Derby Competition Rules

Event Title - Speed Cards

Aim To commit to memory and recall a single pack (deck) of 52 playing cards in the shortest possible time.

Time to memorize 5 minutes (There are two attempts at this event with 'fresh' deck each time)

Time to recall 5 minutes (for each attempt)

Memorizing

  1. A freshly shuffled pack (deck) of 52 playing cards. The contestant may provide his/her own cards, these must be shuffled by the adjudicator before the competition.
  2. Contestants who expect to memorize the complete pack (deck) of cards in less than 5 minutes:
    a) Must inform the adjudicator so that a timekeeper with a stopwatch (capable of measuring 1/100 of a second) can be assigned and b) Must agree with their invigilator an appropriate signal that indicates they have finished Memorizing.
  3. Contestants must not begin recalling their pack until the adjudicator has announced that the 5-minute memorization period is complete.
  4. The cards can be looked at repeatedly and more than one card can be looked at simultaneously.

Recall

  1. After the memorizing phase each contestant gets a second pack of cards which is in perfect order (i.e. 2 hearts 3 hearts 4 hearts etc.) The contestant has to order this second deck of cards in the same sequence as the pack just memorized.
  2. The packs will be clearly identified as the first or second (recall) pack.
  3. After the recall phase both decks will be put beside each other on the table, the top card being the first one memorized.

Scoring

  1. The arbiter will compare each card from the memorized pack with each card of the recall pack. At the first discrepancy between the two packs, only the cards up to this point will be counted.
  2. The contestant, who correctly memorizes all 52 cards in the quickest time, wins the event.
  3. Points will be awarded only if the entire pack has been correctly recalled.
  4. The best score from the two attempts will count.
  5. In the case of tied winning scores the score of the second trial will decide the winner.

World record: 26.28 seconds (Ben Pridmore, UK Championship 2007)

1000 championship points standard: 30 seconds

Calculation factor: points scored = 30000/time (in seconds) eg 60 seconds = 500 points, 120 seconds = 250 points