Once More Behind the Sand Dunes
...
The Afrika Korps tournament drew 20 participants this
year, down from last year's attendance of 24. Contributing to
the lower turnout were several "no-shows" from among
the preregistrants, including the surprising absence of two-time
defending champion Greg Smith and semifinalist Mark Gutfreund.
However, thanks to the introduction of flexible starting times
that allowed first rounders to complete their first game anytime
before 9am Thursday, we picked up several new players, including
Tom Shaw, Jr. (son of the former AH General editor) and Edi Birsan,
aka "Mr. Diplomacy."
The house rules incorporated an option for bidding supplies
for sides, but only if both players agreed, so this rule was
invoked only once in the tournament. Pairings were done randomly
in an effort to diminish the advantage of higher AREA ratings.
Play balance was surprisingly in the British favor this year,
with the Brits winning 11 matches to the Axis' eight. This Allied
superiority was due largely to the defensive prowess of eventual
champion Randy Heller, who won all four of his matches as the
British player, the first time that this has ever been accomplished
in AK tournament history, going all the way back to Origins I
in 1975!
The first round held few surprises, with the notable exception
of the Steve Likevich vs Bruno Sinigaglio match. As the British,
Steve took Bruno to the limit, forcing Bruno into a desperation
1-1 attack in October 1942 to finally win the game. Other 1st
round survivors were Michael Rinella, Bill Scott, Paul McCarthy,
Kurt Kurtz, Vince Meconi, James Tracy, Jonathan Lockwood, Barry
Smith, and Randy Heller. In the second round, Smith (Axis) defeated
Rinella (Br), Lockwood (Br) outlasted Scott (Axis), Tracy (Axis)
defeated McCarthy (Br), Sinigaglio (Br) defeated Kurtz (Axis),
and Randy Heller (Br) defeated Vince Meconi (Axis). This last
match was easily the toughest of the second round, pitting the
#2 ranked AREA player versus #3. Randy finally had to dodge "the
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch" (aka the desperation 1-1 assault
against Tobruch) in order to survive Meconi's Axis attack and
advance.
Round 3 featured a single game between James Tracy (Axis)
and GM Jonathan Lockwood (Br), in which Jim bid two "sunk"
supplies to play the Axis. This game went the limit, as Lockwood's
modified Paleveda Gambit defense outlasted Tracy's methodical
but relentless Axis assault, Lockwood also having to dodge the
"holy hand grenade" in September 1942.
Round 4 had GM Lockwood (Axis) taking on Asst GM Sinigaglio
(Br) in a semifinal match, with Smith (Axis) versus Asst GM Heller
(Br) in the other match. Bruno stunned Jonathan early with a
high-risk Brit counterattack that nevertheless destroyed the
majority of the 21st Panzer. Faced with tight supplies and a
crippled offensive capability, Lockwood eventually resigned after
an unsuccessful desperation assault against Tobruch. Barry, in
the other match, nearly knocked Randy out of the tournament with
his Axis offensive. Randy was forced into a 2-1 counterattack
at the gates of Alexandria in order to turn the tide and eventually
win.
The final between Sinigaglio (Axis) and Heller (Br) was a
classic, in which Randy successfully parried Bruno's Axis offensive,
eventually forcing Bruno to resort to the 1-1 attack against
Tobruch. This failed, and Randy Heller won hard-earned wood in
the 2000 WBC, doing it all with defense!
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