six rounds of swiss action
Following the same
format as the 2000 A&A tournament, 2001 saw two of last year's
top players face each other in the top of the first round: Kevin
Keller (1999 champ) and John Sharp III (4th in 2000) played to
an Allied win in five turns, leaving Kevin the top dog for the
upcoming rounds. Defending champion Tim Rothenhoefer, and last
year's 3rd place finisher Phil Rollins, didn't enter this year.
Other strong contenders matched in the initial round: Keith
Levy and Bill O'Neal, Joe Powell and Alfred Wong (5th in 2000),
Dave Ketchum and VITP GM Glenn Petroski, and Matt Daly and Eric
Hill.
Bids were generally higher this year. Overall, the average
was 14.75, with bids generally rising throughout the tournament.
There were 69 games played, with 41 Allied wins and 28 Axis
wins (59.42% vs 40.58%). It appears that for a second year,
bids were not high enough to give the Axis an even chance.
On the other hand, this year's champion, Pat Mirk from Tampa,
Florida, won six (6) times as the Axis! Taking the (believed)
disadvantaged side each round with bids of 12, 15, 14, 17, 15
&18, Pat swept the Allies aside to claim an undefeated 6-0
championship with 76 tournament points. Pat receives the coveted
Rommel/Yamamoto Award for exceptional Axis play.
In second place with a 5-1 record, Joseph Powell of Manassas,
Virginia, lost his first round as the Axis, but then cleaned
up as the Allies in the remaining five rounds. His streak earned
64 tournament points and the cherished Patton/Montgomery/Zhukov
Award for exceptional Allied play.
Third place went to last year's runner-up Kevin Keller, the
top AREA rated player in Axis & Allies. Top-seeded
Kevin faced a tough schedule, ending up with 53 tournament points
to match his 4-2 record.
Alfred Wong took fourth place with 52 tournament points and
a 4-2 record. Alfred handed Joe Powell his only loss and worked
through his schedule as the Allies in every match.
Fifth place went to Joe Collinson, with 49 tournament points
and a 4-2 record. Joe played mostly Axis (three wins) to capture
fifth place.
David Huss grabbed sixth place with a 4-2 record and 47 tournament
points. Dave posted three Allied wins and one Axis win in his
matches.
Players had a variety of experiences in this year's play.
This note from one of Joe Collinson's games caught my eye:
"Moscow attacked by five German aircraft; four shot down
by AA. 13 of first 14 Allied rolls were hits. Germany took Brazil,
Panama, West Indies and West USA!"
You never know what you will experience!
Overall, players faced a higher level of play this year.
Returning players from last year's competition had honed their
skills, while new ideas were brought to the playing boards by
fresh competitors new to the event.
Tournament scoring on a laptop this year helped get matches
underway quickly. Gone were the long waits while the GM slowly
calculated each player's scores each turn. Next year, expect
improvements in format, scoring, instructions, clarifications
and awards.
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