International History Bee and Bowl


The International History Bee and Bowl are history quiz competitions for individual students and school teams outside the United States. Within the United States, students compete in the comparable National History Bee and Bowl; the same organization, International Academic Competitions, oversees the International and National tournaments. The International History Bee and Bowl debuted in the 2011-2012 school year in Europe and Asia. A European Championship has been held since 2012; the Asian Championships debuted in spring 2014. In the 2014-15 school year, the Australian and New Zealand Division debuted as did the Canadian Division. Tournaments are held in approximately 30 countries each year. IHBB also organizes the International History Olympiad, which debuted in 2015 at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was held in Hawaii in 2016 and Berlin in 2018. Students can qualify for the Olympiad by participating at IHBB tournaments around the world or by taking an official qualifying exam administered by a teacher if no IHBB tournament exists nearby.
The International History Bee and Bowl test knowledge of all aspects of history in a buzzer-based competition format, which bears a resemblance to some television quiz shows. However, unlike on a quiz show most IHBB questions are paragraph-length, and move from harder to easier information. When students think they know the answer, they ring in with the buzzer. If they are correct, they, or their team members get points, if incorrect, then the other students or the other team has an opportunity to hear the rest of the question. All IHBB matches are conducted in English - tournaments in other languages may be added at some point in the future.
The International History Bee and Bowl World Championships are contested at the International History Olympiad. However, the International History Bowl World Championships features matches between teams of 2 or 3 students representing either a particular US state or country and is thus unlike any other International History Bowl competition. A full list of IHBB world champions is maintained on the International History Olympiad page.

Regional tournaments

Regional tournaments are held throughout Asia, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Any school or student may attend as long as they have not participated at an earlier regional tournament that school year. Each tournament features a varsity division for students roughly 16–18 years of age, a junior varsity division for students roughly 13–15 years of age, and a middle school division for younger students.
Each tournament features a series of preliminary rounds for the History Bee for individual students and the History Bowl for teams. Students who finish in the top half in their age classification for the History Bee, and Bowl teams who finish the preliminary rounds with a.500 winning percentage or better qualify for their regional Championships, as well as the International History Olympiad. At the end of the preliminary rounds, the top Bee students advance to the Bee Finals, while Bowl teams are seeded according to their preliminary results and advance to the playoffs.

Championships

Students and teams who finish in the top half of their regional tournament earn the right to compete at the Canadian, European and Asian Championships. The Championships also feature a Consolation Bee for students attending with their History Bowl team who did not qualify for the Bee Championships, as well as a Geography Bee which is open to all. The Championships in Europe and Asia also feature a separate Sports and Entertainment History Bee which is open to all participants, including coaches and also an all-subject team quiz competition, the Academic Bowl of Asia. Unique to the European Championship is a location related event played near or in a local attraction. Past examples have included tournament finals held at the Palace of Versailles, the King Charle's Bridge, and the Colosseum.
The 2012 European Championships were held in Grasse, France; the 2013 and 2019 European Championships were held in Paris; the 2014 and 2017 Championships were in Rome, the 2015 Championships in Switzerland, the 2016 Championships were in Berlin, and the 2018 European Championships were held in Prague. The Asian Championships were held in Hong Kong in 2014, in Singapore in 2017, and in Khao Lak, Thailand in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. The inaugural Canadian Championships were held in 2015, 2017, and 2019 in Ottawa, and the 2016 and 2018 Canadian Championships were held in Toronto.
Qualified students and schools from African and Middle Eastern countries are welcome to compete at either the IHBB European or Asian Championships, but not both in any given year. Plans for expanding European and African offerings for the 2019-2020 school year exist.

International History Bee - European Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2012Maria WittemanAmerican School of Madrid
2013Maria WittemanAmerican School of Madrid
2014Cameron BainbridgeCollege du Leman
2015Cameron BainbridgeCollege du Leman
2016Ishaan BhardwajSevenoaks School
2017Brychan HallAbu Dhabi Homeschool
2018Chris ThornEton College
2019Juan Carlo LandayanQatar Academy Sidra

Junior Varsity

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2012Daniel NazarovBritish School of Geneva
2013Andrew LewisSwiss International School Basel
2014Adam WrightThe American School of Madrid
2015Jackson StewartBlack Forest Academy
2016Sam BrennanSt. Stephen's School
2017Kai SchärerInter-Community School Zurich
2018Marek SicinskiThe British School, Warsaw
2019Ido KonsReali School

Middle School

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2014Antonio PattoriInternational School of Geneva
2015Marcus BanyaiInternational School of Stuttgart
2016Thomas WilsonHockerill Anglo-European College
2017Adam RizzoliQSI International School, Ljubljana
2018Pedro Juan OrduzInternational School of Zug and Luzern
2019Filip FirlejCollège André Corbet

International History Bowl - European Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionCityCountry
2012American School of MadridMadrid, Spain
2013American School of MadridMadrid, Spain
2014Collège du LémanVersoix, Switzerland
2015Collège du LémanVersoix, Switzerland
2016Katedralskolan, LundLund, Sweden
2017Stefan Batory High SchoolWarsaw, Poland
2018International School of Zug and LuzernBaar, Switzerland
2019Hockerill Anglo-European CollegeBishop's Stortford, England

Junior Varsity

YearChampionCityCountry
2012Swiss International School BaselBasel, Switzerland
2013American School in LondonLondon, England
2014International School of LausanneLausanne, Switzerland
2015International School of GenevaGeneva, Switzerland
2016St. Stephen's SchoolRome, Italy
2017Inter-Community School ZurichZumikon, Switzerland
2018The British School, WarsawWarsaw, Poland
2019Eton CollegeWindsor

Middle School

YearChampionCityCountry
2014Arnold House SchoolLondon, England
2015International School of StuttgartStuttgart, Germany
2016Hockerill Anglo-European CollegeBishop's Stortford, England
2017Lyceum Alpinum ZuozZuoz, Switzerland
2018Collège André CorbetSamoëns, France
2019QSI International School of LjubljanaLjubljana, Slovenia

International History Bee - Asian Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2014Suntiparp SomsakInternational Community School
2015Suntiparp SomsakInternational Community School
2016Sirapong KancvalskulConcordian International School
2017Boyang HouHwa Chong Institution
2018Vijay SiddharthNPS International School
2019Samuel FooRaffles Institution

Junior Varsity

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2014Nicolas GruenwaldSingapore American School
2015Haripoom PrasutchaiInternational Community School
2016Priyankar KandarpaNPS International School
2017Vijay SiddharthNPS International School
2018Frank LinShanghai High School International Division
2019Alejandro EspinoInternational Christian Academy

Middle School

YearChampionSchoolCountry
2014Chansol ParkHong Kong International School
2015Chansol ParkShanghai American School - Pudong Campus
2016Wesley ZhangHigh School Affiliated to Renmin University of China
2017Elizabeth EnrightDulwich College Singapore
2018Calvin PanShanghai High School International Division
2019John Lance BautistaLa Salle Green Hills

International History Bowl - Asian Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionCityCountry
2014International Community SchoolBangkok
2015International Community SchoolBangkok
2016Concordian International SchoolBangkok
2017Hwa Chong InstitutionSingapore
2018Shanghai High School International DivisionShanghai
2019Hwa Chong InstitutionSingapore

Junior Varsity

YearChampionCityCountry
2014Singapore American SchoolSingapore
2015NPS International SchoolSingapore
2016NPS International SchoolSingapore
2017Shanghai American School - Puxi CampusShanghai
2018Tsinghua International SchoolBeijing
2019Shanghai High School International DivisionShanghai

Middle School

YearChampionCityCountry
2014Hong Kong International SchoolHong Kong
2015Shanghai High School International DivisionShanghai
2016Shanghai High School International DivisionShanghai
2017International Christian AcademyParañaque
2018Shanghai High School International DivisionShanghai
2019La Salle Green HillsMandaluyong

International History Bee - Canadian Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionSchoolProvince
2015Cameron AminiColonel By Secondary School
2016Sheena LiLisgar Collegiate Institute
2017Gareth ThorlaksonUniversity of Toronto Schools
2018Ryan HamiltonRoyal St. George's College
2019Oliver WeizelUniversity of Toronto Schools

Junior Varsity

YearChampionSchoolProvince
2015Gareth ThorlaksonUniversity of Toronto Schools
2016Ryan HamiltonRoyal St. George's College
2017Oliver WeizelUniversity of Toronto Schools
2018Oliver WeizelUniversity of Toronto Schools
2019Vivek SapruUniversity of Toronto Schools

Middle School

YearChampionSchoolProvince
2015Darcy MazloumLoyola High School
2016Oliver WeizelUniversity of Toronto Schools
2017Cameron Miranda-RadbordUniversity of Toronto Schools
2018Vivek SapruUniversity of Toronto Schools
2019Sreesa VirinchiUniversity of Toronto Schools

International History Bowl - Canadian Division Champions

Varsity

YearChampionCityProvince
2015Lisgar Collegiate InstituteOttawa
2016Lisgar Collegiate InstituteOttawa
2017University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2018University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2019University of Toronto SchoolsToronto

Junior Varsity

YearChampionCityProvince
2015Royal St. George's CollegeToronto
2016University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2017Lisgar Collegiate InstituteOttawa
2018University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2019University of Toronto SchoolsToronto

Middle School

YearChampionCityProvince
2015Selwyn House SchoolWestmount
2016University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2017University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2018University of Toronto SchoolsToronto
2019University of Toronto SchoolsToronto