Just days to go before the start of the UK’s first Mind Sports Festival.

Sept. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- Just days remain before leading gaming events management company, Mind Sports (International), takes over Wales’ ‘symbol of sport’ and introduces the world of Mind Sports to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.  The Cardiff Mind Sports Festival (September 13 – 15) provides a fantastic opportunity for mind sports enthusiasts to play in one of the UK’s great sporting venues.

In addition to the tournaments taking place, Channel 4’s Countdown Team will be at the Festival on Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th, holding Open Auditions to find contestants who are willing to put their letter and number skills to the test.  If you think you have what it takes to be a contestant on Countdown, come and meet the team to find out!

MSI brand Ambassador, Rachel Riley, will be hosting the festival event on Sunday 15^th September.  Rachel, 27, has been a star of the TV show, Countdown, since her first appearance in December 2009 as the numbers expert.  Earlier this year, she was revealed as the newest member of the team on Channel 5’s The Gadget Show and just this week it was announced that she’ll be counting the steps to success in the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The festival, which is open to the public to both attend and take part, includes a wide variety of tournaments spanning Chess, Scrabble and Magic: the Gathering.

Some of the UK’s best Scrabble players will be travelling to Cardiff to play competitively across the weekend for semi-finals of the National Scrabble Championships.  Having already qualified from earlier competitions – the semi-finals offer competitors a great selection of prize money plus the opportunity to qualify for the final this coming November.

Collins, publisher of the official Scrabble wordlist and the Collins English dictionary, will also be in attendance, along with author of new book 101 Ways to Win at Scrabble Barry Grossman. They will be selling signed advanced copies of Barry’s book, as well as the Collins Little Book of Chess Secrets and the official Scrabble book range. It is the Collins Scrabble wordlist that has been integrated in to Mind Sports (International’s) RFID Scrabble board. The Scrabble board allows online viewers to watch each game, monitor the player’s performance and interact live with the commentary team.

Dave Brannan, CEO of Mind Sports (International) feels the atmosphere will be electric, “We can’t believe how much this event has grown in popularity, both for businesses as well as competitors.  The Cardiff Mind Sports Festival is developing into a real ‘must attend’ event for game lovers and those who want to take part in something for the first time. An obvious pull for both local and national mind sports players, this festival will draw international attention to the Mind Sports capabilities of Wales and the UK.  It is also a fantastic opportunity to compete in one of the UK’s most respected sporting venues.

To view more on the Cardiff Mind Sports Festival visit www.cardiffmindsportsfestival.com.