Italy: Town square to become giant Risk board

The town first turned its piazza into a huge version of the board game last summer

A small Italian town is transforming its main square into a giant Risk board for a two-day tournament, it's reported.

The piazza in Sant'Eufemia a Maiella, located deep within Italy's central Majella National Park, will be covered with a 650-sq-m (7,000-sq-ft) board as part of the event later this month, the local Il Centro website reports. It's billed as the biggest game of Risk in the world by the event's organisers. Artist Liberio Furlini spent 15 days painting the huge political map of the world used in the game. Super-sized playing pieces designed to fit with the gigantic board will be used by those taking part.

Risk is a strategy game where players try to occupy each territory on the board, thereby eliminating their competitors. The rules are being slightly simplified to allow more people to compete, but the tournament's winner will need to brush up on all the finer details, as they'll be offered a place at the national Risk championship.

"We have already seen 80 people sign up to take part from all over Italy," Mayor Francesco Crivelli tells Metro News 24. And while the mayor is partial to a game himself, he might not fancy his chances at the tournament. "Usually I like to play using the green pieces, but I lose, I always lose," he tells the channel.

Risk, or Risiko in Italian, has become popular around the world since it was first released in the 1950s

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