adel verpflichtet   

Updated Nov. 10, 2014

2014 WBC Report  

 2015 Status: pending December 2014 Membership Trial Vote

John Pack, CO

2014 Champion

 

Event History
1991    Ray Pfeifer      23
1992    Terry Tegler      34
1993    Tom DeMarco      55
1994    Ralph May      49
1995    Beth Zhao      65
1996    Ray Pfeifer      32
1997    Thomas Stokes      54
1998    Marc Geary      64
1999    Ray Pfeifer     46
2000    Richard Irving     40
2001    John Pack     58
2002    John Pack     47
2003    Thomas Browne     60
2004    Marc Houde     52
2005    Ray Pfeifer     35
2006    Mark Geary     31
2007     Tom DeMarco     51
2008     Louis Gehring     64
2009    Philip Yaure     47
2010    John Pack     58
2011    Derek Landel     35
2012    Ray Stakenas II     43
2013    Philip Livingston      35
2014    John Pack     58

PBeM Event History
2008    Ken Gutermuth    34
2009    Curt Collins II    40
2010    Tom DeMarco    33
2013    John Pack    25
2014    Christopher Yaure    29 

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  John Pack          CO    14    171
  2.  Tom DeMarco        NJ    14    165
  3.  Ray Pfeifer        MD    07    104
  4.  Thomas Browne      PA    11     84
  5.  Mark Geary         OH    13     72
  6.  Marc Houde         VA    13     69
  7.  Nick Henning       CT    05     36
  8.  Kevin Wojtaszczyk  NY    14     33
  9.  Alex Bove          PA    09     33
 10.  Abby Cocke         MD    05     33
 11.  Ray Stakenas II    CA    12     30
 12.  Philip Yaure       PA    09     30
 13.  Curt Collins II    PA    09     30
 14.  Louis Gehring      IN    08     30
 15.  Ken Gutermuth      NC    08     30
 16.  Richard Irving     CA    00     30
 17.  Derek Landel       NJ    11     29
 18.  Philip Livingston  DE    13     26
 19.  Greg Thatcher      FL    14     26
 20.  Ben Foy            MD    02     24
 21.  Sharee Pack        CO    14     22
 22.  Greg Crowe         VA    14     22
 23.  Shea Lawson        MD    08     22
 24.  Christopher Yaure  PA    14     20
 25.  Mike Kaltman       PA    13     18
 26.  Jeff Cornett       FL    12     18
 27.  Anne Norton        NJ    07     18
 28.  Tom Stokes         NJ    01     18
 29.  Scott Cornett      FL    99     18
 30.  Bob Hamel          CT    14     17
 31.  Steve Cameron      PA    10     14
 32.  Tamara Houde       VA    13     12
 33.  Joshua Githens     SC    10     12
 34.  Raphael Lehrer     CA    10     12
 35.  Pam Gutermuth      FL    09     12
 36.  Brittany Bernard   PA    08     12
 37.  Luke Koleszar      VA    07     12
 38.  Karl Henning       CT    06     12
 39.  John Weber         MD    04     12
 40.  Patrick Mitchell   DE    03     12
 41.  Laurie Wojtaszczyk NY    13      9
 42.  Robert Voisin      NY    12      9
 43.  Haim Hochboim      il    10      9
 44.  Jessica Hardesty   MD    09      9
 45.  Carolyn Brown      NJ    03      9
 46.  Alan Moon          MA    99      9
 47.  Scott Saccenti     MD    14      8
 48.  Kevin Breza        VA    11      8
 49.  Frank Cunliffe     PA    03      8
 50.  Suzanne Tuch       NY    14      6
 51.  Jessica Foster     NY    10      6
 52.  Jonathan Izer      MD    09      6
 53.  Keith Layton       NJ    09      6
 54.  Beth Zhao          TX    08      6
 55.  Harald Henning     CT    04      6
 56.  Jean DeLattre      be    00      6
 57.  Eyal Mozes         NY    99      6
 58.  David Meyaard      CT    13      5
 59.  Peter Staab        PA    14      6
 60.  George Seary       NY    13      3
 61.  Rob Brode          MD    10      3
 62.  David Rynkowski    NY    09      3
 63.  Anthony Daw        UT    09      3
 64.  Frank Arndt        MD    01      3
 65.  Wendy DeMarco      NJ    00      3
 66.  Christine Frattali WA    99      3
 67.  Robert Davidson    IL    11      2

2014 Laurelists
Returning Laurelists:

Kevin Wojtaszczyk, NY
2nd

Scott Saccenti, MD
3rd

Tom DeMarco, NJ
4th

Greg Crowe, MD
5th

Peter Staab, PA
6th


Past Winners

Ray Pfeifer, MD
'91, '96, '99, '05

Tom DeMarco, NJ
1993, 2007

Ralph May, SC
1994

Beth Zhao, DC
1995

Thomas Stokes, NJ
1997

Mark Geary, OH
1998, 2006

Richard Irving, CA
2000

John Pack, CO
2001-02, 2010, 2014

Tom Browne, PA
2003

Marc Houde, VA
2004

Louis Gehring, IN
2008

Philip Yaure, PA
2009

Derek Landel, NJ
2011

Ray Stakenas II, CA
2012

Philip Livingston, DE
2013

Ewan McNay vs UK's Ed Kendrick and Norway's Haakon Monsen - just one of many international pairings at WBC.

Brandon Bernard and Kevin Wojtaszczyk - likely art thief candidates if ever I saw one.

Four heats ... still no dice

The change to four heats - each run by a different veteran GM (Greg Crowe of Titan: The Arena, Ivan Lawson of Lost Cities, & Tom DeMarco of Adel Verpflichtet) - boosted attendance by nearly two thirds over 2013 levels, but the additional heats failed to impress the Century requirements. Each heat attracted between 15-29 participants. The downside? Only one person has won the event when there've been exactly 58 entrants ­ the GM (John Pack of Gangsters) ­ a trend not broken this year as he won for the fourth time - three times ina field of 58. The good news is that he's never won when his lucky number 58 was not in play, so we just need to bring a few more friends next year!

Many newcomers went on to win a game or two after a brief intro. This is impressive when one considers that there are roughly 371,000 permutations for each move in a 5-player game! Just a bit more advanced than rock-paper-scissors...

The Heat 3 banter centered on Greg Crowe's paltry exhibit as he repeatedly exhibited the same three items ad nauseam turn after turn after turn and so on, etc., etc.... "Have you been to the castle lately?" "It's new; it's fresh; it's avant-garde." "Critics give the exhibit five thumbs down." "It's so stale it reminds me of an exhibit I saw in 1468."

Four players qualified for the semifinals with a perfect score: Jeff Cornett, Tamara Houde, Tim Packwood and Peter Staab. All but three of the 16 who qualified by earning 8 or more points claimed their semifinal spots. The two 7-point alternates made it with 9 and 8 spaces respectively: Paul Gaberson and Kevin Wojtazczyk.

The first semifinal wins went to Greg Crowe (7 spaces ahead/2nd largest set), Kevin Wojtazczyk (5/smallest), and John Pack (13/smallest). Those in second (4 points) were: Tom DeMarco, David Meyaard, & Tim Packwood. The second semifinal round saw closer wins by Tom DeMarco (2/largest), Ivan Lawson (1/largest), and Scott Saccenti (5/largest). In second place: John Pack, Peter Staab, & Greg Crowe.

The three players with both a win and a second place (9 points) qualified for the Final as did Kevin with a win and a third-place finish (8 points). The last golden ticket went to Scott Saccenti with a win and a 4th place finish (7 points) by virtue of finishing six places over the line (narrowly besting Peter Staab with four spaces and David Meyaard with 0 spaces, each with a second and third place finish).

Winner's View: I started the Final with a set, so I headed straight for the Castle. So did everyone else - just in time for our first Detectives Convention. We all agreed the WBC was a better convention. The second turn was more productive as we had a guest speaker to send to jail. I stayed at the Castle (despite protests from some of the staff) building a lead by catching thieves and exhibiting until the 3/2 space just shy of the first corner (at which point my lovely ABCE had been reduced to ACE).

At that point I spent four turns in the Auctionhouse, acquiring B, D, large check, and another B respectively. Zero wasted turns! By that point, the other players had caught me (with one in my space and the other three in the 4/2 zone ahead of me). Two successive detectives filled the remaining jail cells (something I feel is a pre-requisite for a dash to the finish line) and brought me to the middle of the pack as we passed the first 2/1 dead zone.

The next move proved decisive. During the foregoing detective period, Greg's chances were virtually eliminated as he lost many items and his second thief. Scott had also lost both thieves. The situation was ideal for a sprint, with one exception. I realized my set (ABBCDE) would never sustain me against thieves through the finish. The group was also bunched close enough (except for Greg who was still back on the last 3/2 of the first edge) that I was willing to give detectives spaces (something I'm usually loathe to do). So despite four players at the Castle, one of whom was thief-less and almost certain to be a detective, I pulled out a thief - hoping to score a single item. However, Tom, Kevin, and Scott all exhibited. With a set of nine, I began my sprint. The next turn I lost an item to Tom (who also robbed Scott), but gained four spaces to take the lead. Then came another crucial juncture as all five players returned to the Castle for the first time since the opening move. I took the dare and had four detectives guard my exhibit.

On the next move, I leap-frogged the last 2/1 space and initiated the endgame. One more exhibit to move four past the line. I was robbed both of those last turns, so I finished with seven cards (1775). Kevin exhibited fearlessly right along with me to finish just one space short of the line (three of four cards, 1905). Scott, in third, had the second largest set (9 of 11, 1650) and just passed the second corner to finish nine spaces out. Tom had the largest set (10 of 10, 1468) but finished on the corner space for fourth. Greg felt lucky to get near the second corner after being thief-less and exhibit-less on the first edge (0 of 4).

Interestingly, I played a thief just once during the game. But it was decisive. Ultimately, I think the triple-theft along with my realization that the timing was perfect for a sprint led to victory. I'd like to thank the Thieves Guild, my wife Sharee (whose many sprinting victories have schooled me repeatedly), the exactly 58 entrants, and my daughter Mirth (who kicked my butt in Adel as soon as I got home to teach me some much needed humility)!


 Play By Email 2014

Christopher Yaure proved that close enough isn't just for horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear war - it counts in Adel Verpflichtet too. Chris qualified for the semifinals on tie-breakers (the highest of those with 17 points including two wins). He then moved into the Final as the only finalist without a win - using the second tie-break as the best second-place finisher with three spaces (having a set of ten cards). In a fitting finish, he then prevailed in a tie for first place with Tom DeMarco with the largest set (a one-card margin [12] over Suzanne Tuch's 11 card set). Congratulations to Chris for winning by the narrowest possible margin!

The game started off with cautious players - lots of detectives and very few thieves in the castle. Meanwhile, in the Auctionhouse, thieves were plentiful as were small checks. The first Auctionhouse pile emptied before players reached the first corner. Sharee Pack reached the first 2/1 space first through heavy attrition of her set. Then the game paused while players again returned to detective conventions with a rare thief as a guest speaker. Meanwhile, the Auctionhouse drained to a total of four cards while the checks switched hands (though, in the end, four players each had just one check remaining once the 2/1 roadblock was breached). As a result, the contest took many turns more than a typical game.

At that point, Sharee was still in the lead, but the entire field was within three spaces. She paused to use a detective to finally fill all five jail cells. Then Sharee, Bob Hamel, and Tom sprinted for the finish while Suzanne and Chris (with the largest two sets respectively) used detectives to make up the distance. Bob and Tom with the larger sets in the second-tier crowd moved ahead reaching the second 2/1 space. As they did so, Sharee turned bandit to pick up two items, gave Suzanne and Chris the detective-earned spaces they were seeking, and brought her set into a close third place.

Chris took that opportunity to hit the Auctionhouse one more time where he picked up the card that put his set ahead of Suzanne. Bob pushed forward into the 5/3 endgame space while Tom followed to the final space of the 2/1 zone. That set up the last turn. Tom continued his sprint, sending him five spaces forward and ending the game. Bob, inexplicably, selected a detective -- worth 2-3 spaces at most (and likely to give the players with bigger sets much greater advancement). Chris, Suzanne, and Sharee each played a thief -- which added to their sets but kept them in the same relative order. With the dining-table line crossed, the last exhibits come out -- giving Chris eight spaces (just enough to catch Tom and win by tie-breakers) and Suzanne four spaces.

It's interesting to note here how that crucial last turn might have fared with some different moves:

· Bob Exhibits: He earns the five spaces while Tom gets three. Bob finishes one space ahead of Chris and his massive tie-breaker.
· Chris Exhibits: Chris earns five to finish one space shy of the line. Tom gets three to finish one over. Chris' set is hammered by thieves. Suzanne and Sharee get the first and second place exhibits. Suzanne finishes two over the line and wins.
· Chris plays Detective: Tom gets five. Suzanne and Sharee get the first and second place exhibits. Tom wins.
· Chris and Suzanne Exhibit: The game doesn't end; Sharee has the biggest set; Bob is just one space short of the line.
· Tom Thieves or plays Detective: Game lasts another turn. Of course, Tom knew he didn't want another turn to allow the players with biggest sets more time to recover.

As you can see, most of the players still had a chance on the last move. But Chris navigated the puzzle to score the win! His only one of the event. Timing is everything.

The tournament will begin on January 3rd this coming year with the hope that we can finish before the World Boardgaming Championships! Check out all the details of the tournament at http://www.gameaholics.com/adv_tournament.htm.

 GM      John Pack [1st Year]  11213 Keota St., Parker, CO 80134
    John@gameaholics.com   303-351-3098

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