After its successful Cambridge debut last year, there will be another
Mind Sports Olympiad event in Cambridge this weekend - starting on
Saturday 4th May and running through to Bank Holiday Monday 6th May.
This year's venue is Parkside Community College, very near the town's
central bus station.

Tournaments most likely to be of interest to this mailing list include
the English Settlers of Catan Championship on 6th May and the innovative
Reiner-Rama - a Saturday morning tournament in four of Dr. Knizia's
games. For the CCG fans, there are tournaments in Magic: the Gathering
and Vampire: the Eternal Struggle; those who prefer the classics will
enjoy the usual tournaments in chess, bridge, Scrabble, Othello, go,
backgammon and many more. There will be tournaments in over twenty
different mind sports, many appearing at a MSO event for the first time.

Individual tournament entry fees vary between £2.50 (the Reiner-Rama)
and £10 (Skat and draughts). Many tournaments have prizes, frequently
depending upon the level of entries, with thanks to our sponsors KN Nash
& Co., patent attorneys, local shop Games & Puzzles and Purple Software.

On top of the scheduled competitions, there will be demonstartions of a
number of new games and space available for social open gaming.

Find out more at http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/msocam02/ and we hope to see
you there this weekend!

--
   Chris M. Dickson, Middlesbrough, Great Britain; chris@...
   Labyrinth Games: puzzle and game consultancy http://www.qwertyuiop.co.uk/
    MSO Worldwide -*- Bringing Brains Together -*- http://www.msoworld.com/

ManorCon.
---------

ManorCon is the biggest Amateur Games Convention in the UK, featuring
tournaments in Diplomacy, Settlers, 18xx, Acquire, Outpost, Croquet, etc.
Held every year at the University of Birmingham, this year it runs from
16th to 19th July 2002.

Booking details can be found on the ManorCon website,
www.diplom.org/manorcon . One note, the deadline for reduced registration
fee is Friday 31st May - that's six days time. If you have not registered
and paid by then, you will have to pay the higher registration fee. Please
note when booking, all the en-suite rooms have now been sold, so only
single or twin rooms are available.

As in previous years, there will be a Second Hand Game Sale at ManorCon. If
you have any games to sell, then please let Alan Parr know in advance, by
sending an SSAE to Alan Parr, 6 Longfield Gardens, Tring, Herts, HP23 4DN,
so that he can send you the necessary stickers and paperwork.

In addition to the second-hand games sale, there will also be a Games Stall
offering lots of the newest and latest games available on the market.  This
will be run by Games Web Warlock and should be open for business from
Friday until Sunday.  They will be offering a 10% discount on their normal
prices.  Alternatively if you order and pay in advance by 16th July for any
game for delivery at ManorCon, they will give you a 15% discount.  Their
web site (http://www.gamesweb.co.uk) gives details of games and normal
prices, but if given enough notice they are willing to try to get hold of
games that are not listed on the web site.

WorldDipCon 2004.
-----------------

WorldDipCon was held over Easter in Australia. During the business meeting,
the decision was made that WDC 2004 will be at ManorCon in the UK. ManorCon
previously hosted the first WDC in 1988, and last hosted it in 1994.
Details of the bid can be found at www.diplom.org/manorcon/wdc

WorldDipCon 2003.
-----------------

WorldDipCon 2003 will be held in Denver, Colorado, USA, on February 14th to
16th 2003. Held as part of the GhengisCon convention (the largest
Convention in the area), it is looking like this may be the biggest WDC
ever, with predictions of up to 200 Diplomacy players attending.

Local contacts have been set up to help coordinate people travelling from
different parts of the world. I am the local contact for the UK and
Ireland. If you are considering travelling to Denver for WDC, then please
let me know.

David.

Two corrections to my previous message about ManorCon.

The correct dates are 19-22 July 2002 (the dates I gave are for 2004 !).

The correct address for Games Web is http://www.games-web.co.uk (I missed
the hyphen out).

David.

The dates for the sixth Mind Sports Olympiad have been announced:
Wednesday 14th August to Sunday 18th August.

The venue of the sixth Mind Sports Olympiad has not yet been announced.
The hire agreement with the venue is expected to be signed within the
next three weeks or so, then we expect to announce the exact location
details and schedule.

What is known is that:
(a) the venue will be in the UK, but will not be in London
(b) the event will take place in a different type of venue to those
which have hosted past Olympiads.

There will be copious accommodation on site, including budget bed and
breakfast arrangements. It is intended that all the participants will be
staying on site, which means that there will be far more opportunities
for social games with other players during the evenings or at other
times when you aren't taking part in tournaments.

It is also expected that the fee structure will get rid of the hated
per-tournament entry charges; instead, we will quote an all-inclusive
price which covers accommodation costs and convention participation
fees. In short, it'll be far more like other conventions of ours
(ManorCon, MidCon, StabCon and the like) than any other Mind Sports
Olympiad in the past. Interested? Look out for more details in the
coming weeks and pencil in August 14th to 18th in your diary now.

For a little more information, including hints at possible similar MSO
weekends around the country in the future, point your browser at
http://www.msoworld.com/Press/Releases/MSO6pre.html

If you want to be sent a printed entry form or more information once it
is available, please mail Tony Corfe at mindsports@...
with your details. Please mention that you got his address from this
posting to the uk-con-news mailing list, so we can flex our muscles and
overrun the event with our sort of gamers :-)

More information as I get it.

Keep 'em peeled!
Chris

--
   Chris M. Dickson, Middlesbrough, Great Britain; chris@...
   Labyrinth Games: puzzle and game consultancy http://www.qwertyuiop.co.uk/
    MSO Worldwide -*- Bringing Brains Together -*- http://www.msoworld.com/

*Oxcon 2003*
Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January 2003
at The Mitre, The High Street, Oxford.
Organised by the Oxford University Diplomacy Society

To feature:

The Annual Diplomacy Tournament on Saturday 25th
The Annual Oxford The Settlers of Catan Tournament on Sunday 26th
Lost Cities Tournament on Sunday 26th
Fifteen-To-One on Saturday 25th
Many, many other games played informally over the weekend!

With:

A games retailer to satisfy your ludopathic urges...
The UK's second-largest Settler's tournament...
Awards for victors, best nations and best students...
Pre-con Laser Quest game*...
Saturday evening expedition to Oxford's fastest-serving curry house*...
An exciting new venue serving food and drink all day long...

Admission and free entry into 15-1 and Lost Cities tournaments = £2
Entry into Diplomacy tournament = £3
Entry into Settlers tournament = £3
Comprehensive Weekend Entrance Fee = £6

Doors open 10:00am. Deadline for the Diplomacy or Settlers tournament
registration 10:50am on
the day. Open all day for informal gaming.

o Please e-mail dipsoc@... or richard.Huzzey@... for
further details.

o All event details subject to variation at this stage. The Oxford
University
Diplomacy Society and the organisers reserve the right to amend these
features of the convention. But we don't intend to.

o Accommodation is not available directly from us. However, please contact
us
for details of local B&B's and hotels.

* = Please let us know if you would like to attend these events so we can
book in advance.

ManorCon is now only two weeks away. If you haven't booked yet, then you
are too late ! However, we have plenty of accommodation still available -
far more than we ever fill, so if you want to come along, then just turn up
and book on the door.

For those of you who have booked, the final progress report is currently at
the printers, so you should be receiving it soon. For those of you who
haven't booked, it is available from the Website, www.diplom.org/manorcon .

This year is looking big. We usually have around 120 people booked by PR3.
This year we are around 170. Part of this will be because people haven't
left it to the last minute like they normally do, but even so, it is
looking like a bumper year.

Finally a message for ALL UK CONVENTION ORGANISERS :

If you organise a convention in the UK, and would like a mention in the
ManorCon Programme Booklet, then e-mail me in the next few days. I need to
know the Convention Name, Dates, Location, and contact details. Any
convention which holds tournaments similar to those at ManorCon, and which
will be held before ManorCon 2003, is eligible.

David.

Hi there,

My old friends Rosie and Stephen are holding a games convention
to celebrate their wedding. Everybody's welcome, so I thought I'd
pass it on. There's more information attached, but anyone who's
been to a Furrycon will know what they're aiming at. Should be fun.

------- Forwarded message follows -------

You are cordially invited to Consummation, which is a one-off games
convention being held to celebrate the wedding of Stephen Tavener
& Rosie Tavener-Jones.

Consummation will be held from 6 pm Friday 15th November to 6
pm Sunday 17th November at the West Retford Hotel, in Retford,
near Nottingham. Please note that there will be no entrance fee.

Please visit www.consummation.net for further details.

We are trying to gather together as many of the old Furryconners as
possible, in order to recreate the Furrycon atmosphere.  Although
you are specially invited, this is NOT an invitation-only event, so feel
free to spread the word to your gaming friends.  All are welcome
(especially nice people).

Hope to see you there,

Rosiebint & Stephen

------- End of forwarded message -------

Pevans
http://www.pevans.co.uk/

The sixth Mind Sports Olympiad will take place at Loughborough
University from August 14th to August 18th this year. The event is
taking place alongside Britcon, organised by the British Historical
Games Society. MSO 6 tournaments most likely to be of interest to
members of this mailing list include:

ACQUIRE
Sunday 18th, 10am to 5:30pm (with lunch break)
(Optional introduction for absolute beginners one hour beforehand)

DIPLOMACY
Friday 16th, 3pm to 10:30pm (with dinner break)
(Optional introduction for absolute beginners one hour beforehand)

LOST CITIES
Saturday 17th, 9am to 1pm

SETTLERS OF CATAN
Saturday 17th, 3pm to 10:30pm (with dinner break)
(Optional introduction for absolute beginners one hour beforehand)

TRAX
Beginners: Saturday 17th, 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Championship: Sunday 18th, 9am to 1pm

...but there are tournaments in around thirty other mind sports and
mental skills, including poker (played for chips, not cash!), cribbage,
dominoes, chess, bridge, backgammon and many well-known abstract games.

Tournament entry fees start at ten pounds, with discounts for those
under 16, over 60, unwaged or with disabilities. Please note that a late
entry fee applies to entries postmarked after August 9th, so book early.
Why not book this weekend?

We also have a variety of accommodation available on-site, which we
strongly encourage you to consider. Perhaps you could get a group of
hobby friends together for five whole days to play in some of our events
and play other games when you're not involved in a tournament.

For details of costs, exact location, an online entry form and much
more, please look at http://www.msoworld.com/Olympiad/index.html

See you there!
Chris

--
   Chris M. Dickson, Middlesbrough, Great Britain; chris@...
    MSO Worldwide -*- Bringing Brains Together -*- http://www.msoworld.com/

Midcon 2002

Birmingham City Thistle Hotel, 22-24 November 2002

Midcon returns for its 23rd year with the UK National Diplomacy
Championships and a host of other games including the latest finds from
Essen's Spiel 2002. Midcon will be held in its usual hotel, but slightly
later in the year than usual.

The UK National Diplomacy Championships is a three-round individual
tournament. Other regular scheduled events include the Midcon Trivia Quiz
and the Pop Quiz. Unscheduled informal play of a huge range of games is the
main feature of this convention and there is also a bring-and-buy stand and
a games shop stand.

Registration costs £10. Hotel room rates are £34 per person per night
sharing and £43 per night for single rooms. Danny Collman is researching
alternative accommodations outside the hotel for attendees who wish to
spend less on rooms. Registration will be available at the door for £12 for
the weekend or £7 per day (or part thereof). We reserve the right to charge
this registration to anyone who seeks admission to the convention rooms
even if they do not intend to play games.

To book a place at Midcon 2002, please download a booking form from
www.sfcp.co.uk/Events/Midcon/Midcon_booking.htm and return it to Midcon,
SFC Press Limited, Not Just Stamps, 17 Crendon Street, High Wycombe HP13
6LJ, England. Please make cheques payable to SFC Press.

The Midcon Committee consists of Theo Clarke (Chairman), Pete Card
(Newsgroup Liaison), Danny Collman (Accommodation Liaison), Neil Duncan
(Manorcon and Deputy NDC Tournament Director), David Norman (Internet
Diplomacy Liaison), Don Shailer (Administration) and Jeremy Tullett (Paper
Distribution and NDC Tournament Director). You can telephone Don on 01494
441717.

TringCon is a one-day event held on the last Saturday of September - this
year, the 28th. This will be TringCon X, and this year Mike Brian is
offering the chance to join a Fireside Football replay of the World Cup. In
fact, as usual we'll probably offer a games: players ratio of about 5:1 - in
other words, we get around twenty thoroughly nice people and you can expect
there to be over one hundred games on offer.

The venue is the New Mill Social Centre in Tring, about 15 minutes journey
from junction 20 of the M25. The cost of the day is £10, which covers
everything - convention fee, a donation to Histiocytosis X Research, the
famed TringCon buffet lunch, the slightly less famed TringCon tea, coffee
and tea throughout the day, and the annual assault on the European biscuit
mountain.

Do get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Alan Parr

alanparr@...

--- In uk-con-news@y..., David Norman <david@e...> wrote:
> Midcon 2002
>

> To book a place at Midcon 2002, please download a booking form from
> www.sfcp.co.uk/Events/Midcon/Midcon_booking.htm and return it to Midcon,
> SFC Press Limited, Not Just Stamps, 17 Crendon Street, High Wycombe HP13
> 6LJ, England. Please make cheques payable to SFC Press.
>

I've uploaded the booking form file to the Files section of uk-con-news.  It's
in PDF format.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uk-con-news/files/Midcon%202002%20Booking%20Form.p\
df

Maycon

Where? - City Inn, Brindley Place, Birmingham, B1 2HW.

When? - 2nd to 5th May 2003, ie the first Bank Holiday weekend.

What time? - 18:00 Friday night to 14:00 Monday.

What did you have in mind? - Boardgames, Silly drive, Freeforms,
Music Quiz, RPG, depends on what you ask for. Please fill in the
boxes on the form and we'll try and make the convention you want.

Where do we play? - There are three meeting rooms exclusively for our
use in the hotel. We're arranging to have the big one set up with
tables for 4-6 players, and the other two to have tables available.

Bar? - Yes, of course. Prices and selection to be confirmed later.

Accommodation? - Twin and Double Rooms in the hotel are £42 per night
per person for Bed, Breakfast and Dinner with two sharing. Single
occupancy is £60 per person per night for the same deal.

But I need someone to share a room with? - Tick the box on your form
or contact us.

Dinner? - Up to £16.50's worth of food in the restaurant is included
in the accommodation price. You can get two courses for this, or if
you're hungry, you can just pay the extra and have a third. The
meringue looks particularly yummy. There is a menu on the hotel site.

Can I just sleep in the hotel, and not have dinner in the package as
it'll get in the way of playing games? - Unfortunately not, the deal
we have with the hotel means the whole package. There will be no
formal sit down dinner.  Instead you can go to the restaurant anytime
between 18:00 and 22:30 to eat. Hopefully you should be able to slot
that in between games. To put it in perspective, to just stay in the
hotel with a special weekend rate in months without a R in them,
booked correctly, and priced specially costs £32 per person per night
so you're getting £6.50 worth of free dinner. For the same deal
during the week it costs £135.

But I'm a low-carb, gluten-free, British fruitarian - I won't be able
to eat anything in the restaurant. - Okay, no, you possibly won't,
but veggies should be fine, let us know and we'll tell the hotel, and
they'll do their best.

How much does it cost? Depends on when you decide to send us money.
The sooner you pay the less it costs.

to 31st Dec - £5/day or £15 the whole weekend
1st Jan to 31st Mar - £6/day or £20 the whole weekend
from 1st April - £8/day or £25 the whole weekend

How do I sign up? Fill in the form, Email it to us, then send a copy
and a cheque for the correct amount payable to "UK Freeforms Soc".
I'll post the address to send it to in the couple of days, once the
Royal Mail get their act together..


I can't possibly just enjoy myself watching other people put all this
effort in. How do I get to help? - just volunteer and we'll find you
some way to help.

I'd like to run a freeform; what do I do next? Then contact us. We'll
put a timetable together based on who wants to play and what people
want to run.

I'd rather run a sit down RPG - can I?  Yup!. Tell us, and we'll put
it into the events list.

What shall we do when we get bored of playing games, and drinking
beer, and eating dinner? Well Birmingham is a pretty happening place,
and there's lots of other stuff to do.

And who's organising it? Chris Boote, Julia Iskett, Sue Lee & Mike
Snowden . And our people on the ground in Birmingham are:- Chris
Swainstone & Jenny.


x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The plan is for a direct replacement for the old FurryCons that used
to be in Brighton, where we used to play Intergame UK

chris

There are now two weeks to go until MidCon, and we already have more
bookings for this year than we had attendees last year. Given the number of
people who tend to book at the last minute, this means we should have a
significant increase in numbers this year.

Talking of booking at the last minute, as there are now only two weeks to
go, the hotel will no longer hold rooms for MidCon on a preferential basis,
so you may be bounced to another hotel. However, as of today, there are
approximately 15 rooms remaining for sale at the hotel on MidCon weekend,
and they are available to the general public, not just to MidCon. So if you
want a room at the hotel, I suggest you book by e-mail, first thing Monday
morning. These rooms will go very quickly, so waiting a day or two is not
recommended.

A booking form can be found on the MidCon webpages, at
www.sfcp.co.uk/Events/Midcon/Midcon_booking.htm . Midcon's e-mail address
is midcon@...

David.

I organise regular (free but nibbles etc appreciated) House Cons in
Hinckley, Leicestershire, about 6 times a year, usually on the first
or second saturday of odd numbered months. A present an average of 5
to 7 people attend but I'm always looking for new blood, so if anyone
is interested please e-mail me. We typically play 3 to 4 games like
Railway Rivals, Porto Rico, Iron Dragon, Cartagena etc. per session.
I would also be interested in getting groups together to tackle more
ambitious games like Republic of Rome and Civilization or 18xx.

Please e-mail me if interested.

Regards

Andrew Tampion

Attn UK Diplomacy hobby...

Enthusiasm for getting something done with the Bob Kendrick Shield is lacking. I was hoping someone else will take over the running... anyone!?

I would like votes for best British player of 2002. In order to vote, all you have to do is send me your top three British players, who, in your considered opinion deserve to be names British Diplomacy player of the year. The player with the highest number of '1st' votes will win the Shield which will be presented at MasterCon in March.

Previous winners are

1997 Dave Horton
1998 Dave Horton
1999 Simon Bouton
2000 Simon Bouton
2001 Chetan Radia
2002 ?

Your votes will count as there are only around 15 people who actually vote.

Note that players must be British based and must be active in the Postal/Email/Tournament hobby. There has been a lean towards Tournament players in the past, which, considering my own connections and Bob Kendrick's own preferences, is not surprising.

Flood my Inbox, Baby!!!

Shaun

Shaun Derrick
Travel Management Group PLC
Tel No 01926 332266

www.travelmanagement.co.uk
www.matchdays.com

OXCON 2003: Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January 2003, http://come.to/oxcon
and featuring:
The Annual Diplomacy Tournament on Saturday 25th
The Annual Oxford The Settlers of Catan Tournament on Sunday 26th
Lost Cities Tournament on Sunday 26th
Fifteen-To-One on Saturday 25th
Many other games played informally over the weekend!

With:
A games retailer to satisfy your board game desires
Awards for victors, best nations and best students
Pre-con laser quest game
Saturday evening expedition to Oxford's fastest-serving curry house
An exciting new venue serving food and drink all day long!

Admission and free entry into 15-1 and Lost Cities tournaments = £2
Entry into Diplomacy tournament = £3
Entry into Settlers tournament = £3
Comprehensive Weekend Entrance Fee = £6

Doors open 10:00am.
Deadline for tournament registration 10:50am
Please e-mail dipsoc@... or richard.Huzzey@... for
further details or visit http://come.to/oxcon

If you'd like to attend the Friday night Laser Quest or Saturday night
curry, please e-mail us and we'll book you a place. Ideally by the 20th
January, but that isn't really an unalterable deadline.



Mark's web pages: http://www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk/
Mind Sports Olympiad: http://www.msoworld.com/
Diplomacy 2000: http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/
Calendar of future games events: http://www.calsnet.net/psychozine
James & Cowper (Chartered Accountants): http://www.jamescowper.co.uk/

MasterCon has a new home. Following a change of ownership of the Hind Hotel
(where it was held last year), the new management felt it was sensible to
double last year's room rates, and also charge 500.00 per day for the
convention rooms. So MasterCon felt they could charge somebody else that
much, and it would move elsewhere.

So, it's off to Corby, and the Elizabeth Hotel Rockingham. This is about 12
miles North of last year's location. Despite the change of location, the
date is the same as previously planned - 28th February to 2nd March 2003.

The room rate is 27.50 per night per person, including breakfast - whether
you want a single, twin or double room. The hotel has 71 rooms, so they
shouldn't run out, and the car parks have space for 70 cars.

Access is easy if you have a car... If you are on public transport, it is a
little more challenging. There is a train service to Kettering, from which
you can get a bus operated by Midland Mainline (so your train ticket should
be valid on the bus) to Corby town centre. Busses run every 30 minutes or
so, and take about 20 minutes.

Alternatively there is a bus from Peterborough Station to Corby town
centre, which takes around 1 hour. This one is operated by GNER (so again,
you should be able to get a train ticket which includes the bus).

Once in Corby centre, the hotel is a mile or two away. There may be a local
bus service, or you may have to get a taxi. More info on this nearer the time.

Bookings can be done in a number of ways :

(1) By e-mail the hotel. Write to Helen, at elizabeth.rockingham (at)
ukonline.co.uk . Make sure you mention MasterCon, or they will charge you
75.00 per night instead of the special convention rate of 27.50.

(2) By post to Eve and Keith Smith, MASTERCON, 71 Cross Street, Kettering,
Northants, NN16 9DJ.

(3) By phone to Eve and Keith, on 01536 358165.

(4) By e-mail to me, and I will forward them to Keith and Eve in batches.

To book, we need to know :

Name:
Address:
Tel No:
E-mail:
Accommodation type (single/twin/double):
Name of person sharing (if not single !):
Nights required (from Fri, Sat, Sun):

Finally, a few notes. It is up to you to pay your hotel bill, and checkout
is 10am. There will be a comfortable smoking area. And since we believe
this date doesn't clash with any other Conventions, or with School Half
Term, we hope to see everybody there...

David.

THE CAMBRIDGE MIND SPORTS OLYMPIAD 2003 http://www.msocambridge.org.uk/ will
be held on 3-5 May 2003 at Parkside Community College, Cambridge.

The event will feature tournaments for Settlers, Acquire, Puerto Rico,
Dwarves, Reiner Rama, plus lost of classic games, like Chess, Go & Othello.
the settlers tournament will be the English heat of the World Championships.

All are welcome to attend. For more details visit
http://www.msocambridge.org.uk/

OXCON 2003: Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January 2003, http://come.to/oxcon
and featuring:
The Annual Diplomacy Tournament on Saturday 25th
The Annual Oxford The Settlers of Catan Tournament on Sunday 26th
Lost Cities Tournament on Sunday 26th
Fifteen-To-One on Saturday 25th
Many other games played informally over the weekend!

With:
A games retailer to satisfy your board game desires
Awards for victors, best nations and best students
Pre-con laser quest game
Saturday evening expedition to Oxford's fastest-serving curry house
An exciting new venue serving food and drink all day long!

Admission and free entry into 15-1 and Lost Cities tournaments = £2
Entry into Diplomacy tournament = £3
Entry into Settlers tournament = £3
Comprehensive Weekend Entrance Fee = £6

Doors open 10:00am.
Deadline for tournament registration 10:50am
Please e-mail dipsoc@... or richard.Huzzey@... for
further details or visit http://come.to/oxcon

If you'd like to attend the Friday night Laser Quest or Saturday night
curry, please e-mail us and we'll book you a place. Ideally by the 20th
January, but that isn't really an unalterable deadline.

Mark's web pages: http://www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk/
Mind Sports Olympiad: http://www.msoworld.com/
Diplomacy 2000: http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/
Calendar of future games events: http://www.calsnet.net/psychozine
James & Cowper (Chartered Accountants): http://www.jamescowper.co.uk/

Ramsdencon is on February 20th  - 23rd 2003. For further details look
on Ramsdencon.co.uk.
Places are still available for day trippers and the hotel we use has
rooms still left.

Annie

More information on MasterCon...

The Hotel have been giving Keith some problems. Or rather their management
company have. Having agreed a room rate with Keith, the hotel's area
manager comes along and says they can't charge that little - after the
flyers have gone out. Then Keith speaks to the MD of the company, who says
exactly the same thing. Unfortunately nothing was on paper, so there's not
much that can be done other than accept the new price.

So, MasterCon is still going to be held at the Elizabeth Hotel Rockingham,
and will still be the 28th February to 2nd March 2003. If you want a Double
or Twin room, the room rate is still 27.50 per night per person, including
breakfast. However, if you want a Single room, the price is now 40.00 per
night.

Full details are now on my website, http://www.ellought.demon.co.uk/mastercon .

David.

UK boardgamers are invited to register for Spielchamps 2003, the
friendly tournament for teams of four players (formerly known as
Intergame UK).

see http://www.maycon.org/SpielChamps

The venue is in Birmingham, the date is Sunday May 4th, the games
are:

Acquire
Settlers
Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers
Puerto Rico

Teams are four are cordially invited to register asap. MayCon aims
to recreate the splendour of the old Furrycons, so the competition
is just one of many attractions for all gaming tastes.

Prizes include invitations to the best teams to represent the UK in
the Euromasters tournament later in the year in Holland.

This will be held over the May Bank Holiday weekend (3-5 May) at Parkside
Community College in Cambridge. There will be events for numerous games,
from classics like Chess to more modern games like Settlers of Catan and
Puerto Rico. All are welcome.

For more details visit http://www.msocambridge.org.uk/

Mark's web pages: http://www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk/
Cambridge Mind Sports Olympiad: http://www.msocambridge.org.uk/
Diplomacy 2000: http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/
James & Cowper (Chartered Accountants): http://www.jamescowper.co.uk/

I will be holding a house con at my home in Hinckley, Leicestershire
on the 14th of June. Nothing has been decided about what to play,
although a request for "Viceroys" has been made. Start about 11 am.

E-mail me if you're interested.

Regards

Andrew Tampion

NB: The £5 daily Congestion Charge zone covers most of central London,
including the venue used by The Games Club. The congestion charge applies
from 7.00am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public Holidays.
The charge does NOT apply at weekends.

EVENT
MiniCon X

DATE
Saturday, 24th May 2003.

TIMINGS
9:30am - Doors open.
Midday - Settler of Catan
11:00pm - Doors close.

VENUE
The Arc,
South Bank University Student Union,
Keyworth Street,
Elephant & Castle,
London SE1.

FORMAT
32 Players
3 Rounds
Playoff

JUDGES
To be confirmed.

ADMINISTRATION
Jason Howlett.

TRADERS
To be confirmed.

PRIZES
To be confirmed.

ENTRANCE FEES
Settlers of Catan - £5.00.

FOOD AND DRINK
Cooked food is available through to evening.
Fully licensed bar open all day.

BOOKINGS
You MUST supply the full name and DCI number for all people wishing to
pre-register, places cannot be reserved without this information.
Email: mailto:minicon@....
Telephone: 07958 224 084 (mobile).
SMS: 07958 224 084.

INFORMATION
Email: mailto:minicon@....
Telephone: 07958 224 084 (mobile).

NEAREST UNDERGROUND STATIONS
Elephant & Castle - Bakerloo Line and Northern Line (Bank Branch) - 5
minutes walk
Lambeth North - Bakerloo Line - 15 minutes walk
Waterloo - Bakerloo Line and Northern Line (Charing Cross Branch) - 20
minutes walk

DIRECTIONS FROM ELEPHANT & CASTLE UNDERGROUND STATION
Leave the station via the Bakerloo Line exit.
Turn right out of the station.
Walk past the bus stops.
Take the first right into Ontario Street.
Take the first left into Keyworth Street.
The entrance to the Student Union is half way along the block on the right
hand side of the road.

NEAREST RAILWAY STATIONS
Elephant & Castle - 10 minutes walk
Waterloo - 20 minutes walk
Waterloo East - 20 minutes walk
Waterloo International - 20 minutes walk

NEAREST BUSES
1, 12, 35, 40, 45, 53, 63, 68, 100, 133, 155, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 322,
344, 468, C10, N1, N12, N35, N81, N84, N155, N171, N176, P3 and P5 - 5 to
10 minutes walk.

ACCOMMODATION
  full list of local accommodation is available on our website.
St. Christopher's Inns.
165 Borough High Street, London SE1
Tel: +44 020 7407 1856
Fax: +44 020 7403 7715
St. Christopher's Inns are a privately owned group of budget accommodation
units in London. They offer some of the best accommodation available to
backpackers in the UK.
All rooms are secure, safe and clean with swipe card access
Showers and toilets on every floor
Chill out room with SKY television, food and drink facilities
Free Continental breakfast
Full breakfast, full board and packed lunches available
No curfew imposed on guests
Bar available on ground floor
All linen and showers free of charge
Full laundry facilities
Internet access
Prices from £11.00 to £16.50 per person.



Mark's web pages: http://www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk/
Cambridge Mind Sports Olympiad: http://www.msocambridge.org.uk/
Diplomacy 2000: http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/
James & Cowper (Chartered Accountants): http://www.jamescowper.co.uk/

ManorCon is the largest amateur games convention in the UK, with an annual
attendance of over 200 gamers. And it is now just one month until the doors
open, and the games begin.

If you have already booked, then you will have received a Food
Questionnaire. Please can you complete it and return it if you have not
already done so. Due to the refurbishment of the kitchens, this year we
have to pre-order the exact number of each meal required. If we go under,
people go hungry. If we go over, ManorCon has to pay for the wastage, which
will mean higher registration fees next year.

If you haven't already booked, then you have just 12 days to do so. Booking
closes on 30th June, and if you don't book in advance, you will have to pay
the on-the-door price, which is 60% higher than the advance price. If you
don't have a booking form, you can print one from the website,
http://www.diplom.org/manorcon . Also there you will find a copy of the
food questionnaire, which you can fill in and send in with your booking
form. Or if you are intending to pay the higher price on the door, we'd
still appreciate you filling in a food questionnaire and mailing (or
e-mailing) it to us by 30th June.

As ever, there will be a copy of the ManorCon Programme Booklet for
everybody who attends. In the booklet will be a list of Upcoming
Conventions. If you are running a convention between July 2003 and July
2004, and would like an entry in the Upcoming Conventions list, please let
me know the following details:

Convention Name:
Location:
Dates:
Contact Name:
Contact E-Mail:
Website:

I look forward to seeing everybody in a month's time.

David.