Hospital worker takes Monopoly crown

A Spaniard captured the World Monopoly Championship today after building up a fortune from just 1,500 US dollars – in fake money – and ruthlessly forcing three other would-be tycoons from Europe into bankruptcy.

Antonio Zafra Fernandez, a 36-year-old hospital laboratory technician from Madrid, Spain, dispatched the other finalists in less than two hours at the ritzy Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Tokyo.

He took home more than 15,000 US dollars and bragging rights as the property-development board game’s top player.

Each player starts with 1,500 dollars and must try to earn more by buying famous streets, then renting out and selling properties on them. The game ends when all but one player has gone bankrupt.

With TV cameras rolling and a translator at his elbow, Fernandez tipped Bjorn Andenaes of Norway into insolvency by asking for 950 dollars rent when the mutual fund sales manager from Oslo landed on Fernandez’s hotels on Tennessee Avenue.

Andenaes, who owned the railroad lines but was short on cash, conceded. Fernandez hopped out of his seat, clenched his fists and beamed.

“I’m extremely happy and so proud,” Fernandez said, after hoisting a giant winner’s cheque for $15,140 (€12,194) – equal to the amount of play money in a Monopoly set.

Fernandez said he and his wife would spend the prize money on a new car, but added: “It’s not about the money. I’m going home as a champion, which doesn’t happen often in a person’s life.”

The companies that market and sell Monopoly around the world flew players from 38 nations to the Japanese capital for the two-day event.

The four finalists scored the highest points in their three qualifying games on Friday. Defending champion Yutaka Okada of Japan, who won in 2000 in Toronto, and US national champion, Matt McNally of Irvine, California, failed to advance.

Invented in 1934 by Charles B Darrow, of Germantown, Pennsylvania, Monopoly is now sold in 80 countries and 26 languages. The world tournament was first held in 1973 in Washington.

International editions use the same format as the original sold in the United States but local currencies and street names are used.

For instance, in the US edition, the priciest street is the Boardwalk. In Britain, the same spot on the board is occupied by Mayfair and in France, it’s Rue de la Paix. German players yearn to own Schlossallee. Special editions of the game have been released to commemorate movies, such as Lord of the Rings.

All four finalists wore tuxedos to Saturday’s final, which used the US version. A Mr Monopoly, complete with a silver moustache, top hat and cane, hovered near the stage while a real banker managed the money.

Fernandez, who took up the game with his family as a child, said he “played to win” but didn’t stick to a strategy.

He got an early break when he bought up New York Avenue, Tennessee Avenue, and St James Place – key streets that tend to yield the highest profits. Bartlomiej Korczak, 21, of Tarnow, Poland and 36-year-old Anthony Redmond of Dublin, Ireland soon went bust.

“Luck was the deciding factor,” said Phil Orbanes, the tournament’s chief judge from the United States.

Andenaes, the runner-up, said he was beaten even before he rolled an unlucky six and moved his wheelbarrow piece to Tennessee Avenue.

“About 20 minutes before I lost, I knew the game was over. I was just throwing the dice,” said Andenaes. “Second sounds great but it’s so far from being champion.”

Orbanes, who wrote the The Monopoly Companion, acknowledged that slight variations in the rules from country to country might have put some players at a disadvantage.

“But the intrinsic understanding of how to win at Monopoly is known to all these players,” he said.

“If luck is in your favour and you’re a skilful player, you will almost always win ... It’s like real life: So much of your success depends on how well you get along with the other players and how good you are at persuading them to do something that’s in your best interest but not theirs.”