we the people [Updated October 2002]

wtp   4 prizes Beginners Swiss Elim Continuous 
 
  20  
    Round 2 11 Round 3 13 Round 4 15  Round 5 18  Round 6  20Final

  Valley

Marvin Birnbaum, NJ

2002 Champion

2nd: Paul Gaberson, PA

3rd: David Dockter, MN

4th: Roderick Lee, CA

5th: Bruce Wigdor, NJ

6th: Tom Drueding, PA

Event History
1994    Andy Lewis      60
1995    Roger Taylor      56
1996    George Seary      54
1997    Thomas Drueding      40
1998    James Pei      40
1999    Marvin Birnbaum     32
2000    Brian Mountford     45
2001    Brian Mountford     32
2002    Marvin Birnbaum     54


AREA Ratings


GM: Don Chappell

Past Winners

Andy Lewis - DE
1994

Roger Taylor - VA
1995

George Seary - NY
1996

Thomas Drueding - PA
1997

James Pei - TX
1998

Marvin Birnbaum - NJ
1999

Brian Mountford - NY
2000-2001
 

Card Driven Champs

This year, disappointed WTP contenders can rightly claim that the Gamemaster was totally in the dark! Preparations for our 9 AM start were delayed by the hotel's "fifteen minute" electrical black-out, but players cooperated nicely and we quickly overcame the awkward kickoff. Our starting field was the largest since 1996, 54 players and included three former champions(Birnbaum, Drueding, Mountford) as well as four of last year's six finalists. More importantly, we had a number of first time participants who were familiar with the game plus four rookies who survived the Valley Forge like environment of Cafe Jay during the Thursday evening teaching session!

Players also cooperated with the collection of statistics on bidding, frequency of automatic victories, year ending data, etc. (The full analysis of these statistics is included in the unabridged version of this report.) The average bid was 1.25 PCs to take the British. During the three Swiss qualifying rounds this average bid yielded: 25 American wins, 24 British wins and seven Draws.

Notable Performances: In the opening round James Doughan denied Brian Mountford his chance for a three-peat when, after giving Brian 2 PCs, he proceeded to control Canada and all 13 colonies at the 1781 ending. James also receives this year's "Buzz-Saw" award - he not only faced Brian in the first round but was matched against another returning champion, Tom Drueding, in the second. Brian battled back to gain two victories in the subsequent rounds to qualify for a shot at the final slot in the SE portion of the tournament. As the only player to hang tough through the entire Swiss Round despite three disappointing losses, Steve Rugge gets the "Valley Forge" award. From a field of five that drew my attention, David Dockter was given the nod as our Sportsmanship nominee. After he and Paul Gaberson reached a draw in the semifinal game, David accepted adjudication on the basis of the tie breaker rule with far more grace and good humor than is reasonable to expect.

The eight players making up the quarterfinals were: David Dockter, Tom Drueding, Paul Gaberson, Stuart Tucker, Marvin Birnbaum, Bruce Wigdor, Michael Mitchell, and Roderick Lee. When the dust settled, Marvin Birnbaum had claimed both the 2002 Wood and the distinction of a second WTP championship.

 GM      Don Chappell  [2nd Year]   NA
   NA   NA

View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page