Posted on 01/11/2026 8:10:29 AM PST by DFG
A top-ranked board game player has said President Trump's geopolitical rampage through the Western Hemisphere looks just like a popular strategy in the game of Risk.
Michael Olivol, a grandmaster and former world number one player at Risk, revealed that the game's most advanced players often attempt to control all of North America before moving on to easier targets like South America in their quest to rule the world.
Risk is a classic strategy board game where players battle for global domination by conquering territories on a map, building armies, rolling dice to fight enemies, and forming sneaky alliances.
Coincidentally, three of the key spaces on the game board are Greenland, Central America, and Venezuela, which the 32-year-old accountant from New Jersey described as major 'choke points' that keep enemies from invading your territories.
'You need those territories, as well as Alaska or Kamchatka [Russia's closest point to the US], to safely hold the North American continent,' Olivol told the Daily Mail.
Since taking office for a second time, Trump has not only lobbied to buy Greenland and Canada and take over the Panama Canal, but the US has also launched military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in Mexico and Venezuela.
Trump has also touted the massive supplies of natural resources, including oil and precious metals, that the US would have access to by gaining more control of both continents.
Olivol noted that Risk players gain shockingly similar advantages, being showered with more 'armies' (or resources) as a bonus reward for controlling more nations on the board.
In Risk, controlling an entire continent gives you a big troop bonus every turn, which snowballs your advantage and allows you to invade other parts of the world more quickly.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
My dice rolls were always bad
I play against five computer opponents regularly and almost always win. I try to secure one of the corners, if practical, and spread out rom there.
Agreed. I harass and capture small pieces to deny the other player the bonus when possible, but I almost never go beyond that. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve ever managed to sack all of Asia and only twice I could think of that I ever successfully locked it down.
I miss risk. Haven’t played in quite a few years
If Trump takes Kamchatka you know something is up.
Wow. My county has a similar population.
Still nobody has posted Kramer and Newman tlf fighting to get control of South America.
“If Trump takes Kamchatka you know something is up.”
How about Trump sends US special forces towards Ottawa to decapitate Canadian government. Canada goes in a panic. 15 minutes before Ottawa our forces go into ultra-stealth cloaking mode. They divert off to Kamchatka where the real oil gas and minerals riches lie. Putin’s exhausted military capitulates in Kamchatka. Kamchatka people cheer the US takeover/heist with parades in their largest city
How did I know without looking that this was from the Daily Fail...
Meanwhile, there’s a debate today in Parliament, isn’t there, with regard to a certain petition.
Coverage in the UK’s enemedia...?
🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.