Carcassonne Championship
Carcassonne is a tile-laying game where players take turns drawing and placing tiles depicting the landscape of Southern France. Each tile can feature a city, a road, a cloister, a meadow, or various combinations thereof, and must be placed so that its depicted landscape aligns with the landscapes of adjacent tiles. Players earn points for completed landscapes, with the player having the most points at the end declared the winner.
Brain Games has been organizing these championships since 2007. The Latvian champion is guaranteed a spot in the World Championship.
The 17th Carcassonne Latvian Championship took place in 2026.
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TOURNAMENT RULES
The tournament consists of two parts: preliminary rounds and playoffs. The preliminary rounds are played using the Swiss draw system. The tournament is organised according to similar rules as the World Championship.
PRELIMINARY ROUNDS
The preliminary rounds consist of 6 rounds and are played by ALL participants.
If the number of championship participants is an odd number, one "reserve player" from the organizers will also participate in the preliminary rounds.
In the first round, players are randomly divided into pairs at the tables.
In subsequent rounds, players are ranked and play against a player in a position as similar as possible to their own. If necessary, adjustments will be made so that each game is against a different opponent.
After the preliminary rounds, the top 8 ranked players qualify for the knockout stage.
The consumption of alcohol and other intoxicating substances, as well as aggressive behavior during the championship, is not permitted and may result in disqualification! It is forbidden to disturb or assist other participants! We are for clean sport!
PLAYOFFS
The 8 best preliminary round players participate in the quarterfinals:
- A: 1st vs. 8th
- B: 2nd vs. 7th
- C: 3rd vs. 6th
- D: 4th vs. 5th
The quarterfinal winners continue to play in the semifinals:
- E: A vs. D
- F: B vs. C
The winners of the semifinal matches (W) play in the final. The losers of the semifinal matches (L) play for 3rd place.
- For 1st place: E(W) vs. F(W)
- For 3rd place: E(L) vs. F(L)
The winner of the final will become the Latvian "Carcassonne" champion and will earn the right to compete in the World "Carcassonne" Championship!
GAME RULES
In all rounds, two players play at each table.
In all rounds, the basic game without expansions is played, meaning the game with 72 tiles.
In the first round, a player randomly chosen by the computer starts the game, and in subsequent rounds, the player with the higher rank. In elimination rounds, the first player is the one with the higher rank in the preliminary rounds.
The game has a time limit of 15 minutes per player, which will be controlled using chess clock applications. If a player exceeds their allocated 15 minutes, they lose the game with zero points, while their opponent evaluates the unfinished territories according to the final scoring rules.
If the game ends with an equal score:
- In preliminaries: both players get 0.5 wins.
- In elimination games: the player who made the second move wins.
The game board is a natural boundary for territories. If a player wishes, they can move all placed tiles further from the edge to make space for the tile to be placed. However, if the width of the field has reached its maximum size, new tiles cannot be "attached" to its edges.
Both players are responsible for error control. If players do not notice that a tile has been placed in such a way that one of its sides does not meet the placement conditions, and the player has already drawn a new tile, the error can no longer be corrected.
The same principle applies to placing a meeple in a territory where another meeple already exists. The exception is if it has not been noticed that the territory was already completed earlier. In that case, the player is prohibited from removing their meeple from the field out of turn and scoring points.
During the game, it is forbidden to use any aids to remember which and how many tiles are in play. If you want to keep track and find out whether a specific tile is still left or not, then all tile types and their number must be memorized before the tournament.
During the opponent's turn, you may choose and look at the next tile.
GAME TIME CONTROL
Game time will be controlled using the "Chess Clock" application, which each participant must provide! The free application can be downloaded here:
In the application, you need to create a time control suitable for the Carcassonne tournament:
- Open the application.
- Click on the clock icon/open settings.
- Press the "New Custom Time" button.
- Name the time control "Carcassonne".
- Set the game time to 15 minutes.
- Change "Increment" to 0 seconds.
- Save the newly created time control in the settings.
Before the championship, make sure that you have successfully created the time control correctly - each player has 15 minutes, and no additional seconds are granted after a move.
Before each game, players agree on which clock to use. If players cannot agree, the clock must be provided by the second player at the table.
PLEASE NOTE
If a player does not have any meeples when starting their turn, they cannot place a meeple on a new tile during that turn. If they complete a tile during their turn, they remove their meeples from the board, and their turn ends.
In a situation where a drawn tile cannot be connected to the existing board, it is set aside and does not return to play. The player must immediately draw a new tile.
For any questions or clarifications, please contact us: pasakumi@brain-games.com
PRIZE FUND
Brain Games Gift Card worth 75€
Brain Games Gift Card worth 100€ + Participation in the World Championship
