Tournaments for the Diplomacy board game have been conducted around the world for decades.
The World Diplomacy Championship
[edit]During the 1970s, there were very few Diplomacy tournaments outside North America. At that time, the winner of the tournament held at American DipCon was considered by the North American players as a world champion of Diplomacy.
The World Diplomacy Convention (WorldDipCon or WDC) was created in 1988 and the winner of the tournament held at this convention ("The World Diplomacy Championship") is acknowledged as the World Diplomacy Champion (also called the WDC Champion).
The location of each WDC, with the players taking the top three places in the tournament held there, are listed below:
Year | Host City | Host Country | World Champion | Second | Third |
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1988 | Birmingham | ![]() |
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1990 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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1992 | Canberra | ![]() |
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1994 | Birmingham | ![]() |
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1995 | Paris | ![]() |
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1996 | Columbus | ![]() |
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1997 | Gothenburg | ![]() |
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1998 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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1999 | Namur | ![]() |
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2000 | Hunt Valley | ![]() |
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2001 | Paris | ![]() |
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2002 | Canberra | ![]() |
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2003 | Denver | ![]() |
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2004 | Birmingham | ![]() |
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2005 | Washington[1] | ![]() |
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2006 | Berlin | ![]() |
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2007 | Vancouver | ![]() |
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2008 | Lockenhaus | ![]() |
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2009 | Columbus | ![]() |
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2010 | The Hague | ![]() |
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2011 | Sydney | ![]() |
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2012 | Chicago | ![]() |
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2013 | Paris | ![]() |
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2014 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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2015 | Milan | ![]() |
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2016 | Chicago | ![]() |
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2017 | Oxford | ![]() |
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2018 | Washington | ![]() |
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2019 | Marseille | ![]() |
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2020 and 2021 | Event not held | ||||
2022 | Dover | ![]() |
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2023 | Bangkok | ![]() |
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2024 | Varedo | ![]() |
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2025 | San Francisco | ![]() |
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2026 | Athens | ![]() |
The 2020 event was originally scheduled for Dover, USA, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the already-selected 2020 (Dover) and 2021 (Bangkok) events were pushed back two years.
Virtual Face-to-Face
[edit]Online play with real-time voice negotiations, known as virtual face-to-face, became widespread in 2020, leading to three major annual competitions with global participation.
Virtual Diplomacy Championship (VDC)
[edit]The VDC is an open tournament held over a single weekend in December. Rounds are scheduled to be convenient to players around the world.
Virtual Diplomacy League (VDL)
[edit]The VDL is an open league with monthly gamedays and rounds convenient to players around the world. The season culminates in a championship game held in January.
Diplomacy Broadcast Network Invitational (DBNI)
[edit]The DBNI is an invitational tournament held annually in February. Players earn invitations based on their performance at a wide variety of Diplomacy competitions over the previous year, including in-person face-to-face, virtual face-to-face, and extended deadline online play. The champion receives the title "DBN Diplomat of the Year".
Year | Diplomat of the Year | Runners-up |
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2021 | ![]() |
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2022 | ![]() |
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2024 | ![]() |
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Online Diplomacy Championship
[edit]Created in 2015, the Online Diplomacy Championship occurs once every two years, rotating between a number of Diplomacy websites. The winner is considered to be the World Champion of Online Diplomacy, a format in which phases are processed once every one or two days, and all correspondence is sent in written form via the host site. Players in online tournaments typically play under pseudonyms, and accept the title under these names.
The players taking the top three places in each ODC tournament are listed below.
Year | Host Website | Online Champion | Second | Third |
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2015 | webDiplomacy | ![]() |
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2017 | PlayDiplomacy | ![]() ![]() |
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2019 | webDiplomacy | ![]() |
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2022 | PlayDiplomacy | ![]() |
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North America
[edit]DipCon
[edit]The winner of the DipCon (Diplomacy Convention) tournament is the North American champion. The title of North American champion was not given at the beginning, but since 1972 has been awarded to each winner of the convention tournament. DipCon was created in 1966 and occurred each year (except in 1967 and 1968). There was no tournament in 1966,[3] 1969[4] 1971, and 2020.
The winner of each DipCon North American Championship tournament:
Year | Host City | Host Country | North American Champion | Notes |
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1970 | Oklahoma City | ![]() |
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1972 | Chicago | ![]() |
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1973 | Chicago | ![]() |
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1974 | Chicago | ![]() |
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1975 | Chicago | ![]() |
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1976 | Baltimore | ![]() |
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1977 | Lake Geneva | ![]() |
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1978 | Los Angeles | ![]() |
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1979 | Chester | ![]() |
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1980 | Rochester | ![]() |
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1981 | Burlingame | ![]() |
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[5] |
1982 | Baltimore | ![]() |
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1983 | Detroit | ![]() |
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[6] |
1984 | Dallas | ![]() |
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1985 | Seattle | ![]() |
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1986 | Fredericksburg | ![]() |
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[7] |
1987 | Madison | ![]() |
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1988 | San Antonio | ![]() |
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1989 | San Diego | ![]() |
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[8] |
1990 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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[9] |
1991 | Scarborough | ![]() |
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1992 | Lenexa | ![]() |
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1993 | San Mateo | ![]() |
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1994 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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1995 | Baltimore | ![]() |
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1996 | Columbus | ![]() |
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[9] |
1997 | Seattle | ![]() |
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1998 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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[9] |
1999 | Columbus | ![]() |
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2000 | Hunt Valley | ![]() |
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[9][10] |
2001 | Denver | ![]() |
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2002 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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2003 | Washington | ![]() |
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2004 | Portland | ![]() |
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2005 | At Sea | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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[11] |
2006 | Charlottesville | ![]() |
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2007 | Vancouver | ![]() |
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[9] |
2008 | Tysons Corner[12] | ![]() |
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[13] |
2009 | Columbus | ![]() |
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[9][14] |
2010 | San Francisco | ![]() |
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2011 | Fairlee, Vermont | ![]() |
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2012 | Chicago | ![]() |
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[9] |
2013 | Silver Spring | ![]() |
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2014 | Seattle | ![]() |
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[15] |
2015 | Philadelphia | ![]() |
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2016 | Chicago | ![]() |
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2017 | Killington, Vermont | ![]() |
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2018 | Washington | ![]() |
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[16] |
2019 | Seattle | ![]() |
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2021 | Dover, Vermont | ![]() |
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[17] |
2022 | San Jose | ![]() |
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2023 | Chapel Hill | ![]() |
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[18] |
2024 | Surrey | ![]() |
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2025 | Chicago | ![]() |
North American Grand Prix
[edit]The winner of each Grand Prix:
Europe
[edit]EuroDipCon
[edit]The location and winner of each EuroDipCon tournament is listed below:
Year | Host City | Host Country | European Champion | Notes |
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1993 | Paris | ![]() |
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1994 | Linköping | ![]() |
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1995 | Cirencester | ![]() |
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1996 | Oslo | ![]() |
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1997 | Namur | ![]() |
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1998 | Bedford | ![]() |
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1999 | Turku | ![]() |
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2000 | Paris | ![]() |
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2001 | Dublin | ![]() |
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2002 | Malmö | ![]() |
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2003 | Dogana | ![]() |
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2004 | Darmstadt | ![]() |
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[19] |
2005 | Utrecht | ![]() |
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2006 | Cheshunt | ![]() |
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2007 | Marseille | ![]() |
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2008 | Brunate | ![]() |
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2009 | Bonn | ![]() |
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2010 | Paris | ![]() |
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2011 | Derby | ![]() |
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2012 | Serravalle | ![]() |
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2013 | Namur | ![]() |
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2014 | Rome | ![]() |
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[20] |
2015 | Leicester | ![]() |
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2016 | Paris | ![]() |
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2017 | Milan | ![]() |
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2018 | Paris | ![]() |
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2019 | Marseille | ![]() |
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2020 | Sion | ![]() |
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2021 | Serravalle | ![]() |
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2022 | Sierre | ![]() |
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2023 | Paris | ![]() |
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European Grand Prix
[edit]The winner of each Grand Prix is listed below:
Australia and New Zealand
[edit]Bismark Cup
[edit]In the early 1980s the Diplomacy scene in Australia was built around several PBM Diplomacy magazines, of which the most significant titles were Rumplestiltskin, The Go Between, Beowulf, Victoriana, The Journal of Australian Diplomacy, and The Envoy. Most of the tournament players were subscribers, players and editors of these magazines. The Envoy, which was published between 1986 and 1991, ran a series of articles which were both popular and influential. Purportedly written by Arthur von Bismark and styled as lecture transcripts, the character of Arthur von Bismark became celebrated among the contemporary Diplomacy subculture in Australia.
The articles were popular at a time when tournament play in Australia had become more organized, with well-attended tournaments in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. Rating systems at the time were being hotly debated and many players desired a way to assess the best player in the tournament scene for a calendar year, as a way of overcoming the perceived inconsistencies of rating systems within one event. The annual trophy concept was accepted among the then-principle organizers of these tournaments and the title Arthur Bismark Cup was suggested by The Envoy's then-editor Mathew Gibson.
The real author of these Arthur von Bismark articles was never announced publicly, but was suspected as being either Harry Kolotas, Marion Ashworth, Neil Ashworth or Luke Clutterbuck.
When The National Tournaments Championship was created, its perpetual trophy was named The Arthur Bismark Cup (usually referred to as simply the Bismark Cup). The title of Bismark Cup Champion is awarded by the Diplomacy Association of Australia and New Zealand (DAANZ) for the best aggregate tournament results at Diplomacy tournaments held during the calendar year. It is an annual (short term) ranking. The exact number of points awarded depends on the size of the tournaments and the person's placing in that tournament.
The winner of each Bismark Cup is listed below:
As the Cup has not been awarded since that year, the 2016 winner Tim Jones is still considered the "current holder of the Bismark Cup".[21]
Diplomacy World Cup
[edit]The Diplomacy World Cup is a team-based tournament in Online Diplomacy, a format in which phases are processed once every one or two days, and all correspondence is sent in written form via the host site. Players in online tournaments often play under pseudonyms, and accept the title under these names.
Two different tournaments, the Diplomacy National World Cup and the webDiplomacy World Cup, are grouped together in this category. The Diplomacy National World Cup only ran twice, once in 2007 and once in 2010. The webDiplomacy World Cup had its first iteration in 2010, and runs once every two years, with the exception of 2014 as the 2012 World Cup was still ongoing. WebDiplomacy World Cup teams are not country-specific, and can instead be from regions.
Edition | Members of the World champion team | Members of second team | Members of third team |
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2007 [22] | France![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Italy![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Argentina![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2010 [22] | Ireland![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
United States![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
France![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2010 [23] | South America![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Southeast Europe![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Iberia![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2012 [23] | California A![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Iberia![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Balkans![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2016 [23] | Cascadia![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Dixie![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sweden![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2018 [23] | Cascadia![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Greatest Lakes![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
California![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2020 [23] | Yorkshire Puddings![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Eastern Canada![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Prosecco![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
See also
[edit]Diplomacy List of world championships in mind sports
Notes
[edit]- ^ Originally scheduled to be in Hunt Valley, but moved when the original host convention moved from Hunt Valley to Lancaster.
- ^ Tournament scoring in ODC 2017 allowed for a tie for first place.
- ^ DipCon I held in Youngstown, and hosted by John Koning in his home, 31 August 1666.
- ^ DipCon II held in Youngstown, because "...we had so much fun last time, let's do it again."
- ^ Held as part of Origins, which was in San Mateo, but held in a separate hotel because of space limitations
- ^ We can see in Diplomacy World 35 that the name of the winner is Joyce Singer.
- ^ The best North American player,
Marc Hurwitz, finished 2nd.
- ^ Hohn Cho won the 1989 DipCon Diplomacy tournament, but that year's "DipCon Champion" was decided by a number of events.
- ^ a b c d e f g This year, the DipCon was the WorldDipCon.
- ^ The best North American player,
Matthew Shields, finished 3rd.
- ^ Played during a cruise from Galveston
and with several stops: Progreso
, Cozumel
and Belize City
.
- ^ DipCon status was removed from the Bangor event by the NADF on 30 July 2008.
- ^ Results Disputed. Under normal hobby practice, the Tournament Director is ineligible for prizes due to real or perceived conflicts of interest. David Webster acted as TD, but still declared himself the winner.
- ^ The best North American player,
Jim O'Kelley, finished 3rd.
- ^ The best North American player,
Chris Martin, finished 2nd.
- ^ The best North American player,
Doug Moore, finished 2nd.
- ^ DipCon 2020 reported in 2021 (COVID-19).
- ^ The best North American player,
Michael A. Binder, finished 2nd.
- ^ First European:
Gihan Bandaranaike (second of the tournament).
- ^ First European:
Filippo Lonardo (second of the tournament).
- ^ "Diplomacy Results and Rankings". daanz.org. Diplomacy Association of Australia and New Zealand. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
The current holder of the Bismark Cup (the 2016 winner) is Tim Jones.
- ^ a b This tournament was an iteration of the Diplomacy National World Cup.
- ^ a b c d e This tournament was an iteration of the webDiplomacy World Cup.