 seconds is not. I can’t do 2 decks in 3 minutes. But Lance
memorized a single deck in under 30 seconds(!), so he could do it. My plan had
been to do a deck and a half and hope my rivals stumbled.
The high schoolers were
knocked out quickly. Only Lance and Nelson were left. I was almost certain that
it would go to tiebreaks, but Nelson messed up on the 102nd card. The
pressure! Lance became our very deserving national champion.
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