Monopoly U.S. National Championships in April

Players interested in competing in the 2009 Monpoly U.S. National Championship Tournament, scheduled for April 14-15 in Washington, D.C., should visit Monopoly.com by March 12 (this Thursday) to sign up. The qualification process includes taking a quiz at Monopoly.com and scoring 80 percent or better (16 of the 20 questions).

Those who achieve a score of 80 percent or more will be invited to answer five essay questions for further scoring by the judges. After that, 24 contestants will be selected to participate in the Monopoly U.S. National Championship. To be eligible for the U.S. National Championships, players must be at least 21 years old on April 14, 2009, and be citizens of the United States.

The top player at the National Championship will win $20,580 and the honor of representing the United States at the Monopoly World Championships in Las Vegas in October 2009. Matt Collins, vice-president of U.S. marketing for Hasbro Games, said in a press release, "We're hoping that we will find a National Champion who will reclaim the world title that has not belonged to the United States since 1974."

For the first time in tournament history, players will use the Monopoly speed die, a new die now included with the traditional game that increases the pace of game play.

The first Monopoly World Championships took place in 1973. Since then, 12 players from 10 different countries (including Spain, Italy, Japan, Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States) have earned the title of World Champion. The last champion, Antonio Fernandez of Spain, earned the title in 2004 at the Monopoly World Championship in Tokyo.

^{Image courtesy of Hasbro}