It’s CO:Brum 2026 (among other things): The usual gruesome pairing of MSR (the begraddled one) and Adam ‘Beachy’ Beach (the better-looking one) bringing this to you.

Dates – Friday 31st July-Sunday 02nd August
Friday 31st July – CO:Brum Warm-Up
Saturday 01st August -CO:Brum Main Event
Sunday 02nd August – The inaugural Rather Hard Quiz

Venues:

Friday & Sunday Venue – The Wellington, 37 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5SN. Same place as 2023 and last year’s Warm Up. On the top floor. Go on the stairs by the door and go all the way up. A lift is also available but the venue itself does not have step free access.

Saturday Venue – Newhall Street Tavern, 106-110 Edmund Street, Birmingham, B3 2ES . Venue is fully accessible.

GAMEPLAY:

Game Format – Lincoln-style. Played at tables of 3 with letters packs. Two play, one hosts. In the Warm-Up, there are TWO rounds giving you FOUR games. In the Main Event, there are FOUR rounds giving you EIGHT games. Both then follow with a Grand Final between the top 2.

Draw Format – Birmingham-style (of course). The first round of both events is drawn at random. For all subsequent games, you are drawn against players who has the same number of wins.

RATHER HARD QUIZ:

So a lot of you like quizzing. Good! ‘Cos so do I, so I’m pulling together a little something. The first in-person Rather Hard Quiz. This will be also be at The Wellington in the same place as the Warm-Up. It will consist of the following elements.

Connections (Or Only Connect R1 questions)
Bowl (University Challenge questions with alerted scoring and a chance to steal)
Missing Vowels (Only Connect-style. A missing vowel free-for-all)
My Learned Friend (Based on the Learned League Where you answer questions and choose the amount of points to award your opponents)

The exact mechanisms for all of these will be explained, demonstrated, and practised before we go, so fear not.

You will play in teams of 3 or 4 (ideally-we can alter numbers depending), and do these. Following that, the team that wins overall then plays a (shortened) version of those four rounds against each other as individuals to determine who the biggest smartarse in the room is. (This is not FOCAL-affiliated, so no gaining points for the yearly leaderboard. It’s a thing I thought would be nice to try).

ADMISSION:

EARLYBIRD OFFER (sign-up before CO:Tunbridge Wells on 30th May, and you’ll pay):
CO:Brum Warm-Up is £5
CO:Brum Main Event is £10
Rather Hard Quiz is £10
£25 for the lot. You will also be entered into a draw to have all of your entry fees refunded.

After that, the Warm-Up will be £6, the Main Event will be £12, the Quiz will be £12 – £30 for the lot.

PayPal link is here–https://paypal.me/MSRBrum91?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB
(This uses my real name…It is legit!)

PLEASE MAKE CLEAR…
-Which events you are coming to
-Whether or not you would like your name hidden.

LOGISTICS:

Travel: Both venues are walking distance from New Street and Snow Hill rail stations, with Digbeth coach station being a 15-20 minute walk away. Car/Variety of options. B4 Car Park (4 John Feeney Arcade, B4 6DG) is nearby and open 24-hours.
Hotels: Take your pick of cheap chains and fancy stuff. There are a litany.
Parkrun: Nearest is Egbaston Reservoir and Cannon Hill are the two nearest. Oaklands is further out, but on a main road (the A45-several bus options) to and from the city centre.

TIMINGS:

WARM UP: Friday 31st July 2026 – THE WELLINGTON (k.o 19:00)
18:30-Doors open
19:00-First round draw and kick-off
20:15-Second round starts
21:30-Grand Final
Need to be out by 22:00

MAIN EVENT: Saturday 01st August 2026 – NEWHALL STREET TAVERN (k.o 11:00)
10:30-Doors open
11:00-First round draw and kick-off
12:15-Second Round starts
13:30-Lunch
14:30-Third Round starts
15:45-Fourth Round starts
17:00-Grand Final

RATHER HARD QUIZ: Sunday 02nd August 2026 – THE WELLINGTON (k.o 10:30)
10:00-Doors open
10:30-Connections Round
11:00-Bowl Round
11:30-Lunch
12:30-Missing Vowels Round
13:00-My Learned Friend Round
14:00-Grand Final
15:00-Prizegiving

If you are going to be late, please tell Beachy or myself beforehand – that way we can plan! The rounds are starting at these times if all goes to plan. You will be ‘pruned’ if you are late without communicating, and persistently doing may result in exclusion from the tournament.

SATURDAY NIGHT MEAL:

Newhall Street Tavern does pizza and other food-so the meal will be here. Feel free to have a look!
https://newhallstreettavern.co.uk/

I’M NEW PLEASE HELP:

Hello! Welcome to the chaos, we are thrilled you wish to join. Feel free to message myself, Beachy, or drop an email to hello@focalcountdown.com with any questions. All of the things you need to know will be explained to you and demonstrated on the day. We are a welcoming bunch and will be more than happy to help.

All events are subjects to the FOCAL Code Of Conduct-https://focalcountdown.com/code-of-conduct/

If you see, hear, or become aware of something that you are worried about, or breaks the code, please let me know or email hello@focalcountdown.com