Grand Prix Birmingham

I normally try to avoid all Magic references in this blog -- 1) I can't stand the blogs of magic players who seem to live their whole life around the game; and 2) the hobby is full of geeks like me -- but this weekend is a little different.

Grand Prix Birmingham comes to the NEC and may well be the largest event of it's type ever since in the UK. I'm expecting over 800 players to be competiting in the event, possibly more considering Madrid's GP had over 1200 competitors.

By anyone's standards, that is a seriously big tournament.

The event is held over two days: Just like in golf there is a Day 2 cut to the top 64 players. With no byes and little practise, I am unlikely to make that cut or a money finish ($2400 and an expenses-paid trip to the Pro Tour event in San Diego is the first prize), but you can follow my progress, round-by-round, live via the official DCI Tournament Center portal. [Remember that you'll have to find "Yates" on the leaderboard rather than "Dobscrub"]

I'm really looking forward to my big day out. Not just for the competition, but because I'll be bumping into a host of friends who I haven't seen in a long time. And that's really what it's all about: a fun day out with old friends.

And the prize money.