This was especially on the sections of creative thinking and intelligence. This view is reinforced by there only having been one non-native English speaker to have won the World Championships, Gert Schnider from Austria. Although, the fact that three of the winners of the Decamentathlon have won the Pentamind in years other than when they won the Decamentathlon implies that this bias might be small. There have also been issues of marking errors and the official answers not being accurate. This has resulted in medals being changed after they have been presented. Champions The World Championships have taken place as part of the MSO since 1997. 1997: A Dyson 1998: Paul Smith 1999: Paul Smith 2000: Gert Schnider 2001: Ben Pridmore 2002: David M. Pearce 2003: Demis Hassabis 2004: Demis Hassabis 2005: Martyn Hamer 2006: Mathew J. Cordell 2007: Mathew J. Cordell 2008: Alain Dekker 2009: Mathew J. Cordell 2010: Mathew J. Cordell 2011: Mathew J. Cordell 2012: Alain Dekker 2013: Martyn Hamer 2014: Mathew J. Cordell 2015: Chris Bryant 2016: Matthew Hathrell 2017: Matthew Hathrell See also List of world championships in mind sports References Games of mental skill Mental-skill competitions Combination events