we the people [Updated October 2003]  

 2003 WBC Report  

 2004 Status: pending 2004 GM commitment

George Young, VT

2003 Champion

2nd: Brian Mountford, NY

3rd: Marvin Birnbaum, NY

4th: Pat Mirk, FL

5th: John Poniske, PA

6th: Joe Stenken, KY


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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
2003    George Young     41

PBeM Event History
2003    -      46

 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Brian Mountford

MD

03
130
 2. Marvin Birnbaum

NY

03
106
 3. George Young

VT

03
  74
 4. John Poniske

PA

03
  58
 5. Paul Gaberson

PA

02
  32
 6. Anthony Burke

NJ

00
  24
 7. George Seary

NY

99
  24
 8. Jim Gutt

AZ

01
  24
 9. Jim Fardette

AE

01
  18
10. David Dockter

MN

02
  16
11. David Tianen

WI

00
  16
12. Joe Collinson III

MD

99
  16
13. Pat Mirk

FL

03
  15
14. Riderick Lee

CA

02
  12
15. Bruce Wigdor

NJ

02
    8
16. Andy Lewis

DE

00
    8
17. Joe Stenken

KY

03
    5
18. Tom Drueding

PA

02
    4
19. Randall Borra

NY

00
    4
20. Jim Falling

IL

99
    4

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, 2002

Brian Mountford - NY
2000-2001
 


Card Driven Champs

This year's muster boasted a nice mix of former champions, hardy veterans, and eager newcomers. The cooperation and discipline of our players resulted in an unusually smooth tournament. No games were decided by adjudication and in the time allotted we were able to complete four Swiss qualifying rounds, one more than in 2002.

The extra Swiss round meant that players could suffer a defeat in one round and still advance to the quarter-finals; four of the eight advancers did just that. Three returning champions, Marvin Birnbaum, Brian Mountford, and Tom Drueding qualified along with Pat Mirk, John Poiniske, Barry Shoults and Joe Stenken.

In one of the hardest fought, and most emotionally charged contests of the tournament, Young defeated Mirk in the semi's to advance to the finals. Meanwhile Birnbaum and Mountford played a nearly flawless semi-final game, each working to get the most out of every card. In the end, Brian drove last year's champion down to defeat.

In the final, Brian Mountford, who had a draw during the Swiss rounds, attempted to become the first to three-peat as WTP champion. George Young, Green Mountain Boy and long time respected veteran, had lost his first round of the tournament when he accepted three PCs to take the British against (Caesar) Birnbaum. After that, George gave the PCs to take the Americans in each subsequent round, including the two PCs he spotted Mountford in the final. For Young, it was a winning strategy as he was able to stymie every attempt by Mountford to consolidate a British enclave somewhere in the colonies.

This year's prize for the WTP nominee for Sportsman of the Year was the biography: "The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin". Of four competitors who caught my eye, Paul Gaberson is our nominee. After a first round defeat, Paul cheerfully accepted a match against James Pei, even though the redoubtable Pei could only commit to a single game and was thus acting as a spoiler. By selflessly taking on this dangerous opponent, Paul allowed me to more evenly match two relative newcomers, both of whom would have been "candy" for either Pei or Gaberson. When James prevailed in their game, Paul's chances of taking the WTP wood in addition to the WNW wood evaporated. Instead of resting for his WNW final, Paul selflessly stayed on station for the entire event, coaching newcomers and acting as a spoiler himself.

 GM      Don Chappell  [3rd Year]   3604 Ruidoso Dr, Arlington, TX 76017 
   donandkate.chappell@comcast.net   NA

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