World DipCon V

Results

The Fifth World Championship

Complete results are available via post from the address at the conclusion of this article, but due to their weight, please send a self-addressed envelope and the stamps necessary for 50 grams to reach you from France.

Our new World Champion is Bruno-André Giraudon. He is a well-known French player (if memory serves, I remember having played with him as long ago as the French Championship of 1985, organized by Crozier and Blanchot, where he placed second with Lei Saarleinen behind Bruno de Scoraille). Everybody agrees that he deserved this title more than anyone because he is regularly on the World Championship podiums. He was third in Australia in 1993, and third again in the UK in 1994. Congratulations on reaching the top spot. He was rewarded with the traditional cup and games and with two special awards: a financial allowance of 3000 French francs [roughly $600] offered by Jeux Descartes, the French distributor of Diplomacy, for use to travel to the next World DipCon in Ohio, and a special Cup, the World DipCup, which will be passed on from each World Champion to the next, as is the case in all major world competitions.

Second place went to a Portuguese citizen living in France and well-known in the French hobby, Tony Ribiero da Silva. Third was a young and promising French player, Thomas Scebeyran.

The highest placing non-French speaker was Sigurd Eskeland, who came eighth, while Leif Bergmann, who was the only non-French speaker at the finale table, finished eleventh. Vittorio de Pino was the highest female finisher (coming 59th with 22 points) and Jean-Noel Rivasseau, the youngest player (and, by the way, my nephew) at 14 years, finished 47th with 29.66 points).

The final scores of all players are listed in the table below. The power played by each of the seven players at the finale table is shown in boldface.

Best Countries

Nation's Cup (World Team Championship)

We had at the start four national teams: France, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Belgium had problems because J.F. Delattre was late due to the strikes. So we authorized the Belgians to choose a non-Belgian replacement player, and they chose Peter Berlin (UK). We then constituted a Mediterranean team (Portugal, Greece, and a French player currently living in the Mediterranean). At this point we had to accept a second national team, and rather than constituting a second French team, priority was given to the foreign players, and a second Swedish team was entered.

This idea proved sane, and Sweden took the Nation's Cup, with the second Swedish team being named European Champion Team. The results of this Nation's Cup are as given below, with the scoring system being the same used for the WDC.

An impressive Swedish success, then, which is particularly significant because the three games played in this Cup were played until Autumn of 1911, which is much more demanding and is nearer to the method of play in the USA [where games are played to an 18 center victory or an agreed draw].

It is worthy to note the exceptional level of the three games played. No doubt that for pure competitors this Cup proved to be a very special moment and a great success. I really hope that this formula will be adopted for the future World DipCons because it provides an interesting middle ground between the "Master's rounds" type of game, always difficult to organize and to make popular, and the common open-ended World DipCon type of game.

Yohann Agostini was crowned World Gunboat Champion. The results from the finale table are shown below.

Other results from round 2 had Laurent Alexandre take an true victory with an 18 center Italy on table 2 (second was Sebastien Scherr who played an 8 center Austria), and on table 3, Hervé Roset won with a 15 center Italy.

The top ten finishers in the tournament are shown below.

Three players took part in the Gunboat Championship but not in the World Championship competition. These were Sebastien Scherr, Raphael Cherel, and Louis Dellion. The games provided some good moments and some funny situations, as is always the case in gunboat competitons.

Other Activities

Additionally, a museum of the French Diplomacy hobby was presented.

Quality of Games and Ethics

Three reasons may account for this satisfactory situation: the general level of the players, the homogeneity of the level of the tables of each round (except the first, of course), which was reached thanks to our player scheduling software, and, last but not least, the ethic of play which we succeeded in promoting.

One word about this; we made public during the WDC the oath of ethics designed within the European Diplomacy Association for the next European DipCon (reproduced below). Every player was warned that the referees would closely watch the ethical aspect of play and would not accept playing for others rather than for one's self. Particular care would be given to possible 18 center victories which could have been attributed to ethical irregularity in the competition. It was not necessary to do anything; merely making this announcement proved sufficient. As a consequence, all players fought until the end as they are expected to do at this level of competition, and we had no "collective plays" to observe.

The conclusion I draw from this experience is that advising the players in this manner as to the ethical aspects of the game improves both the level of the games and the atmosphere of the tournament, particularly for the travellers who, as a result, should not fear a savage and uninteresting coalition of local players against them. This is why I personally recommend, in my capacity of Chairman of WDC V, to the incoming WDC Chairman, to adopt a similar demarche regarding ethics in Ohio.

EDA Ethics Oath

1. You should always play so that you maximize your own score and ranking in the tournament, or in the game you are playing.
2. You should not engage in cross-gaming. That is, you must not give favors to another player in exchange for assistance in earlier games or for the hope or promise of assistance in later games. Every game is a new one and should be treated as such. You should not try to take revenge for a stab or elimination which occurred in any other game.
3. You should act properly when conducting diplomacy with other players and must not cheat or complain at the least provocation. You should act the statesman you are supposed to be.
4. You should never attack or ally with any other player for purely ethnical or geographic reasons.

Organization

I would also like to thank very particularly Elise Brun, who worked instead of played, and Elisabeth Grigoriantz, who has since become my wife. Both worked hard to make each of the three days a success; they arranged reception, registration, food and drinks, and collected the entry fees. A great thanks goes to them for their devotion and the nice smiles they provided throughout.

I am delighted to thank M. Nicolas Dupré and his team, who provided video materials. They made a great video of the WDC, which was successfully sold at the end of the tournament, and was sent to purchasers in the following days.

Meeting of the Diplomacy Society

Next World DipCon

• There is a unanimous disagreement to the proposal to keep the scoring system for WDC VI secret. The idea of a World Championship tournament without a publically announced scoring system is rejected. Everyone considers that such a system would seriously undermine the credibility and the seriousness of the competition, give rise to suspicions that some players may know the rules better than others, and result in a general lack of transparency which would damage the ethic and the atmosphere of the games. The assembly thus urged the organizing committee for WDC VI to make their scoring system public, as has been the custom with all World Championships.
• The idea of selecting a European resident to sit on the incoming host committee, and an American for the next World DipCon held outside of America was introduced and was well-received. Bjorn von Knorring of Sweden volunteered and was designated to be the European representative on the host committee for WDC VI. He made clear to those assembled that he would advocate strongly for a public scoring system.
• It was widely wished that the conditions for participation of overseas (European, Australian, etc.) players at WDC VI be made as attractive as possible and that the practice in Paris for WDC V (full waiver of entry fees and providing the possibility of free lodging) would be repeated.
• The meeting strongly suggested the adoption, publication, and announcement of an ethical policy similar to that used in WDC V.
• In answer to a question, representatives from Sweden and Norway indicated that they will present a bid to host World DipCon VII (1997) in Scandinavia. This received the unanimous support of those present.
• It was felt unfortunate that the timing of WDC VI will be such that it will occur only one week after the European DipCon in Oslo. This may create some frustration and inability to attend.

Future of The World Hobby

The philosophy of my proposal was to reintroduce the three basic principles of our 1994 Chairman, Ian Bowen:

1. Equitable geographic rotation of the World DipCon
2. Independence of our hobby from economic or national interests
3. Minimum organization

• Circulate information about World DipCon and our hobby as quickly as possible. The idea is to build a new network of correspondents worldwide.
• Assist, in their respective regions, the Chairman and the host committee to make the WDC's a success, including attempting to secure the attendance of the best players from those regions.
• Attend to the general interests of the hobby, and, to that end, make specific proposals of further missions at the next WDC in Ohio.

The Decision Making Process of The Diplomacy Society

World DipCup

Conclusion