The thirteenth MONOPOLY World Championship took place October 20-22, 2009 in a ballroom at the Caesars Palace resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Forty-one competitors from around the world took part, and 19-year-old Norwegian Bjørn Halvard Knappskog won the championship.[1] His prize was $20,580, the amount of money that now comes in a set of Monpooly (previously $15,140).
There were three 90-minute preliminary rounds. After those rounds were completed, the 16 players with the highest number of points advanced to the semi-final round; combined asset value was a tie-breaker for those with equal points. The semi-final round was a winner-take-all format, and the winners of the 4 semi-final tables then played in an untimed final match.
This world championship was the first tournament at the world level to use the Speed Die as a mandatory part of the game. As a result, the Final Game was the fastest world championship final game on record, finishing in approximately 42 minutes. The final match from 2009 can be watched in its entirety as a bonus feature on the Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story DVD and Blu-ray.
In addition to the film crew for Under the Boardwalk on hand documenting the tournament, the Semi-Finals and Finals were also live-streamed on ESPN360.com, now known as ESPN3. Members of the public were welcome to come in and watch the tournament from behind stanchions, or in the bleachers at the edge of the floor.
Players in order of Finish[]
Place | Name | Country | Age |
---|---|---|---|
1 - World Champion | Bjørn Halvard Knappskog | Norway | 19 |
2 - Finalist | Geoff Christopher | New Zealand | 25 |
3 - Finalist | Richard Marinaccio | USA | 26 |
4 - Finalist | Oleg Korostelev | Russia | 24 |
5* - Semifinalist | Hans-Georg Schellinger | Germany | |
6 - Semifinalist | Will Lusby | Canada | |
7 - Semifinalist | Martin Junghanns | Switzerland | |
8 - Semifinalist | Dainius Griesius | Lithuania | |
9 - Semifinalist | Jan Zoder | Czech Republic | |
10 - Semifinalist | Sandis Krasts | Latvia | |
11 - Semifinalist | Tonči Restović | Croatia | |
12 - Semifinalist | Leon Hechtman | Australia | |
13 - Semifinalist | Antonio Zafra Fernandez | Defending Champion (2004) from Spain | |
14 - Semifinalist | Günther Vavra | Austria | |
15 - Semifinalist | Jan Martin Ibsen | Denmark | |
16 - Semifinalist | Tim Wentel | The Netherlands | |
17 | Piotr Sadowski | Poland | |
18 | Aare Klooster | Estonia | |
19 | Luet-kan Lucan Lee | Hong Kong | |
20 | Luiz Henrique Baliani | Brazil | |
21 | Ángel Niccodemi Diaz | Chile | |
22 | Fay Whistler | Pogo.com | |
23 | Bert Jacobs | Belgium | |
24 | Henrik Petersson | Sweden | |
25 | Ioannis Proios | Greece | |
26 | He Ya | China | |
27 | József Márkus | Hungary | |
28 | Pao-Yin Lu | Taiwan | |
29 | Kateryna Gryniuk | Ukraine | |
30 | Takahiro Ishii | Japan | |
31 | Louis Palligiano | France | |
32 | Selçuk Çağlar | Turkey | |
33 | John Broomfield | United Kingdom | |
34 | Frederico Camara | Portugal | |
35 | Patrick Wee | Singapore | |
36 | Mikael Salin | Finland | |
36 | Yossi Rosenberg | Israel | |
36 | Giulio Morini | Italy | |
36 | Juan Carlos Larios Arreola | Mexico | |
36 | Ana Kramar | Serbia | |
36 | Barbora Horváthová | Slovakia |
* Places for 5-16 were determined using combined Asset Total from the 3 preliminary rounds. []
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