Who was the colony's first Chief Justice? Which significant event in the world of finance caused serious concern among local bankers in February? These are just a few examples of the 1,500 or so Bermuda-inspired brainteasers that will face the 20 students from four secondary schools who will take part in this year's Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation Quiz Contest on Thursday and Saturday.

The contest, which was started in 1985 and has been televised live since 1993, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and the Ministry has assembled an impressive array of sponsors and prizes to commemorate the occasion.

More than $16,000 in prizes are to be provided by the sponsors, including: Special "Current Events'' prizes and $1,000 toward the purchase of library books from The Royal Gazette , which contestants must read to prepare for the quiz.

A computer for the second-place team and $1,000 for the purchase of books from the Bermuda Electric Light Company.

Seven proof sets, 14 uncirculated coins and a special tenth-anniversary donation of silver pins for contestants and officials from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Framed certificates, shields and silver bowls from the Ministry.

And a cruise ship dinner for the winning team from Meyer Travel.

Spectators at the contest, which has become wildly popular in the past few years, will also be eligible for door prizes.

These include a first prize of dinner for two at the Princess Hotel in Pembroke, a second prize of brunch for two at the hotel and a third-prize gift certificate from Otto Wurz Jewellers.

The winning school will be provided with two computers by Bermuda Computer Services and the Argus Group of Companies.

As gratifying as the prizes and the support from the public sector are, however, the real value of the contest lies in the experience it provides to participating students, Youth and Sport Director Mr. Brenton Roberts, who came up with the idea for the contest ten years ago, told The Royal Gazette .

"We've had so many students who have come to us and told us how much the contest has meant to them, how much it improved their knowledge about Bermuda,'' the Director said recently.

"And it's a real thrill for us to see how many of them have performed so well in the contest over the years.'' What wasn't so thrilling, Mr. Roberts recalled, was the "persistently poor'' overseas showings that prompted the official to formulate the quiz.

In the 1970s, Bermudian students who attended the annual Commonwealth Youth Exchange Programme in London were notoriously ill-equipped to share their knowledge of local history, politics and culture with their Commonwealth counterparts.

As Bermudian history wasn't widely taught in those days, Mr. Roberts consequently decided to develop a "fun'' way to impart such knowledge to young people and thereby prepare them for the programme.

The contest developed as a result.

"We assembled a pool of researchers and writers, including (historian and former National Trust director) William Zuill, (former Chief Education Officer) Sinclair Richards and (current Cultural Affairs Officer) Ruth Thomas,'' Mr. Roberts recalled.

"Each was assigned to a particular category and asked to formulate questions on the basis of their knowledge in that category.'' Since then, Mr. Roberts said, the questions have been regularly updated and revised to ensure their accuracy.

The categories, however, have remained the same.

"Contestants are questioned in the areas of history and geography, in current events, in personalities, music and the arts, in sports and in a wild card category,'' Mr. Roberts said.

To prepare for the current events questions, he added, the students are required to read The Royal Gazette every day for some seven months.

In the case of the remaining categories, questions and answers -- about 1,500 in total -- are provided to the contestants in advance.

"Even though they are provided with the 1,500 questions, the contestants are only asked a total of 150 -- 30 in each of the five categories,'' Mr. Roberts explained.

"In other words, they have to know them all.'' Although the contest has become an immense favourite of the public's -- "I'm always amazed to see audience members come in with their books and their score cards,'' said Mr. Roberts -- the interest of the Island's schools has sadly started to dwindle.

"There is some concern that we are down to four schools this year instead of the usual eight,'' Mr. Roberts said.

"Some of the public schools haven't been as participatory as they have been in the past, but we are making appeals and the schools have indicated that they'll be back next year.'' As a result of the decline in participation, this year's semi-final will simply be a run-through, Mr. Roberts explained.

It is to be held in the auditorium of Mount St. Agnes Academy at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday.

The final, meanwhile, is to take place in the Pembroke Room of the Princess at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday.

It will be moderated by Cabinet Secretary Mr. Leo Mills and promises to be just as exciting as in past years, Mr. Roberts said.

"We've had some tie-breakers that go on for a nerve-wracking ten or five minutes,'' he said. "It can be quite suspenseful.'' (The answers to the opening questions, incidentally, are just west of Port Island in Warwick, Thomas Richards (from 1684 to 1687) and the collapse of Barings Bank respectively.)