Competitive Brass: Birmingham at the WBC

One of the best-known homes for competitive Brass in the United States is the World Boardgaming Championships (WBC), held each summer by the Boardgame Players Association. Its Brass event has crowned a champion most years since 2010. This lesson walks through how the event runs, using the 2026 preview, and what its format means for how you play.

The event in 2026

The WBC’s 2026 Brass preview set out the format:

• Version. Brass: Birmingham as the default version of the game.
• Class. Beginning players welcome.
• Rounds. Three heats, a semifinal, and a final, each with a three-hour time slot.
• Advancement. The top 16 from the heats move to the semifinal. The semifinal winners play a four-player final.

The 2026 event was won by Josh Boley, according to the WBC’s 2026 winners list. Earlier champions, back to Bruce Hodgins in 2010, are on the event’s winners page.

WBC 2027 is scheduled for July 24 to August 1, 2027, according to the WBC page.

How the heats are scored

The 2026 event used the WBC’s “heats most wins, then points” standard. Players are ranked first by the number of heats they won. Ties are broken by points earned across every heat entered:

A player with a first, a second, and a fourth would have 1,101 points. You may enter any or all of the heats, and every heat you enter counts toward your total.

What the scoring means for play

A win is the goal. Wins rank before points, and a win is worth ten second places in the tiebreak. In a heat where you are clearly behind the leader, a safe second still matters, but only as a tiebreak among players with the same number of wins.

Every heat is a fresh chance. Because wins are counted across all heats you enter, a poor first heat does not end your event. Playing more heats gives you more chances at a win.

Seconds break ties. If the semifinal line is crowded with one-win players, their seconds and thirds sort them. Late in a heat you cannot win, push for the best finish you can reach.

Four-player tables

The final is a four-player game, and four players is the most crowded version of the board: every merchant in play, the full deck, and three rivals competing for every space and barrel. If you mostly play at two or three, put in your practice at four before the event. The player counts lesson covers what changes.

Before you go

Formats change from year to year, so read the current preview a few weeks ahead and note the heat times on the convention schedule. Then run a short checklist:

• Rules. Reread the rulebook, and in particular the easy-to-miss rules on the teach sheet: coal connection, merchant beer, and level 1 tiles in the Rail Era.
• Pace. Play at least a few four-player games inside three hours. The pacing lesson shows how.
• Rest. A heat is three hours of hard thinking. Plan meals and breaks around the ones you enter.

Tournament manners

Brass is a game of public information, so help keep it public. Announce where each coal, iron, and beer comes from as you use it. Place spent money on your character tile every time. Say your link counts out loud at scoring. These habits speed the game and prevent disputes. When a rules question comes up, stop and ask the game master rather than arguing it at the table.

Most of all, remember that the people at your table are why you came. A heat is three hours with three strangers who love the same game you do. Learn their names.