Diplomacy Games

About Diplomacy Games

The podcast about playing the strategy game Diplomacy face to face and online. Visit DiplomacyGames.com for more info and shownotes.

Publisher

Diplomacy Games.com - Kaner and Amby

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Jan 2016

Latest episode

12 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

147 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Jun 2026

   Wrap up of WDC 2026 in Athens

   Gavin landed back in Australia just the day before recording, and he and Ken settle in for a full debrief on WDC 2026 in Athens. From the venues and the social activities to all four of Gavin's games and the top board, this one covers it all. Intro Ken sets up the episode – this one is going to be almost entirely about WDC 2026 Athens, because Gavin was there and has only just landed back in Australia (as at the time of recording) (15 secs) He notes the DBN coverage gave a strong account of the boards and Ed's player interviews, but plenty of the magic from Spyros Dovas and his organising team didn't make it to the stream (45 secs) Drinks are introduced: Ken is on one of his home-brew lagers with a kick, and Gavin is working through a leftover Sicilian Nero d'Avola that has turned a little sour – a fitting metaphor, he suggests, for how his first round went (1 min 45 secs) The tournament in aggregate Ken asks Gavin to give a broad overview – location, numbers, facilities, atmosphere (2 mins 45 secs) Around 106 players registered, though some didn't show due to last-minute issues. Approximately 5 Australian players couldn't attend because their original flights were routed through the Middle East (3 mins 30 secs) The geopolitical context: as of recording, the Middle East airspace situation was in week nine of its shutdown, forcing Australian travellers to reroute via Singapore, Hong Kong, or Malaysia. Some also baulked at the US transit option due to the documentation requirements (4 mins 30 secs) Despite the drop-outs, the turnout was excellent and genuinely representative – a heavy European component split between the UK and the rest of Europe, a strong French contingent, players from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Norway, a good number of Americans and a couple of Canadians (including Chris Brand), around 10 Australians, and a couple of Kiwis (Dominick Stephens and Craig Purcell). The local Greek contingent, given the Athens club had only been running for about 18 months, was especially impressive (3 mins 30 secs) Tournament format: three regular rounds followed by a fourth round of tiered top boards. Rather than a single top board, the format featured seven simultaneous top boards – the top 7 players went to the premier board, players 8–14 played the second tier, 15–21 the third, and so on down through the field. Crucially, players who volunteered to sit out for round four to help with numbers kept their ranking position (7 mins) Ken and Gavin discuss how the tiered format means the fourth round is never a dead rubber – every board is still competing for something meaningful (8 mins 15 secs) Discussion of the central clock arrangement: effectively federation-based rather than a literal single clock, with the two main venues coordinating their start times by communication (9 mins 30 secs) The venues The main venue was the upstairs function space of a beachside restaurant operation – excellent location right on the waterfront, but somewhat cramped for negotiations once all the boards were in (9 mins 45 secs) As a result, boards were redistributed to the secondary venue: the Anchor bar, about 150–200 metres down the road. Gavin played two games in each location and considered the Anchor the better play space – more open, well ventilated, and with a large covered outdoor area next to a (drained) pool (11 mins) The colour-coded sash system made it easy to identify players by country but created the amusing challenge of locating your specific Italy in a room full of Italys from different boards (13 mins) The third venue – an outdoor shaded area – was reserved for the premier top board. Unlike Milan's car park, this one had good shade and plenty of room for spectators around the giant shadow board (13 mins 30 secs) Pre-tournament social activities Gavin outlines the structure: you could do as much or as little as you liked. He landed well due to a useful 5.5-hour Singapore layover that helped res

2. 

   11 May 2026

   Interview with Spyros Dovas on WDC 2026 in Athens

   After five months (maybe more?) between episodes, Gavin and Ken are back – and with WDC 2026 Athens about to happen, what better time to get the tournament organiser, Spyros Dovas, on the show to talk about everything you can expect from rocking up to Greece this year. Intro Gavin and Ken kick off the show with cheers and reintroduce the podcast after a hiatus of over five months (0 mins 10 secs) Gavin explains the gap – his move away from Brisbane has made catching up with Ken less frequent, and a previously recorded episode went out of date before it could be released (1 min 30 secs) Gavin flags he's still searching for employment and shares his brief, unsuccessful foray into applying at Dan Murphy's – though he remains a loyal patron (3 mins) Ken notes that Gavin is heading to a certain upcoming tournament, and Gavin confirms he'll be attending WDC 2026 in Athens – flying via Singapore and living something closer to backpacker than five-star (4 mins 30 secs) Gavin talks about his travel plans, including the Athens itinerary, flying before the Middle East situation affected routes, and his fondness for Singapore's airport (6 mins) Gavin reflects that while he's been to Greece before, it's been about twenty years – and this time he'll be doing things differently (8 mins) Interview with Spyros Dovas – WDC 2026 Organiser Gavin introduces Spyros as the tournament organiser for WDC 2026 (as distinct from Tournament Director Jamal Blakkarly) and hands over to him (9 mins 30 secs) Spyros explains how the venue came to be chosen – rather than a downtown Athens hotel, his wife suggested the beachside suburb of Saronida, about half an hour from central Athens, which he knows well (10 mins 30 secs) Spyros describes the venue logistics: as registrations grew, he booked an auxiliary venue nearby so there's now capacity for even a very large crowd (13 mins) Gavin asks Spyros to make the pitch: why should people come to WDC 2026 in Greece? Spyros covers the competitive angle (previous world champions, strong contingents from the US, Australia, and across Europe), the community experience, the setting, the weather, and the pricing advantages of being just before peak tourist season (14 mins 30 secs) They discuss the FOMO build-up section on the official WDC website (17 mins 30 secs) Spyros outlines the pre-tournament activities organised for Wednesday and Thursday (18 mins 30 secs): Wednesday – a day trip to the island of Hydra, departing from Saronida to Piraeus and taking the fast boat across (approx. 1.5 hrs) Thursday – a guided tour of the Acropolis with what Spyros describes as the best guides operating there, followed by a walk through Plaka and the historic centre, lunch by the sea, and an evening trip to watch the sunset from the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon Gavin enthuses about the Hydra day trip and reflects on the island's significance to Greek identity, noting it's less well-known internationally than Santorini or Mykonos but stunning (23 mins) Gavin shares that he's already visited the Acropolis and Parthenon once before, about twenty years ago with his family, but is genuinely excited to experience it again with expert local guides (25 mins) They discuss accommodation in Saronida – Spyros notes a good range from five-star hotels to Airbnbs at reasonable prices for this time of year, though availability is diminishing and people should book soon. He offers to assist anyone having difficulty (27 mins) Gavin mentions the Athens neighbourhood guide Spyros has put together – a Google Map indicating where to stay, where to avoid, and the character of different areas – inspired by advice Spyros gave his own son who is now studying at Bocconi University in Milan (29 mins) Gavin asks whether anyone stands out as a favourite to win. Spyros diplomatically declines to name names, noting at least a dozen players who wouldn't surprise him as champion – which he says makes the tournament all the more exciting to watch (3

3. 

   21 Nov 2025

   Interview with Alex Duffy: Diplomacy AI vs Diplomacy AI

   We chat with Alex Duffy who as Head of AI Training at Every Consulting run an amazing project where different AI models competed against each other in Diplomacy. Plus we discuss the upcoming Australian Open tournament. Intro The guys introduce the show and Gavin flags he'll be moving further away from Ken, so the show will become more online than face-to-face  (0 mins 15 secs) Interview with Alex Duffy They introduce the interview with Alex from Every Consulting and GoodStartLabs about different AI models playing against each other in Diplomacy (4 mins) The interview kicks off with Alex discussing the research project he ran at Every Consulting where various AI Large Language Models (LLMs) competed against each other in Diplomacy (6 mins 45 secs) Gavin asks Alex how he got into Diplomacy originally (9 mins 50 secs) They discuss the thinking behind the project. During his answer he mentions the Twitch stream of the AI models playing against each other - you can view this on their AI Diplomacy Twitch channel (11 mins 15 secs) They look at how data should be structured and presented to the LLMs (15 mins 45 secs) Alex talks about the different style of play adopted by each LLM - you can read their summary on the Every Consulting AI page (18 mins 45 secs) Gavin asks about how different models approached strategy nnd iterative training of the models so they learn from how they perform in games (24 mins) Gavin reflects on how he sometimes plays in cycles of play (32 mins) They discuss why the game Diplomacy keeps being used researched in the AI space (34 mins) Alex introduces his lates project: The Battle of Bots. You can find out more and register your interest on their Battle of the Bots web page (40 mins 30 secs) They reflect on the newer generations of players bringing their enhanced technology experience to the game (45 mins) Alex asks Gavin and Ken what they've learned from playing Diplomacy to apply to real life (48 mins 30 secs) Gavin asks Alex whether he plans to get more into playing Diplomacy face to face (53 mins 45 secs) Alex discusses other games he's interested in getting into more (57 mins) Just a reminder, you can find out more and register your interest on their Battle of the Bots web page (1 hr 0 mins) Ken suggests some games he feels would be appropriate to research. Alex provides his email address to hear listener's suggestions on other games ot look into (1 hr 2 mins) They begin wrapping up the interiew (1 hr 5 mins 30 secs) The guys reflect on the chat (1 hr 7 mins) Diplomacy Chat Gavin is off to compete in the Australian Open, being hosted the weekend of 21 to 23 November. Plus they talk about the Bismark Cup  (1 hr 23 mins) After some tangental talk, they return full circle to the Australian Open. Gavin mentions doing some recordings when not playing, however, with his house move he can't find the recorder which is packed somewhere (1 hr 33 mins) They discuss getting and staying in the right zone, and reflect on Mitchell and Webb's the Inebriati sketch (1 hr 37 mins 30 secs) Gavin incorrectly cites Mitchell and Webb again, but it is actually Stephen Fry and Hugh Lawrie's Treaty of Westphalia sketch (1 hr 39 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the show (1 hr 40 mins) Venue: At home Drinks for the interview: Gavin: Proximo tempranillo from Rioja, Spain Ken: Poet's Country Crisp lager from Yenda, NSWJust a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

67

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

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