Wouldn’t it be great to be a world champion at something? Sure, you might not run as fast or jump as high as some world famous athletes but there must be something you are incredibly good at.
For example, maybe you an absolute whizz at your favourite board game. Have friends and relatives started grumbling that you are always giving them a sound thrashing every time you play? If this is the case then maybe it is time to see whether you have the skills to become a true world champion.
The Monopoly World Championships
Like the football World Cup, this global event is held every 4 years and attracts players from all round the planet. It started out in the mid-70s and seems to be a really serious business. The last tournament I can find details on was in 2009, so presumably there was one in 2013 as well. Back in 2009 the event was held in Las Vegas and the winner was a Norwegian chap called Bjørn Halvard Knappskog. If you are confident that you always buy the right property at the right time then you need to contact Hasbro to find out how to enter.
The Scrabble World Championships
The great thing about the world championships for Scrabble is that there are different ones for different languages. If English isn’t your strongest language then there are also French and Spanish versions too. In the English version, players joust to find the longest and highest scoring words every couple of years. The 2013 championship was held in Prague and won by a New Zealand master wordsmith by the name of Nigel Richards. Over 100 competitors tend to take part every year, so you will need to be sure of your ability to make words out of random series of letters against a big field of rivals. If you don’t fancy your chances of coming up with huge words then you could try making up your own board game at admagic.com/custom-board-games.html and getting a world championship event started.
The Draughts World Championship(s)
You need to be careful when entering for this event, as there are two different world championships with similar names. If what you are a genius at is checkers then you want the English Draughts World Championship, while the other one is the International Draughts World Championship. This is a great board game which also has world rankings for its players. This means that you could have the pleasure of seeing how you shoot up the rankings with every victory you pull off.
Backgammon World Championships
Is backgammon your thing? Hey, they’ve got a tournament for that too. This world championship has been on the go since 1967 and there is even a European Backgammon tour you could look to get involved in. If you sometimes watch Eurosport you might even have caught the impressive final of the World Series of Backgammon Championship one time. €160,000 was up for grabs in this event, so it is obviously a serious business. If you want a great trip to go with your backgammon tournament then the week long European Open event held in Monte Carlo is massively popular. Alternatively, you could head to the Bahamas for an alternative tournament. It looks like a fun life being a competitive backgammon player.
Shogi World Championships
Maybe you would like to try your hand at something completely different. Shogi is also known as Japanese Chess and there is a big tournament held in Japan regularly. You should be warned though that there are professional players in Japan who have been playing this hugely complex board game for years. You are going to need a lot of practise if you are going to take them on and hope to emerge victorious.
Hnefatafl World Championships
For something even more intriguing you might want to try and become a world champion at hnefatafl. This is an ancient Viking game which died out around the time of the first crusade. Enthusiasts have been working for the last few years to understand and modernise the rules of this chess-like game. Now that this has been done there is even a world championship you can try and win. Where it is held? Bizarrely, the tiny and sparsely populated Shetland Island of Fetlar is where you can try your luck. The 2013 championships happened in July, with adults paying £5 to enter and kids joining in with the medieval fun for free. Getting there might be the most complicated part of all. The travelling instructions to Fetlar sound pretty complicated even if you are already in another part of the Shetland Islands, with a number of interconnecting ferries needed.
Bob Emerald loves his board games and sets his goals at being the worlds ultimate kerplunk champion.
