Catan Tournament in memory of Klaus Teuber (turn-based)

[Otithes]

You are invited to a Klaus Teuber Tribute tournament:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=211250

This tournament is in memory of Klaus Teuber, the creator of Catan (and many, many other fun games!) who passed away this spring. I believe that Catan was a vital force in the renaissance of board gaming that we all get to enjoy. I chose to set the tournament start date to Klaus Teuber's birthday, so that we may celebrate his life and the contributions he has made to our beloved hobby.

The first stage of the tournament will be Swiss System (3 matches per player) and then we move on to the Multiplayer Elimination stage. May the best player win; but most importantly, have fun playing everyone!

P.S. This tournament is open to EVERYONE. If your ELO is below 100, please message me (Otithes) for an invitation.

[Stroom]

At least make it 4 player matches as he intended the game to be.

[Otithes]

He designed it for 3-4 players, so I have to assume that that is how he intended the game to be.

[Stroom]

Every official tournament is by default 4 players. 3 is an exception when you don't have enough players to fill the table. The fact that BGA has defaulted tournaments to 3 has always been weird.

The map is more loose. It is easier for one player to get ahead and become unstoppable. Sometimes even with the first round of dice rolls. Not balanced maps enforce it even more. 3 player is a fun casual game but it is not meant for tournaments.

[Otithes]

Thanks for the info. Interesting but irrelevant, as this is obviously not an “official” tournament. What you wrote also doesn’t mean that Klaus Teuber “intended” Catan to only be played with 4 players, as you initially claimed.

[Stroom]

I could swear I have read an article about where he said that. Can't find it yet. Either way...

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan

Gamers decision: 75.2% say it's best with 4.

Every normal tournament still does it with 4. BGA is the only place where I have seen it played with 3. And it is just weird.

Anyone who is remotely competitive will say that 4 player is the best for it. Only BGA decided to let the community decide so casual players run the tournaments here.

[Otithes]

Well the horse is quite dead at this point, so let’s stop flogging it. You’re welcome to set up as many 4-player tournaments as you’d like, I’ll be playing in mine with the 24.8% of casual uncompetitive people :p

P.S. Klaus Teuber also said that he wanted people to have fun playing together, and to be kind to each other. A message you seem to have missed, even though it is not hard to find in articles about him, and it’s even mentioned in those official Catan tournament rules you care so much about. Not everything in life needs to be cut-throat. Have a nice rest of your week.