Dixiecon, the world's longest-running Diplomacy tournament, returns to Chapel Hill, North Carolina on May 22-24 for its 40th edition. For a game built entirely on negotiation, betrayal, and reading the people across the table, four decades of continuous competitive play is quite a run.
Diplomacy, Allan Calhamer's 1959 classic, has no dice and no luck. Seven players represent the great powers of pre-World War I Europe, and every result comes down to negotiation, alliances, and the inevitable stab in the back. It's the kind of game that ends friendships and forges new ones in the same evening, and Dixiecon has been the tournament home for that experience since 1987.
The event has hosted some of the hobby's most prestigious championships, including the North American Dipcon in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2023, plus the World Dipcon in 1990, 1998, and 2014. This year's format includes three rounds of standard Diplomacy, a variant Diplomacy competition, the Iron Man Tournament for non-Diplomacy games, and open gaming throughout the weekend.
Registration is $50, with dorm housing at Granville Towers from $50 per night for a double. Dixiecon even offers a free shuttle from Raleigh-Durham Airport. If you've ever been curious about competitive Diplomacy, 40 years of history makes Dixiecon the place to try it.
Sources: Dixiecon Official | r/boardgames
