Championship of Champions

The Championship of Champions (often abbreviated as CoC or C of C, or referred to as Champion of Champions in the shortened form) is a televised knockout tournament held every few years on the show between a selection of contestants who reached the final rounds of their series. Only contestants who typically have appeared since the previous Championship of Champions are eligible to enter. But Darryl Francis was entered into Championship of Champions III rather than Championship of Champions II, and Jon Corby was permitted into Championship of Champions XIII rather than Championship of Champions XII because the lineup of XII was confirmed before his debut.

During the early-2010s, the Championship of Champions tournament took a temporary and unofficial hiatus seemingly because some members of the Countdown team believed that it would increase the players' standard of gameplay beyond on what the average viewer could appreciate. The 30th Birthday Championship held at the start of 2013, was the only televised Countdown event that lasted longer than the series finals taken place during this period. Additionally, standalone special episodes were held between the two series champions of 2009 – Kirk Bevins and Chris Davies – and between the series champions of 2011 – Edward McCullagh and Graeme Cole; all four later entered the 30th Birthday Championship as well. The CoC hiatus ended with the airing of Championship of Champions XIV at the start of 2016.

Format

The first eight Championship of Champions tourneys were each contested between eight people. From Championship of Champions IX onwards, they were contested between sixteen (with the exception of Championship of Champions X as it was shortened to one week, to conclude on New Year's Eve and end the 1990s decade). Each round is played in succession — the eighth-finals (from CoC IX onwards) followed by the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals and finally the grand final itself. The final for Championship of Champions I was a 9-round game. But from then until the changeover to the (all-purpose) 15-round formats, Championship of Champions finals were 14-round games in line with series grand finals.

Individual Championships of Champions

The ranges of series from which contestants were selected for each Championship of Champions are listed alongside their dates.

1. Championship of Champions I (1984) — Series 1 to 4
2. Championship of Champions II (1986) — Series 5 to 8
3. Championship of Champions III (1987) — Series 6 and 9 to 12
4. Championship of Champions IV (1989) — Series 13 to 16
5. Championship of Champions V (1990-91) — Series 17 to 20
6. Championship of Champions VI (1993) — Series 20 to 24
7. Championship of Champions VII (1995) — Series 25 to 28
8. Championship of Champions VIII (1996) — Series 29 to 32
9. Championship of Champions IX (1997-98) — Series 34 to 37
10. Championship of Champions X (1999) — Series 38 to 41
11. Championship of Champions XI (2003) — Series 42 to 48
12. Championship of Champions XII (2006) — Series 49 to 54
13. Championship of Champions XIII (2009) — Series 54 to 59
14. Championship of Champions XIV (2016) — Series 67 to 72
15. Championship of Champions XV (2019) — Series 73 to 78
16. Championship of Champions XVI (2023) — Series 79 to 86
17. Championship of Champions XVII (2027) — Series 87 to 94

Contestants from Series 60 to 66 were instead entered into the 30th Birthday Championship in 2013. Though this was a much larger event of featuring 41 total players, there were sixteen entrants from this time span (the same as would be in a regular Championship of Champions).