Sports

Rock Paper Scissors World Championship Set for Toronto on October 25

by Jon Azpiri | October 23, 2008 at 11:41 am

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More than 500 contestants will be in Toronto to compete at this year's Yahoo! Rock Paper Scissors Championship on October 25. The contest, put on by the World RPS Society, takes the old schoolyard game and turns it into a competitive sport. This year's winner will receive a $10,000 prize.

Among the competitors will be Mark Julien. a Quebec native who won $1,000 at last year's contest.

"It's a big joke and everyone knows it, but still we take it seriously," Julien said.

Like most kids, Julien, 27, grew up playing the game, in which two opponents face off and "throw" a series of hand gestures.

A closed fist is a rock, a palm-down hand is paper and two splayed fingers represent scissors. (See sidebar below for the rules.)

The tournament is a round robin, and there are referees to monitor style and rule on illegal gestures.

For example, three fingers instead of two for a scissors and you're out.

The event is being sponsored by online giant Yahoo, who have created a elaborate website for the event and have posted a documentary about the evolution of the sport.

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Jason Sanders

at 11:45 on October 23rd, 2008

I did RPS over flickr when Zefrank setup the ol' Colour Wars. Those were the days...

TheBigTog

at 16:46 on October 23rd, 2008

I didn't realize this competition existed. I wonder if there's a Connect Four championship out there somewhere.

TheBigTog has contributed a photo to this story.