The number one trading card game in the world is about to make an appearance in Ohio. Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts will be coming to the Greater Columbus Convention Center for the Shonen Jump Championship this weekend.

“It’s one of the premiere-level tournament series that we hold for the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game,” said Yumi Hoashi, the vice president of card business for Konami Digital Entertainment.

The collectible card game originated from the Japanese comic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, created by Kazuki Takahashi. The card game was introduced in the comic. An animated TV series by the same name was also created based on the comic, Hoashi said. The animated show has been thriving in Japan for 10 years.

In 2001, the card game was officially presented to a North American audience.

“We hold between 12 and 16 [tournaments] a year,” she said. “And the one in Ohio is going to be the very last one for this year.”

Aside from the regional tournaments like the one to be held in Columbus, there are weekly competitions at designated stores, as well as national and world tournaments.

This year’s world tournament was held in Japan and Hoashi said there were participants from 23 different countries. Last year, the world championship was in Berlin and the year before it was in San Diego.

“The winner from the [Columbus] Shonen Jump Championship gets paid travel and accommodations for the 2010 national championship,” Hoashi said.

The tournament will be open to people of all ages. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the tournament begins at 10 a.m..

The top 16 players in the tournament will win prizes ranging from magazine subscriptions to video game consoles. The top three players will also receive the Dark End Dragon card that can only be won through tournament competition.

During an actual match, or “duel,” there are three different types of cards a person can use: monster, magic and trap cards. Each type can be broken down into subgroups, but the main goal is to decrease the opponent’s life points to zero. Each player begins with 8,000 life points, and a deck of at least 40 cards.

Each monster card has a specific number of attack and defense points. If the card is placed horizontally on the “field,” it is in a defensive position. If the card is placed vertically, it is in an attack position. These positions help to determine which points are compared during a battle.

If Player A attacks with a monster that has 600 offensive points, against Player B’s monster that is vertically placed with 400 offensive points, Player A wins the battle after 400 is subtracted from 600. 200 points are then taken from Player B’s life points. The destroyed card is then placed in the “graveyard.”

At any given time during a duel, players cannot have more than five monster cards, five trap/magic cards, or one field card in play.

Unlike some trading card games, Yu-Gi-Oh! never has any cards that retire from play.

“One of the intentions of the creator was to introduce cards that you could always use,” Hoashi said. “In the case of Yu-Gi-Oh!, all of the cards that have been released can be used forever.”

However, for the tournament this weekend, there are restrictions on which cards a duelist can use in his or her deck. This is done to prevent “powerful” playing cards from being abused.

For more information about the tournament or the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, visit yugioh-card.com.