victory in the pacific  

Updated 11/30/2009

Rising Sun Pre-Con
2009 WBC Report    

 2010 Status: pending 2010 GM commitment

Michael Kaye, MD

2009 Champion

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Event History
1991    Dave Targonski      36
1992    Wes Erni      39
1993    Alan Applebaum      36
1994    Dave Targonski      36
1995    Dan Henry      45
1996    Robert Kondracki      46
1997    Ed O'Connor      42
1998    Joe Dragan      48
1999    Alan Applebaum     48
2000    Andy Gardner     50
2001    Dan Henry     48
2002    Dan Henry     50
2003    Ed Menzel     39
2004    Michael Kaye     44
2005     Andy Gardner     32
2006     Ed Menzel     41
2007     Darren Kilfara     39
2008    Charlie Drozd     36
2009    Michael Kaye     37

PBeM Event History
1999    Nick Markevich      20
2001    Ed Menzel      32
2004    Rob Flowers      32
2007    Charles Drozd     35
2009    Joe Dragon     42
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Dan Henry          IL    07    272
  2.  Andy Gardner       VA    09    258
  3.  Michael Kaye       CA    09    246
  4.  Ed Menzel          CA    06    214
  5.  Charlie Drozd      IL    08    152
  6.  Darren Kilfara     uk    09    146
  7.  Alan Applebaum     MA    05    113
  8.  John Pack          CO    08     96
  9.  Michael Ussery     MD    08     78
 10.  Joe Dragan         MI    09     66
 11.  Ray Freeman        CA    04     60
 12.  Rob Flowers        MD    04     50
 13.  Larry Meyers       AZ    09     44
 14.  Ed Paule           NJ    09     42
 15.  Jim Eliason        IA    08     42
 16.  Tim Tow            TX    04     39
 17.  John Sharp         FL    07     30
 18.  Bob Hamel          CT    00     30
 19.  Ted Drozd          IL    09     18
 20.  Nathan Zietlow     IA    09     18
 21.  Michael Day        AZ    09     18
 22.  John Strand        CO    02     18
 23.  Eric El Osta       bg    00     18
 24.  Philip Watkins     MN    07     15
 25.  Ken Nied           KS    03     14
 26.  Pat Richardson     FL    09     12
 27.  Mark Booth         VA    08     12
 28.  Joe Powell         VA    99     12
 29.  Nick Markevich     CA    99     10
 30.  Robert Drozd       IL    09      6
 31.  John Sharp Jr      FL    03      6
 32.  Casey Adams        MN    00      6
 33.  Brad Solberg       CA    99      6
 34.  Scott Fenn         MD    07      5
 35.  Ong Meng Soon      my    01      4
 36.  Bobby Clinton      CA    01      4
 37.  Max Zavanelli      FL    99      4
 38.  Dennis Nicholson   NY    99      3
 39.  Vince Meconi       DE    99      2
 40.  Glenn McMaster     on    01      1

2009 Laurelists                                                Repeating Laurelists:

Darren Kilfara, uk
2nd

Andy Gardner, VA
3rd

Ted Drozd, IL
4th

Pat Richardson, FL
5th

Ed Paule, NJ
6th


Past Winners

Dave Targonski, DC
1991, 1994

Alan Applebaum, MA
1993, 1999

Dan Henry, IL
1995, 200l-02

Robert Kondracki, PA
1996

Ed O'Connor, NJ
1997

Joe Dragan, MI
1998

Andy Gardner, VA
2000, 2005

Ed Menzel, CA
2003, 2006

Michael Kaye, MD
2004, 2009

Darren Kilfara, UK
2007

Charlie Drozd, IL
2008
       

Two-time champ Dave Targonski records his moves, presumably for later study, in his game against Ted Drozd. Ted moved on to make the elimination rounds.

Former champs collide as Mike Kaye is paired with Alan Applebaum while Jeff Cornett battles another former champ, Darren Kilfara, in the background.

Rising Sun

73 matches overall - 65 Swiss and eight of the new single elimination games combined to crown Mike Kaye as the 2009 Champion.
 
The bids jumped this year - games with a bid averaged 4.4275, vs 2008's 3.974 POC average, a half POC increase.  Overall bids (including four games with no bid) averaged 4.1849, compared to last year's 3.827.
 
This year's change to a Swiss-Elim format finally brought a Final into play after 18 years of pure swiss!  The top eight advanced from the fierce Swiss rounds to quarter-finals.  One 5-0, followed by three 4-1s advanced automatically.  Eight 3-2 players matched strength-of-schedule stats to determine which four would advance to the elimination rounds.
 
During the Swiss competition, an unusual situation occurred in the game between Greg Smith (IJN) and Vince Meconi (Allies).  I looked at their board to see Australia wearing a RED PORT symbol - taken by the Japanese.  In addition, Ceylon was also taken by the IJN. I had never seen that combination in any game.  Of course, Vince's Allies (mostly the USN) pressed their advantage in the east, since most of the IJN was busy with the Royal Navy and capturing western lands.  Nevertheless, Greg's Japanese held on for a net 5.5 POC win.
 
Undefeated Andy Gardner was the top seed for the elimination rounds, followed by (in order of Swiss finish after tie-breakers) Mike Kaye (4-1), Darren Kilfara (4-1), Ted Drozd (4-1), Pat Richardson (3-2), Ed Paule (3-2), Mark Booth (3-2) and Ed Menzel (3-2).
 
The quarter-finals featured these matches:
 
Andy Gardner vs Ed Menzel, with Ed prevailing after eight brutal turns.
Darren Kilfara vs Ed Paule, with Darren posting the win after eight.
Mike Kaye vs Mark Booth, with Mike taking the honors.
Ted Drozd vs Pat Richardson, with Pat sealing the game after six turns.
 
One semi-final pitted Ed Menzel against Darren Kilfara.  Ed took the Allies and 4.5 POC against Darren's IJN in a SEASAW battle that ran a full eight turns, with Darren's IJN finally scoring the win because the IJN LBA held Hawaii!
 
The other semi-final saw Mike Kay's IJN take on Pat Richardson's Allies with a 6.0 bid.  Early turns were nip and tuck, with Pat boring holes in the IJN perimeter as the POC mounted.  Pat snatched bases from the Japanese, making inroads against the IJN flags.  The crowning point on Turn 6 occurred as the Allies drove for Indonesia bases.  The IJN sank the Marine, the Allies missed Yokosuka, and the Philippines fell to the Yokosuka SNLF.  Losing that key base, the Allies conceded.
 
In the Final, Mike Kaye bid 5.5 for the Japanese, so Darren Kilfara lined up Battleship Row for the Pearl Harbor strikes.   Turn 2, Darren dared Mike with five USN CVs in three areas.  Losing four (including one to the mighty Hosho and one to the I-Boat) put Darren in a tight spot.  While seeming risky, Darren's exposure of all five Allied CVs pitted the USN against the smaller IJN CVs.  Darren's calculations showed that the expected outcome would be two, perhaps three USN CVs sunk.  Unfortunately, the dice do have a way of sometimes "exceeding our expectations!"  Turn 3, Darren's LBA in Hawaii had a tough time, losing five of six Allied LBA in the first round while only max damaging one IJN CV and disabling another.  With Pearl Harbor under IJN rule, Mike pressed in later turns.  Darren fought back until a large battle in the South Pacific on Turn 5 went the wrong way giving the IJN too much of an advantage.  Darren's Allies conceded. 
 
My thanks to all of the loyal players whose attendance and assistance over the years have made running this tournament a pleasure. Next year will see a new VIP GM: Charlie Drozd has offered to take on the task.  He will be assisted by a team of experienced players to allow him to both GM and play effectively.

Dave Gubbay and Mike Pustilnik trade incoming air raids in one of the five swiss rounds filled with veteran players.

Not surprisingly, the Final paired two former champs, this time it was Darren Kilfara and Mike Kaye.

 GM      John Sharp [6th Year]   4701 Hamlets Grove Dr, Sarasota, FL 34235 
    john_sharp@verizon.net  941-359-3991

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