This weekend at the Palais de l’Europe in Menton took place the 16th edition of the French Monopoly Championships. Fifty entries for a single winner. But, so that the games don’t drag on, they don’t play quite like us at home.
Who to succeed Anaïs Mathieu, the young (16 years old) French Champion of Monopoly 2021?
Registration was open and free this weekend in Menton, and around fifty aficionados tried their luck, or their strategy. Because that’s what Monopoly is, a subtle mix of chance and tactics.
“It’s the dice that decide, we’re just there to support them. You have to make the right alliances with the right people, pay attention to the cards you take, exchange, block others… I love it!“ Explain Anais Mathieu.
Unfortunately, the young woman was eliminated before the semi-final, after a laborious game.
For these championships, the games are played with four players and last one hour. No more. Gone are the endless Monopoly evenings, with friendships that end in front of the game board.
For this, a special die that allows you to advance the pawns more quickly by going to special squares. These game actions will automatically speed up the game. Another change, when a player finds a property, but does not buy it, it is directly auctioned for the other three players.
At the end of the hour, either one player has succeeded in eliminating the other three. Either the richest player wins.
We asked Philippe Pinoli, triple champion of France and organizer of the championships to explain his vision of the game. “The goal, officially, is to be the richest at the end. In fact, to be the richest, the easiest way is to eliminate all the others. So to ruin them. Once they have no more money, you are the last in line. And to be the richest, it’s quite simple, you have to eliminate the others so you have to make them pay big rents. So you have to have a monopoly. And to have a monopoly either you have to be lucky with the dice or you have to trade. And that’s the real key to the game. “
After the qualifying phases this Saturday, 16 players were able to participate in the final phases this Sunday. First qualifying games, then the semi-final and finally THE final four.
At the end of a game that was played in the last moments, it was Émilie Cogneras Rebeyre who won the title for her very first qualification. She has success has eliminate his three opponents five minutes from the end of regulation time.