across five aprils [Updated October 2002]

A5A  2 prizes Experienced Swiss Elim Continuous 
   9  Round 2 Semi 16 Round 3 Final  18  

 Valley

David Metzger, VA

2002 Champion

2nd: Michael Sincavage, VA

3rd: Rick Young, CA

4th: Dave Ketchum, FL

5th: George Young, VT

6th: David Schubert, MD

Event History
1993    Nick Frydas      37
1994    Dennis Culhanne      31
1995    Mark Giddings      24
1996    David Metzger      40
1997    David Metzger      23
1998    Terry Coleman      21
1999    Mike Sincavage     22
2000    Mark Miklos     16
2001    Rick Young     14
2002    David Metzger     12


AREA Ratings


GM: Dave Ketchum

Past Winners

Nick Frydas - UK
1993

Dennis Culhane - PA
1994

Mark Giddings - NY
1995

David Metzger - VA
1996-1997

Terry Coleman - CA
1998

Mike Sincavage - VA
1999

Mark Miklos - GA
2000

Rick Young - CA
2001
 

Truly Brother vs Brother ...

It was a small, but dedicated, turnout for this year's tourney. The competition was fierce, yet cordial. The format was similar to last year's with a couple of adjustments implemented. The first scenario was Bentonville utilizing a uniform chit pull for the Confederate's first turn. This seems to work well in minimizing the wild fluctuations that could result from game to game. The second scenario was Bull Run, followed by Pea Ridge for the third and final preliminary round. The finals pitted the top scoring Union commander against the top scoring Confederate player. The final round was altered in an effort to quicken the outcome. Bull Run was used for the championship with two games being played, one from each side of the map. The previous formatwas one game of Pea Ridge, but this usually turned out to be a very long scenario.

David Metzger regained his championship form from years past to dominate the field. His rebels managed to obtain numerous victory stars in the first round of Bentonville, barely lost a ten-turn game of Bull Run in round 2, then pushed the Union off the map for a decisive Pea Ridge victory. In the finals, pitted against 1999 champ Michael Sincavage, Evans' brigade proved critical. When Metzger controlled Evans, he escaped the Stone Bridge to meet the Union forces coming down Sudley-New Market Road. When Sincavage had the Confederates, Evans died quickly allowing the Union forces to decisively obtain the hilltop.

Michael got into the finals with a surprisingly quick first day Union victory over George Young's rebels in Pea Ridge. Combined with his Union victories in Bentonville & Bull Run he had to sweat out tie breaker points with Rick Young to determine the best Union player of the day. Michael got the nod over Rick by having his rebel opponents score more points than Rick's adversaries, thus knocking out the defending champion.

The overall results saw Metzger as the only Confederate victor in Bentonville, along with two draws and three Union victories. The 3-1-2 record from the blue point of view, countered the overall rebel advantage of 69-34-47 over the life of this event. The second round of Bull Run resulted in two Confederate wins and four Union wins. This is in keeping with the previous results, although total figures were not available for this scenario. The third round Pea Ridge was diminished by drop-outs, with only three games played. One rebel victory versus two federal wins can be compared with the overall Union advantage of 62-59.

The poor turnout this year will once again force the membership to return this game to the Century group via the ballot. Expectations were high, but conflicts, as always, claimed some no shows, and again cut the field beneath 16.

 GM      Dave Ketchum [1st Year]  2808 60 Ave W #404, Bradenton, FL 34207
    dketchum2001@yahoo.com   941-739-1263

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