victory in the pacific   

Updated Nov. 23, 2013

Rising Sun Pre-Con
2013 WBC Report    

 2014 Status: pending 2014 GM commitment

John Sharp, FL

2013 Champion

Event History
1991    Dave Targonski      36
1992    Wes Erni      39
1993    Alan Applebaum      36
1994    Dave Targonski      36
1995    Dan Henry      45
1996    Robert Kondracki      46
1997    Ed O'Connor      42
1998    Joe Dragan      48
1999    Alan Applebaum     48
2000    Andy Gardner     50
2001    Dan Henry     48
2002    Dan Henry     50
2003    Ed Menzel     39
2004    Michael Kaye     44
2005     Andy Gardner     32
2006     Ed Menzel     41
2007     Darren Kilfara     39
2008    Charlie Drozd     36
2009     Michael Kaye     37
2010    Andy Gardner     33
2011    Ed Paule     36
2012    Andy Gardner     28
2013    John Sharp     35

PBeM Event History
1999    Nick Markevich      20
2001    Ed Menzel      32
2004    Rob Flowers      32
2007    Charles Drozd     35
2009    Joe Dragon     42
2011    Michael Ussery     28
2013    Daniel Blumentritt     39

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Andy Gardner       VA    13    426
  2.  Dan Henry          IL    07    272
  3.  Michael Kaye       CA    13    252
  4.  Ed Menzel          CA    12    250
  5.  Charlie Drozd      IL    12    224
  6.  Ed Paule           NJ    13    168
  7.  Darren Kilfara     uk    09    146
  8.  John Pack          CO    12    138
  9.  John Sharp         FL    13    126
 10.  Michael Ussery     MD    11    118
 11.  Alan Applebaum     MA    05    113
 12.  Jim Eliason        IA    13    102
 13.  Ray Freeman        CA    13     78
 14.  Joe Dragan         MI    09     66
 15.  Tim Tow            WA    13     63
 16.  Rob Flowers        MD    04     50
 17.  Dan Blumentritt    TX    13     46
 18.  Larry Meyers       AZ    09     44
 19.  Michael Day        AZ    11     34
 20.  Robert Drozd       IL    13     30
 21.  Bob Hamel          CT    00     30
 22.  Nick Markevich     CA    11     22
 23.  Jim Kramer         PA    11     18
 24.  Ted Drozd          IL    09     18
 25.  Nathan Zietlow     IA    09     18
 26.  John Strand        CO    02     18
 27.  Eric El Osta       be    00     18
 28.  Philip Watkins     MN    07     15
 29.  Ken Nied           KS    03     14
 30.  Gregory D. Smith   FL    13     12
 31.  Pat Richardson     FL    09     12
 32.  Mark Booth         VA    08     12
 33.  Joe Powell         VA    99     12
 34.  Scott Beall        OR    13      8
 35.  John Sharp Jr      FL    03      6
 36.  Casey Adams        MN    00      6
 37.  Brad Solberg       CA    99      6
 38.  Scott Fenn         MD    07      5
 39.  Rob Kircher        RI    13      4
 40.  Bryan Eshleman     NC    11      4
 41.  Ong Meng Soon      my    01      4
 42.  Bobby Clinton      CA    01      4
 43.  Max Zavanelli      FL    99      4
 44.  Dennis Nicholson   NY    99      3
 45.  Vince Meconi       DE    99      2
 46.  Glenn McMaster     on    01      1

2013 Laurelists                                          Repeating Laurelists:

Ed Paule, NJ
2nd

Andy Gardner, VA
3rd

Ray Freeman, CA
4th

Jim Eliason, IA
5th

Mike Kaye, MD
6th

Past Winners

Dave Targonski, DC
1991, 1994

Alan Applebaum, MA
1993, 1999

Dan Henry, IL
1995, 200l-02

Robert Kondracki, PA
1996

Ed O'Connor, NJ
1997

Joe Dragan, MI
1998

Andy Gardner, VA
2000, 2005, 2010, 2012

Ed Menzel, CA
2003, 2006

Michael Kaye, MD
2004, 2009

Darren Kilfara, uk
2007

Charlie Drozd, IL
2008

Ed Paule, NJ
2011

John Sharp, FL
2013
   

twotime champ Ed Menzel vs Ted Drozd

Jim Eliason vs Jeff Miller

 Ray Freeman vs Henry Richardson

 Two-time champ Ed Paule vs Bob Hamel.

If at first you don't succeed ...

70 games were played during the 2013 Rising Sun Pre-Con, a 20% increase over last year's near record low numbers. The welcome increase was accompanied by the return of original VIP GM Glenn Petroski after a long absence to lift everyone's spirits in a reunion of kindred spirits. Three games were played without using any options while one was played using the NT1 variant. The most popular options this year were 1 & 2B. The average bid this year was 4.807; an increase from 4.654 POC last year. Contrary to the increasing bids we also saw an increase in the IJN winning %; up from 56% last year to 61% this year; the IJN continues to hold a significant advantage in tournament play despite the current optional rules in use.

An ongoing discussion has been taking place regarding the current state of play balance and bidding; with several variants being proposed. This year I plan to work with many highly respected players to attempt to design a "recommended" set of optional rules that will hopefully improve play balance. These options will be encouraged to be used throughout the year so that we can get feedback on what aspects of the adjustments are working as intended.

After five rounds of swiss competition, the top eight players advanced to a single elimination format. Jim Eliason was undefeated at 5-0 and received the #1 seed, additionally there were three individuals with records of 4-1; Mike Kaye, Daniel Blumentritt, and Ed Paule. The last four places were filled from amongst the seven individuals tied at 3-2; using strength of schedule tiebreakers Scott Beall, defending champion Andy Gardner, John Sharp, and Ray Freeman completed the top eight. Warren Day, Rob Drozd, and John Pack in that order missed the cut at 3-2.

In the surprising Round 6 #8 Freeman's IJN upset #1 Eliason's USN, #7 Sharp's USN upset #2 Kaye's IJN, #6 Gardner's IJN upset #3 Bloomentritt's USN. The final game in the round between #5 Beall's USN and #4 Paule's IJN would determine whether all lower ranked seeds would advance to the semifinals; in a hard fought game #4 Paule was able to prevail, the only individual to advance to the Semi's from the top four.

Round 7 saw the top surviving seed #4 Paule bid 7.5 POC to play the IJN vs. #8 Freeman's USN. Paule was able to secure a mathematical lock at the end of Turn 7 in a close game. In the other semifinal Gardner bid 5.5 to play the IJN. In a nail biter that went all the way to the last turn, #7 Sharp was able to prevail over the four-time champion.

The Final thus pit 2011 Champion Ed Paule against perennial contender John Sharp. Ed continued his high bidding and again paid 7.5 PoC to play the IJN. Turn 3 proved to be decisive as Ed's eight CV's and two LBA failed to convert Pearl Harbor vs. just 6 Allied LBA. Ed soldiered on, but without Pearl Harbor and having bid 7.5 the writing was on the wall. Ed conceded at the end of turn 4. After 23 straight years of participation, John Sharp had his first WBC Victory in the Pacific title.

Tim Tow and John Pack meet across the board after decades of email play. Both are prolific email GMs of long standing.

The Final pit 2008 champ Charlie Drozd vs longtime contender John Sharp who finally grasped the brass ring.

 PBeM Super GM John Pack presents wood to Daniel Blumentritt for winning the latest BPA VIP PBeM tournament and to Andy Gardner for the invitational tournment of champions and Ed Menzel for holding the fort on the VIP ladder.

 Play By Email 2013

Daniel Blumentritt's USN saved Pearl Harbor from conversion on Turn 3 to keep the POC low throughout the game and put the final nail in the coffin at the end of Turn 6 (with the score already down to 14). Even the small NT1 bid of 1.5 was insufficient to keep Tim Tow's IJN in contention. Daniel's victory prevented the rare WAS/VIP combination PBeM championship as Tim had claimed the 2013 WAS title the previous month. The USN won a solid majority of the games during the final four rounds (6-3). The rest of the top six were Robert Drozd, Greg Smith, Scott Beall, and Rob Kircher. 39 admirals were part of the original field; 38 total games were played before Daniel seized the crown! In addition to the plaque, BPA laurels, and his name on the traveling World Championship trophy, Daniel also wins a coveted invitation to the 2013 Top Ten Invitational. See all of the details at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_bpa/vitp_bpa_single_elim_11.htm. Get the details of the new tournament that will begin Sept. 15th at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_format/vitp_bpa_format.htm.

 GM      Charles Drozd [4th Year]   NA
    charles_drozd@hotmail.com   NA 

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