THE ART OF WAR
Chris Brand, holder of the North American and world champion titles for strategy epic Diplomacy, talks about mastering the discussion-driven game
The first time Chris Brand encountered Diplomacy, it wasn’t exactly love at first play.
“My dad actually owned a copy, and I remember trying to play the three-player variant in the rules with him and my brother,” he says. “That was absolutely horrible – don’t do it.”
His next few experiences with Allan B. Calhamer’s epic political simulation were similarly less than ideal, but something kept Brand coming back.
“I remember playing at school when I was 16 to 18,” he explains. “A group of us used to play in the lunch hour with ridiculously short deadlines – five minutes, I think. I don’t remember being particularly good, although I did have a lot of fun.
“I may have played once at the university board gaming club. Then there was a long drought until I got an email address and discovered the play-by-email scene. That kept me going for a while, and some of the online resources helped improve my game.”