dawn of freedom  

Updated Nov. 12, 2014

2014 WBC Report  

 2015 Status: pending 2015 GM commitment

Max Duboff, NJ

2014 Champion

Event History
2014    Max DuBoff    24

 Laurels

 Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
   1.  Max DuBoff         NJ    14     30
   2.  Jeremy Martin      GA    14     18
   3.  Tom Drueding       MA    14     12
   4.  R. Evan Woodham    TX    14      9
   5.  Pat Richardson     VA    14      6
   6.  Paul Sampson       OH    14      3

2014 Laurelists                        

Jeromey Martin, GA
2nd

Tom Drueding, MA
3rd

R. Evan Woodham, TX
4th

Pat Richardson, VA
5th

Paul Sampson, OH
6th


Steve Kelley runs into up and coming Max DuBuff in the swiss rounds.

Neither CDW shark Stefan Mecay or Sean McCulloch went the distance.

The Winds of Change ...

The winds of change were sweeping across the land fueled by a younger generation. Some tried to ignore them, others tried to resist them, and still others fought to aid them. No, I'm not referring to Seven Springs, but to 1989: Dawn of Freedom.

In its first official appearance at WBC, 1989 was run as four rounds of Swiss play. Six players stayed the course for every round, four lasted three rounds, eight managed two and eight more played but once for a total of 30 games. There was no bidding; sides were determined randomly for the first round and then alternated for the second. Thereafter, the players agreed on sides.

Round 1 consisted of ten games, evenly split with five Communist and five Democrat victories. Round 2 yielded another ten games, with the Democrats pulling ahead 7:3. In Round 3, six games reinforced the Democratic trend with five more wins. The last four games were split 2-2 to give the Democrats a 19-11 advantage.

Round 4 dawned on two unbeaten players. Veteran Tom Drueding, the 13th ranked WBC Laurelist closing in on a thousand laurels, took the Communist side and made Poland a Red fortress - scoring Poland for the Communists four times. This let young Max DuBoff, looking for his first WBC title, take Hungary for the Democrats in the Early Year, and East Germany in the Mid Year.

Going into the Late Year, the VPs were virtually even at +1, and the Communists still held Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania. On Turn 8, Max played Czechoslovakia Scoring and won the Power Struggle but missed the die roll to take Power. After improving his position in Czechoslovakia, he played Domino Theory, which let him pull Czech Scoring out of the discards and play it again. This time he had enough to Raise the Stakes, win the Power Struggle, and take Power in the country.

Turn 9 gave Tom the scoring cards for both Poland and Romania. Poland Scoring gave the Communists 15 Victory Points, but Romania Scoring was a disaster for the Reds. Max had "The Crowd Turns Against Ceausescu," a card that allows the Democrat to adjust Communist holdings in the country before it is scored. Tom won the Power Struggle and kept Power in the country, but Max scored the points.

The 10th and last turn revealed no great surprises. "Fortress Poland" scored for the Communists in Final Scoring, but the Democrat scored everywhere else. Max had more than 20 Victory Points to claim the first-ever WBC 1989 crown as well as his first WBC championship. Expect many more in this youngster's future. Winds of change, indeed.

 GM     Henry Richardson  [1st Year]  NA
   ehr0@juno.com   NA 

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