WC 2026

The tournament will take place in the Meeting & Event Center of the Fletcher Wellness Hotel Leiden, on the 5th floor of the ‘Level building’.

Address: Bargelaan 180, Leiden (Netherlands)

The entrance to the building is located directly next to the exit of Leiden Central Station on the LUMC side. The elevator bank to the 5th floor is about 15 meters inside on your left.

You can park your car in the garage underneath the building. Just navigate to Bargelaan 180 and you will find the parking garage. Note that parking in this garage is not free. The cost is € 0,75 per 15 minutes, with a maximum of € 17,50 per day (rate in 2025). Alternative parking options include the “P+bus” or “P+walk” locations, such as Haagweg or the Transferium.

You can enter the Level building from the parking garage at ‘entrance C’. Take the elevator to the 12th floor for the reception of the Fletcher Hotel or to the 5th floor for the playing venue.

You can travel by train (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) to Leiden Central Station. The playing venue is located directly next to the exit of Leiden Central Station on the LUMC side.

There is also a bus stop at Leiden Central Station. The following bus lines all stop at Leiden Central Station: 20, 400, 401, 43, and 45.

You can plan your trip via 9292.

The playing venue is located in the same building as the Fletcher Wellness-Hotel Leiden. Players can get a deluxe room in this hotel at a discounted rate (see next Q&A).

Leiden also has plenty of other accommodation options within a short walking distance of the playing venue. For example: Golden Green Hotels, IntercityHotel Leiden, Hotel Leiden Centrum – ibis, Hotel Vic Leiden and City Hotel Rembrandt.

Yes, there is a discounted room rate. Participants of the WC 2026 can email banquetsales@wellnesshotelleiden.nl using the code STICH300726 to reserve a deluxe double room at a rate of € 154 per night or a deluxe single room at a rate of € 135,50 per night. Breakfast is included in this price, tourist tax (currently € 3,50 per person per night) however is not. The rate remains available as long as Fletcher has availability.

Note that there are also comfort rooms available. They come at a different (lower) rate per night and can be booked through their website. And as stated in the Q&A above: there are plenty of other hotels nearby.

Make sure to take a look at Visit Leiden for awesome places to visit during your stay in Leiden. Some of the highlights in Leiden are:

• Museum De Lakenhal (see a Rembrandt, Jan van Steen, Lucas van Leyden, etc.)
• Discover Leiden from the water (28 kilometers of canals)
• De Leidse Hofjes (courtyards)
• De Leidse Waag (national heritage site)
• Molenmuseum De Valk (all about mills)
• CORPUS museum (a journey through the human body)
• Naturalis Biodiversity Center (see a T.rex)
• De Oude Sterrenwacht

Leiden is also a great base for a quick trip to the coast — Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk are nearby beach towns, perfect for a walk by the sea. If you visit Katwijk aan Zee by car, we recommend to park your car at Parking Garage Boulevard Zeezijde.

The classical European (Marshal = 10. Spy = 1) pieces will be used. Here is an example of the blue Marshal and General:

The WC, like any other live Stratego tournament, makes use of the ‘Swiss pairing system’, meaning that you will be paired against someone who has (approximately) a similar score.

For the start of the tournament, every participants begins with 0 points. Players are then sorted based on their Kleier-rating. Imagine the following situation:

Name           Points   Rating

Player 1 , 0 , 2000
Player 2 , 0 , 1800
Player 3 , 0 , 1600
Player 4 , 0 , 1400
Player 5 , 0 , 1399
Player 6 , 0 , 1200
Player 7 , 0 , 1000
Player 8 , 0 , 800

The system will now make a divison between the top 50% (group A) and the remaining 50% (group B) and then pair the first player of group A and B against eachother, same for second player of each group and so on until no players are left. In case of an odd number of players, the player with the lowest rating will be given a BYE. A bye gives the same amount of points as a victory would give.

The above system will be repeated over and over until the end of the event.

For the sake of simplicty, all higher rated players won their games and this would be the standings after the first round.

Player 1 , 6, 2000
Player 2 , 6 , 1800
Player 3 , 6 , 1600
Player 4 , 6 , 1400
Player 5 , 1 , 1399
Player 6 , 1 , 1200
Player 7 , 1 , 1000
Player 8 , 1 , 800

The system will group players by points. This means there are 4 players with 6 points and 6 players with 1 point. Starting at the first group, it will divide the players again, so group A would be Player 1 and Player 2. Group B would be Player 3 and Player 4. The system will now match A vs B once more, thus Player 1 vs Player 3 and Player 2 vs Player 4. For the players with 1 point it would be Player 5 vs Player 7 and Player 6 vs Player 8.

As stated before, this will repeat itself until the event of the tournament.

The Kleier-rating is the official rating used for live Stratego tournaments all over the world. Newcomers start with a rating of 600 points (senior) or 300 points (junior). Good results in a tournament will gain you rating-points, bad results in a tournament usually cost you rating-points. Tournaments you didn’t participate in can also slightly affect your rating over time, because the tournament rating is partially based on the strength of the opponents you did play.

You can find the Kleier-rating of all Stratego players that ever played a live tournament here.

Yes, the only exception would be if there are not enough clocks available, or if you and your opponent agree to play without a clock.

There is also a general clock in the playing hall that keeps track of the round’s time. For classic games, the time is set to 5 minutes setup + 60 minutes playing time. For barrage games, the time is set to 1 minute setup + 9 minutes playing time. This time will still apply if you play without a clock for any reason.

After setup time (5 minutes at classic/1 minute at barrage) have passed, you may start the personal clock of the opponent. If the clock of the opponent hits 0 minutes, they lose the game.

There is no official or formal rule for this. Typically one of the two player picks a red piece and a blue piece, put it inside their hands and let the opponent choose one blindly.

Note that the blue player may decide on which side of the table (left/right) the clock is placed. Red always has first move.

It is of utmost importance that you make it 100% clear which piece attacks which piece. The best way to do this would be to pick up your piece and place it on top of the opponent’s piece and then turn around both.

All slain pieces are put in the graveyard. You control half of the graveyard. You are responsible for putting your opponent’s pieces in the graveyard. In other words, if you capture a lieutenant of your opponent, it goes to your side of the graveyard and you manage it.

You may put the pieces in any order as you like, as long as they are clearly visible for both players and lie face up.

Note: graveyard management is an important part of live Stratego tactics. Different players use different layouts that are not standardized and can be used to create confusion. Stay alert.

You can use the toilet during your game. However, the clock won’t be paused and your time will continue ticking. You lose the game if your personal time reaches 0.

In such cases it is advised to summon the arbiter to your table, to ensure no pieces are seen by your opponent while leaving and/or returning.

In case both players agree that the piece was already known, the game may continue.

In case it involves an unknown piece, the opponent may switch the piece with any other piece. Flags/bombs may not leave the player’s side of the board during this switch.

In case the piece happens to be the flag, the flag and up to 3 other pieces may be switched.

During this switch, the player who knocked over the piece(s) may not watch the switching process. In such cases it is advised to summon the arbiter to your table to ensure no wrongdoing.

You put all of your opponent’s pieces into your side of the graveyard. One player reports the score to the officials (usually the winner). If applicable, fill in the score sheet.

Note: you are not allowed to just start gathering your opponent’s pieces after the game. Your opponent has the right to keep their setup confidential. Always ask your opponent for permission before you pick up their pieces and put them back in the box.

No. It is not mandatory. You can keep your setup confidential if you want to. Players may only inspect pieces after the game in case the opponent agrees with this.

No, you cannot. You have to leave the room after you finished your game.

They will be removed from the pairings.

The referee/arbiter has a few roles and may differ depending on the amount of referees.

It includes, but is not limited to:

• Solving disputes
• Answering questions
• Supporting role during the event

This is based on individual performance. The top 4 players of each country may form a team. In case one of the players declines to play, the 5th best player can join the team and so on.

Barrage:

• Number 1 gets a special trophy (a super cool, super huge, blue coloured, Stratego piece)
• Number 2 and 3 and the best junior get a medal

Classic:

• Top 3 seniors get a special trophy (a super cool, super huge, golden, silver or bronze coloured, Stratego piece)
• Numbers 4, 5, 6 and 7 seniors also get a special trophy (a huge, red (nr. 4), blue (nr. 5), green (nr. 6), yellow (nr. 7) coloured, Stratego piece (note these are the colours of the game ‘Stratego 4’))
• Numbers 10, 20, 30 and 40 get a game prize
• Best juniors also gets a special trophy (an amazing, super huge, red coloured Stratego piece)
• Number 2 and 3 of the juniors get a medal

Team:

• Top 3 gets a medal

Open:

• Top 3 gets a regular trophy

Great Stratego Fantasy Game (official side quest):

• The player with the most points wins the Fantasy Cup + a game prize
• Numbers 2 and 3 get a game prize

There will be free water available at the venue for all players. You can also buy coffee, tea, soft drinks, etc. at the bar on the 5th floor and/or the 12th floor of the playing venue.

You are of course allowed to drink during the game. It’s also not forbidden to eat during the game. Please take your opponent into consideration while doing these things.

Restaurant Twelve is located on the 12th floor in the same building. They have lunch and dinner options. Breakfast is served on the 5th floor for players staying in the Fletcher Hotel.

At the trainstation (5 min walk) is an Albert Heijn to go (small supermarket) and a Starbucks. On the other site of the trainstation (7 min walk) is Bagels & Beans (restaurant), Aldi (supermarket), Jumbo (supermarket) and FREDDY’S (restaurant). In the city center (10 min+ walk) are plenty of other great cafés and restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can definitely bring family and/or friends to the group dinner.

We don’t have the final details for the group dinner yet. On the 1st of June 2026 we’ll send an email to everyone who in the registration form stated they might want to join the group dinner with the full information, price, and any capacity limits. If you want to sign up for the group dinner after the 1st of June 2026, please send an email to strategobondnederland@gmail.com to check if there’s still availability.