Estonia’s Andres Kuusk has secured his sixth Pentamind World Championship title, breaking Demis Hassabis’ long-standing record of five titles, a milestone that had remained unmatched for two decades. Demis achieved his five victories between 1998 and 2003. Since 2010, the Pentamind crown has been primarily shared between Andres Kuusk and Ankush Khandelwal, with Ankush claiming his fifth title last year.

Ankush’s defense of the title appeared all but over as the weekend approached, yet he staged a remarkable comeback on Sunday, earning a gold medal in Chess 960 and a silver in Ticket to Ride. These key performances propelled him into third place, setting up a thrilling final day where he had a shot at reclaiming the Pentamind title. To do so, Ankush needed to triumph in the 7-point Backgammon tournament on Monday. However, Andres Kuusk, also competing, defeated Ankush in their head-to-head match, halting his momentum. Simultaneously, Pentamind newcomer Guilherme Neves pursued wins in Wingspan and 6 Nimmt! to overtake Andres, but fell short. Guilherme had been leading earlier in the week following an outstanding performance in the highly competitive Carcassonne event, where he claimed gold.

Ultimately, Andres secured an insurmountable lead with his scores in 7-point Backgammon, Boku, International Draughts, Texas Hold’em Poker, and Entropy, finishing over 8 Pentamind points clear of his nearest competitor. Congratulations to Andres Kuusk for this historic Pentamind World Championship!

See also: Pentamind Standings.

Other Highlights

In the Junior standings, 13-year-old Jaehoo So emerged victorious, the Korean finishing just 4 points ahead of compatriot Harin Lee. Last year’s Junior champion, Mario Hernández Concepción, earned the bronze medal this year.

In the Senior category, Dario de Toffoli retained his title, finishing 7th overall, well ahead of fellow Italian Riccardo Gueci, with Marc Tastet securing third place.

England’s Natasha Regan successfully defended the Women’s Pentamind trophy, holding off the challenge from Madli Mirme and Anda-Bianca Ciocirlan.

Meta-Event Winners

  • Abstract: Florian Jamain (France) claimed the title, with golds in Amazons and Twixt. Maurizio De Leo narrowly edged out David Pearce for the silver by just 0.18 points.
  • Multiplayer: Tung Yat Cheng (Hong Kong) emerged victorious with five medals, including golds in Gaia Project and Puerto Rico. Ankush Khandelwal took second, followed by John Bamford in third.
  • Imperfect Information: Dani Angelats (Catalonia) triumphed, finishing less than 3 points ahead of Guilherme Neves, with Ricardo Jorge Gomes in third.
  • Backgammon: Martyn Hamer (England) secured an unbeatable score, winning gold in Backgammon 6x1pt and Nackgammon. Dario de Toffoli and Mahmoud Jahanbani claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
  • Poker: Martyn Hamer also dominated this category, finishing over 55 points clear. Tung Yat Cheng narrowly took silver, just 0.14 points ahead of Riccardo Gueci.
  • Chess: Due to some irregularities over her registration, Natasha Regan’s score in the Chess category was not noted until after the closing ceremony. On this occasion the decision has been made to award her a joint gold along with James Heppell, who was believed to be the category champion on Monday. James was originally joined on the podium by Peter Finn and Milan Petras, who also retain their medals.

See also: 2024 Medalists.