International Mind Sports Association
The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) was founded on April 19, 2005 during the GAISF (then General Association of Sport Federations) annual convention.
The goal of IMSA was to gather different mind sports federations to pursue common aims and interests, to organize the World Mind Sports Games under the aegis of GAISF and further realize the inclusion of mind sports in the Olympic movement. In particular, the organization’s long-term plans included running the World Mind Sports Games on the same lines as the Olympics.
IMSA membership currently stands at 7: including the 4 founding international federations, World Bridge Federation (WBF), International Go Federation (IGF), Fédération Mondiale du Jeu de Dames (FMJD), and Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE); the World Xiangqi Federation (WXF) was added in 2015, the Mahjong International League (MIL) in 2017, and the Federation of Card Games (FCG) in 2018.
The aim of this Association is to engage in a dialogue with the International Olympic Committee for the organization of the World Mind Sports Games. IMSA also aims to facilitate the admission of the national federations of these mind sports into their respective National Olympic Committees.
The Association intends to work towards the recognition of the quality of teaching of these disciplines on young people that helps them substantially in their intellectual and emotional growth. The Association will therefore work in liaison with – in addition to the IOC and SportAccord – UNESCO and the UN, as it is convinced of its capacity to improve the level of education in the world and to participate in a more peaceful entente through the practice of these sports.
For current list of IMSA executives, see here. For a detailed description of IMSA’s scope of activities and achievements since founding, see http://www.imsaworld.com/wp/documents/prospectus/.