# USA Memory Championship questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Memory Sports\ **Created:** [January 19, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/usa-memory-championship-questions/29061 "2014-01-19T18:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kiko13](https://forum.artofmemory.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/dec6dc/32.png) [@Kiko13](https://forum.artofmemory.com/u/Kiko13)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/usa-memory-championship-questions/29061/1 "2014-01-19T18:46:22Z")
I will be participating in the USA Memory Championships for the first time this year. I have a few questions. - For Speed Cards, what order is the ordered deck in? Is it the same as a brand new deck, as in Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. I’m assuming it is, but thought I would double check. - For Speed Numbers, sometimes I can’t recall an entire picture so I will move on leaving a blank space so I can come back to it and hopefully fill it in. If the 10:00 recall timer is nearly done and I still haven’t filled in that blank spot should I just cross out everything after that so I can still get partial credit for the last line? - Along the same lines, is having a mistake in a line equivalent to skipping it? The rules say you can’t skip lines. For example, if I have 2 correct lines, then my 3rd line has a mistake, then my 4th and 5th lines are completely correct, what is my score? Based on the rules I would get 0 for the 3rd line, but do I get credit for the 4th and 5th lines? My guess is no and my score would be 40, correct? - Can we use pen or pencil or is only one or the other allowed? Thanks, looking forward to this. ---
**Author:** ![Zoomy](https://forum.artofmemory.com/user_avatar/forum.artofmemory.com/zoomy/32/2451_2.png) [@Zoomy](https://forum.artofmemory.com/u/Zoomy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/usa-memory-championship-questions/29061/2 "2014-01-21T19:50:39Z")
> [@Kiko13](#): > > I will be participating in the USA Memory Championships for the first time this year. I have a few questions. The US Championship is a little bit different from other championships, so I can’t 100% promise that this is correct, but these are the rules for the competitions I compete in… > [@Kiko13](#): > > - For Speed Cards, what order is the ordered deck in? Is it the same as a brand new deck, as in Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. I’m assuming it is, but thought I would double check. It can vary - in some cases you get to arrange the deck in the order you prefer, before the memorisation time starts. If not, it’ll probably be a brand new deck. > [@Kiko13](#): > > - For Speed Numbers, sometimes I can’t recall an entire picture so I will move on leaving a blank space so I can come back to it and hopefully fill it in. If the 10:00 recall timer is nearly done and I still haven’t filled in that blank spot should I just cross out everything after that so I can still get partial credit for the last line? Yep, that’s the normal thing to do. > [@Kiko13](#): > > - Along the same lines, is having a mistake in a line equivalent to skipping it? The rules say you can’t skip lines. For example, if I have 2 correct lines, then my 3rd line has a mistake, then my 4th and 5th lines are completely correct, what is my score? Based on the rules I would get 0 for the 3rd line, but do I get credit for the 4th and 5th lines? My guess is no and my score would be 40, correct? No, you’d get the points for the 4th and 5th lines - skipping a line means leaving it completely blank. > [@Kiko13](#): > > - Can we use pen or pencil or is only one or the other allowed? I think pen is usually preferred. Good luck! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kiko13](https://forum.artofmemory.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/dec6dc/32.png) [@Kiko13](https://forum.artofmemory.com/u/Kiko13)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/usa-memory-championship-questions/29061/3 "2014-01-31T18:09:05Z")
Thanks for the response, this is definitely helpful. ---
**Author:** ![DavidShoup](https://forum.artofmemory.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@DavidShoup](https://forum.artofmemory.com/u/DavidShoup)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://forum.artofmemory.com/t/usa-memory-championship-questions/29061/4 "2014-02-15T00:05:54Z")
For anyone who has competed before, do you know if the Names and Faces competition focuses on more then standard American names? Being the US Memory Championship do they have names from all different nationalities? For example, will we see names like Vladimir (Russian), Mitsuhiko (Japanese), Muhammad (Arabic), Jelani (Africa) etc…? Much like the motto of a Boy Scout, I want to “Be Prepared”. Thanks in advance for any help.