Keith Schoose (left) manages the Kennedy Campaign to defeat in the semi's against Chris Byrd's GOP juggernaut. My, how times have changed! Will 1960 prove to be as popular next WBC in a non-election year?	Chris Withers (left) appears no worse for wear in the wake of the demise of his Great Campaigns streak as he guides the Democrats over Canadian Jean-Francois Gagne to move into the Final as GM Schmittgens hovers nearby.

2009 WAM 1960: The Making of the President Tournament

After a strong debut last year, it was reasonable to wonder whether 1960: The Making of the President would continue to draw at WAM, now that the historic real-world election of 2008 had passed. Attendance did drop slightly, but there were plenty of newcomers among the 17 campaign managers, a trend which bodes well for the future.

The early rounds on Saturday showed the tension this game can produce among well-matched opponents, with several games going down to the last contested state. Veteran James Terry had a chance to turn New York for Nixon, but failed three support checks, allowing a relieved Jeff Finkeldey to escape with a 289-248 electoral victory. Bill Pettus, on the other hand, won a similarly close game with Nixon over Marvin Birnbaum due to Nixon's superior endorsements.

Chris Yaure held off Don Chappell, 274-234, as the long-time We the People GM couldn't find an answer to Nixon's Momentum cards in the West, South and East. Don would play an even more memorable game in the following round. After all the states had been counted, he and Bob Jamelli had tied, sending the election to Congress! Nixon had won more states, so Don emerged triumphant, in the only game to go "overtime" in the history of the event.

Terry Coleman defeated Chris Yaure in a rare game that had no debate or electoral events played (another first for the tournament). Meanwhile, Sean McCulloch squeaked past Mike Mitchell in a contest which saw a number of states change hands late, 273-246.

In what turned out to be probably the event's wildest game, Bill Pettus had built up a huge lead early on versus Steven Brooks. Steve had a strong debate performance with Kennedy (sound familiar?) to get back into the game late, and managed to eke out almost all of the big states at the end for a very hard-fought victory. It turned out to be a big loss for Bill, as he finished just behind the 4-0 records of Texan Stefan Mecay and Terry Coleman, who would play for the title.

After the excitement of the prelims, however, the Final unfortunately couldn't live up to the hype. Terry's strategy of shutting down his opponent's mobility failed miserably when Stefan was able to utilize both the Kenn-Air and Bobby Kennedy card for bonuses and free movement on the critical late turns. As a result, Terry's considerable endorsements over most of the board made little difference, and Stefan won going away, 394-114. After Chris Byrd last year, Stefan becomes the second 1960 winner to win multiple WAM titles in the same year (also winning Twilight Struggle this year).

26 games were played in all, and overall, the Nixon side bucked history, emerging victorious 16-10. This 61% margin of victory was almost identical to last year's WAM results. Yet the bidding for sides was slightly higher for playing from the Kennedy side, at about 58%. The average bid for playing Kennedy was 1, while the typical bid for Nixon was less than 1 (players were allowed to start bidding at zero). Similar to last year, about a third of the games were played with no preference shown by either player (and thus no bids).

It should be noted that the overall edge for Nixon was offset by a sweep of four Kennedy victories at the end of the event, including the Final. The average game time was about 1 hour 45 minutes, with only one game going over 2 hours. The Final was played as a virtual sprint, finishing in 1 hour and 8 minutes.

The best Kennedy player was-no surprise-tournament winner Stefan Mecay at 4-0, followed by Terry Coleman at 2-0. Among the best Nixon players was teenager Joe Yaure—who finished fifth overall—along with Bill Pettus, Terry Coleman, and Marvin Birnbaum, all 2-1 with Tricky Dick.

Although quick to play, it seems that the WAM crowd hasn't discovered all of the electoral mysteries of 1960: The Making of the President quite yet. So, even though the next couple of years won't tie in to an election year in the real world, it seems likely that 1960 will continue to be a WAM staple for years to come.