The estate of Allan Calhamer, inventor of the Diplomacy board game, is being liquidated. One of the items being sold is his own copy of Diplomacy, first edition. The game is currently up to $1,550 on eBay with the auction closing Sunday evening.

Being auctioned by Sotheby’s April 5th in Hong Kong is a Huanghuali Double-Sixes game board from the late Ming Dynasty. The estimated sale price for this incomplete but vintage board game is $23,000-36,000. On April 26th in New York, the auction house is offering a French gilt-bronze and kingwood game table from about 1900 (estimated $7,000-10,000).

Bonham’s has for sale April 27th in Edinburgh two volumes on the game of Draughts from the early 1800s, authored by John Drummond: The Game of Draughts (1832) and The Scottish Draught Player; or, The Theory and Practice of that Scientific Game (1838).

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The longest-running recorded game of Diplomacy has finally ended after just over three and a half years of play. The last game of the 2012 tournament, began on July 2, 2012, ended on February 12, 2016, with a draw agreed upon by the remaining four players. The Italian player’s team was first in the tournament. “A draw was enough for him to win,” said the Austrian player. Russia held out on a draw for several turns. “Russia could have won by soloing,” the Austrian player explained. “He finally [agreed to a draw] because I was about to take Sev[astopol] from him, which … would’ve ended his chances of ever crawling back for many, many decades.” The game ended in Spring, 2005.

Diplomacy, a seven-player war game based around negotiation with other players, has two player turns per “year”, starting in Spring 1901. This final event, conducted through the webDiplomacy website, has turns set at every two days, which is the equivalent of playing face-to-face for more than two days, non-stop. The first player, England, was eliminated in August, 2012 (1905). Turkey and France were eliminated in the following calendar year (1943 and 1948).

Reddit user CaptainMeme has been writing up reports covering the game. The Austrian player has joined the conversation at the /r/boardgames subreddit to answer questions.

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The longest-running recorded game of Diplomacy has just ticked over to the year 2001. Diplomacy, a seven-player war game based around negotiation with other players, has two player turns per “year”, starting in Spring 1901. Face-to-face tournaments with fifteen minutes per round of play are played through 1908 (16 turns) in a four-hour period. This game, conducted through the webDiplomacy website, has turns set at every two days. The ongoing 2012 World Cup Final, begun on July 2, 2012, is the equivalent of playing face-to-face for over two days, non-stop.

webDiplomacy is one of several website implementations of the tabletop boardgame, allowing players from around the world to compete. The 2012 webDiplomacy World Cup is an event that is similar to face-to-face World Diplomacy Championship (to held in Chicago this year on June 25th), with participants playing several games in a multi-round tournament to end up at the final table.

Due to the nature of the game, the contestants in the ongoing final game are anonymous and all messages in the game are public to all.

Reddit user CaptainMeme has posted an extensive analysis of the game at Reddit’s boardgame sub-reddit.

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On public radio’s This American Life, host Ira Glass spoke to reporter David Hill about his experience with the board game, Diplomacy. Hill took a real professional diplomat, Ambassador Dennis Ross, as an adviser to a Diplomacy tournament. Listen to the show to find out how it went.

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