Speed Numbers training: 5‑minute numbers with official scoring

The digits are computer-generated and presented in rows of 40, with up to 25 rows on a page. The rulebook sizes the sheet at the current world record plus 20%, so nobody runs out of digits. Time and trials depend on the level of the competition:

Standard mode here gives you a full 1,000-digit page, more than the rules require, and two trials on fresh sheets. Your better trial is your score, and each trial is saved to your history on its own.

Scoring is row by row, and a single slip costs half a row, so accuracy matters more than raw speed. These are the WMSC rules, with the examples the rulebook itself uses:

• 40A complete row, all 40 correctFull marks for the row.
• 20A complete row with one mistakeA wrong digit or a missing digit — either counts as the one mistake.
• 0Two or more mistakes in a rowMissing digits count here too.
• 0A row left completely blankNo penalty for missing rows.
• 29Last row: 29 digits written, all correctAn incomplete last row scores the digits you recalled.
• 15Last row: 29 written, one mistakeHalf of 29 is 14.5, and odd halves are rounded up.

Only your last row gets the partial-row rule. If you stop early in any earlier row, the missing digits are mistakes, and that row almost certainly scores 0. With two trials, your final score is the better one; ties go to the better second trial, then to decision points — one for each correctly placed digit in the rows of your best trial that scored 0.

• Guess inside a row, never leave a gap. A blank is always a mistake; a guess is right about one time in ten. Inside a row you are writing anyway, guessing can only help.
• Stop your last row where your confidence stops. Twenty-nine sure digits score 29. Padding the row to 40 with guesses will most likely add two mistakes and turn it into 0.
• Review before you add. A row with one error loses 20 points — as much as half a new row gains. Finishing with a review of rows you already hold is often worth more than reaching one more row.
• Use the two trials differently. Only the better trial counts, so you can bank a safe score in trial 1 and attack a bigger target in trial 2.
• Encode in fixed chunks. A digit system turns rows into images: two digits per image with the Major System, or more with a PAO system, placed along a memory palace route.

The full method, from choosing a digit system to building a journey, is in How to memorise numbers for competition.