Million Dollar Mind Game

This month Intellectsoft development centre with other IT companies has taken part in an extremely fascinating intellectual game called “What? Where? When?” (“Million Dollar Mind Game” in USA, Italy). It was an intellectual competition for top IT specialists and our dream team just couldn’t miss the chance to show what we’re worth. We not only participated in the game, but had an exclusive interview with the organizer of the event – Alex – who told us how he got that idea, how it all started and he started playing intellectual games.

How and when did the idea to organize such game for IT companies appear?

Idea to organize competition for IT companies appeared two years ago. I was really outraged by the fact that we have annual sports competitions for IT specialists and we have no intellectual games of such kind. Unfortunately, I had neither time, nor energy to bring this idea to life. Therefore I had to forget about all that for a while. Half a year ago, my friends and I came up with an idea to organize “What? Where? When?” for those who played the game before but gave it up. The rumour went about the up-coming game and more and more people wanted to take part in it. We understood that the event would surpass our expectations of it.

Indeed, some serious organizations with their help took an intellectual game for IT specialists to a brand new level.

Yes, HeadHunter Company with some municipal organizations offered help in organization of the game. Soon after that other sponsors appeared, like HTC for example. All together we finally organized the tournament which I’ve had in mind for two years.

How is the game organized? What are the rules, etc.?

The game we arranged corresponds to the classic rules of intellectual sports game better known under the name “Million Dollar Mind Game”. It differs from the TV version in the fact that all the teams sit in one room and hear the questions simultaneously. All the teams have 1 minute to discuss the question, after that they write their answers at the answer sheets which are collected by special people (we call them “swallows”) and are analyzed by the jury. The team with the majority of correct answers is declared to be a winner.

Are there such intellectual tournaments for companies that specialize in other spheres rather than IT? As far as I know, such specialized games have never been held before.

Was that Saturday game international or local?

As it was mentioned before, the HeadHunter Company was organizing that game and they sent their development team to represent their office, with that team the competition gained “international status”. Hopefully, next time more teams especially from abroad will take part in competition.

Have you ever played in “What? Where? When?” yourself? Have you been the captain of the team?

I started playing “What?Where?When?” (hereinafter “WWW”) in the 5th form. With the coach we gathered the team of peers in which I had been a captain for two years. Then I changed school and the team. I had played for the other team for a year, than I gathered my own, eventually I joined the team of our establishment and as its member I became the champion of the National “Brain Ring” championship and the multiple winner of regional tournaments. When I entered University I couldn’t find time to participate in the intellectual games and tournaments and after some time I started couching.

Are there any secret ways to win? Do you know some specific method of training before the game?

There is probably only one secret: you should train regularly; work on the relationships in the team and the team spirit. For example, once my team was supposed to go to the Republic tournament, we knew for sure that we had the best chances to win in “WWW”? Brain Ring (game in some sense similar to WWW, also was a part of that tournament) was our weak point. But to win the tournament we had to be good at both games. A day before the tournament we had started training for Brain Ring. We had been training for 8 hours. In the end we didn’t win “WWW”, but became champions in Brain Ring. After that we took part in some more Brain Ring tournaments and won them all. So, the advice is to train as more as possible.

What do you think about the winners of the Saturday’s game?

That was first time within my memory when one team took all the questions. Surely, the questions were not the most difficult ones, but we cannot omit the fact that the difference between first and second place is 4 points, which is quite a lot. I’ll follow this team progress closely in the future tournaments.

Did you like team from Intellectsoft?

Yes, I did. Their performance was highly productive. I bet that next time they’ll make it to top ten.

What is the purpose of games like “WWW” and other intellectual tournaments for IT specialists?

We all know what a day in the life of IT worker is like. They wake up late, go to work, drink coffee, work, drink coffee, work, go home late, download WoW character and go to bed at dawn. Surely, it’s just a broad generalization, but it is true to some point. The main idea is that there is practically no time for live communication left. Such events as “WWW” help making new friends. Besides, the training which all teams had helped to raise team spirit within companies, which is very good for work.

I fully agree with you. Thank you for the interview and your brilliant idea of the intellectual tournaments for IT specialists, we as everyone else who participated enjoyed the game immensely.