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No one out-prepares Vince when it
comes to GM duties. A frequent GM of the Year, he is widely respected
aa a master of hs craft. |
Bruce Monnin must be throwing some
pretty heavy duty dice in that industrial strength die roller. |
44 Still in Convoy
Andy Gardner of Fairfax, VA won the War At Sea championship
shield, gaining the crown for the second time (he also won in
2002). Andy finished 7-1-0 and defeated Darren Kilfara of Dunbar,
East Lothian, United Kingdom (6-2-0) in the final contest. Darren
missed his chance to become the first player to win both Victory
in the Pacific and War At Sea at the same WBC, after
winning VIP at the Rising Sun pre-con earlier in the week. Andy
has won both titles, but not in the same year. Andy finished
2nd in VIP this year, so it's pretty clear who are the two top
players in the WAS/VIP game system - at least for this year!
The final match could not have been closer; Darren's Allies won
the raw POC by 1, but the 2-POC bid put Andy's Axis on top by
1! Third place went to first time playoff contender John Elliott
(Sunderland, MD, 5-1-0). John made the playoffs the hard way,
skipping the first round and then winning four in a row with
a belated start. The 4th and final wood went to three-time champ
Bruce Monnin (Minster, OH, 4-3-0). 5th place went to Jim Kramer
(Wiconisco, PA, 5-1-0), a veteran player making his first playoff
bid. Jim was the only player to go undefeated in the five Swiss
rounds. The rest of the playoff participants were 6th, John Pack
(Parker, CO, 4-2-0), 7th, Pat Richardson (Warrenton, VA, 4-2-0),
and 8th, Chuck Stapp (Freehold, NJ, 3-2-1). John Pack was the
only player to make the playoffs both this year and last, demonstrating
how competitive the War At Sea field has become.
In the quarterfinals, Bruce Monnin defeated top seed Jim Kramer,
Andy Gardner bested Virginia neighbor Pat Richardson, Darren
Kilfara stopped Chuck Stapp, and John Elliott outscored John
Pack. In the semi-finals, Darren Kilfara beat John Elliott and
Andy Gardner sank Bruce Monnin.
Andy Gardner added Best Allied Player to his championship
wood, while John Elliott took Best Axis Player honors. Rookie
of the Year was Frank Fischer of Wayside, NJ. Darren Kilfara
was our sportsmanship nominee.
Total entrants were 44 and 86 games were played, both just
about last year's levels. Play balance favored the Allies this
year, with 50 Allied wins to just 34 by the Axis. There were
two tie games. Bidding for sides increased, as did bidding for
the Allies. Only 19 contests had no bid, while 67 featured Allied
bids. For the first time in the history of the event, no player
bid for the Axis.
My thanks go to Assistant GMs Bruce Monnin, John Sharp (who
provided the chess clocks), and Frank Cunliffe (who ran our demo).
The newly created War At Sea Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural
class: Alan Applebaum, founding GM of the War At Sea tournament
way back at the 1991
Avaloncon, plus Ray Freeman and Bruce Monnin, the only three-time
winners of the War At Sea championship.
  War At Sea PBeM Tournament 2007-2008 Results
Congratulations go to Darren Kilfara for finishing 7-1 and
besting Alan Applebaum in the Final round of the 2008 War at
Sea PBeM Championship. 46 entrants participated in the tournament
of 5 Swiss Rounds followed by a single elimination phase for
the final eight players. Ewan McNay, Dennis Nicholson, Ed Menzel,
and Scott Beall claimed laurels for third through sixth respectively.
112 games were played which were all recorded for AREA purposes.
AREA ratings at the beginning of the tournament were headed
by Ed Menzel with 6135 (as at March 1, 2007) but the tournament
finishes with Andy Gardner on top with 6304. Full details are
available at http://www.geocities.com/kjlshewfelt/2007_was_bpa.html
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Vincent Meconi [6th Year]
105 Churchill Ln,
Wilmington, DE 19808-4355 
NA