Event Inflation ... 1830 ... 1856
.... 1870
36
railroad managers turned out for this year's WBC 18xx tournament.
19 of 32 players from last year returned, joined by 17 newcomers.
New players had an impact, as five won preliminary round games,
with two others also qualifying for the semi-finals, and one
making it all the way to the final. Each preliminary session
drew well, with 16 at Heat 1, 18 at Heat 2, and 24 at Heat 3.
Most players attended more than once, with two playing in all
five sessions). The tourney featured 1830, 1856, and 1870
again, with all the preliminary winners (and enough runner-ups
to complete the field) advancing to a 16-player semi-final. 1830
remained the most popular game, with fifteen choosing 1856
and only nine opting for 1870 at some point.
The first heat featured two four-player 1856 games
and two four-player 1830 games. A player bankruptcy ended
only one of the 1830 games. In that game, Paul Skrabut
won despite never having played 1830 before. Obviously,
his attendance at the demonstration session earlier that morning
paid off! Another newcomer, Steve Simmons, overcame his start
with the Welland Railroad and Pierre LeBoeuf's "can't lose"
start (both the shipping and tunnel privates and the Great Western
Railroad) to edge him out by $347 in one of the 1856 games.
Assistant GM Barrington Beavis (1856) and returning player
Mark Neale (1830) won the other two games.
The second preliminary heat on Wednesday evening was designated
for 1870, with a longer period (nine hours) allotted to
complete the longest of these three 18xx games. Eighteen players
attended, and split evenly into four- and five-player games of
both 1870 and 1830. In the four-player 1870
game, Paul Koenig benefited greatly from stock sales of his Santa
Fe railroad to end up with 90% of the second-best priced stock,
leading to an easy win in a crisply played, six hour game. In
the five-player 1870 set, newcomer Lee Kendter prevailed
in an eight-hour game. In the two 1830 games, Anthony
Daw returned after a year's absence to grab the win in the four-player
game in just three hours, with no bankruptcies! The five-player
1830 match went to assistant GM Jon Kwiatkowski.
The last preliminary heat on Thursday night was designated
for 1830, with 16 players in four games, and eight more
playing two four-player 1856 games. Gerald Dudley returned
from a year's sabbatical to claim a narrow $67 victory over newcomer
Mike Brazinski in an 1830 game which never saw diesel
trains. Returning players Craig Reece, John Chung, and Johnny
Hasay won the other 1830 games. In the Hasay victory,
23 shares ended up in the bank pool at one point. Winners in
the 1856 games were Jon Kwiatkowski and returning player
Elliott Segal.
The 14 preliminary round games (up from eleven last year)
produced only one double winner (Jon Kwiatkowski), and when two
other winners didn't post for the semi-final, the top five runnerups
also qualified. The players were seeded into the semifinals based
on the results of preliminary round play, with the double winner
seeded first. The winners were ranked according to the percentage
of their second place player's score to their own in their preliminary
round. All other players received percentages based on the ratio
of their best score with the winning score in that game, with
all second place finishes placed ahead of third place scores,
etc.
Placement in the semifinal round used the formula 1st - 8th
- 9th - 16th seeds in game 1, 2nd - 7th -10th -15th in game 2,
3rd - 6th - 11th -14th in game 3, and 4th -5th -12th -13th in
game 4. Five alternates moved up, yielding four 4-player 1830
games. Three of the semifinals were close, with games decided
by margins of $40, $70, and $84. In the fourth, Jon Kwiatkowski
maintained his winning streak, forcing another semi-finalist
into bankruptcy. The closest semi-final game featured the most
amazing stock swindle I have ever seen. While dumping the higher-valued
of two railroads onto an opponent (after buying its permanent
train away, of course) is not that uncommon, I have never seen
it done with the bottom-valued railroad. With three railroads
in the third operating round, Elliott Segal had the top railroad
buy the middle railroad's train away. He bought the middle railroad
a train with his own cash, and sold enough stock in the bottom
railroad to transfer ownership of the bottom-ranked C&O (with
$1 in the treasury) to Anthony Daw. As the last railroad operating
that round, Anthony dutifully bought the C&O a diesel with
$1099 of his own money. Immediately afterwards came a stock round,
with Elliott having the priority deal. With the C&O selling
for $10 a share, Elliott bought back the five shares in the bank
pool he had just sold all at once, seizing the C&O back,
with its shiny new diesel! Unfortunately, the style points earned
did not get Elliott out of last, but the swindle relegated Anthony
to second place.
The final was a four-player 1830, featuring the four
semifinal winners, Jon Kwiatkowski, Pierre LeBoeuf, Jim McDanold,
and John Chung. Jon rode a three game win streak into the finals,
but Pierre and Jim had won only their semifinal. While Jon and
John had not yet faced any of the other finalists, Jim and Pierre
had already played in a prelim that neither won.
The initial private company bidding had John Chung, drawing
first position, taking two companies, the Schulkyll at cost and
the Mohawk & Hudson at auction. Pierre, drawing second, got
the B&O private company at cost, with Jon (third) winning
the Camden & Amboy auction, and Jim getting the Champlain
and the Delaware & Hudson at auction. Jon brought in the
Penn at $76 a share, followed by Jim with the C&O at $67,
and John starting the NYNH at $67. Pierre set the B&O public
stock price at $100, but did not have enough cash left to open
it on the first round. The early trains split 2-2-3 to the B&O,
2-3 for the Penn, 2-3 for the C&O, and 2-2-3 for the NYNH.
The game accelerated rapidly in the third stock round when Jim
dropped four shares of his C&O to start the NYC at $100.
When Jon saw this, he dropped four shares of the Penn to open
the B&M at $100. John Chung seized three $40 C&O shares,
taking it over. Jim followed by abandoning his NYC and grabbing
three $60 Penn shares, taking control of it from Jon. Neither
of the stolen railroads had much more than $100 in their treasury,
making them dubious acquisitions at this point in the game, with
their trains about to go away. Jon bought a 3 and a 4 train,
eliminating the 2 trains before the B&O and NYNH were able
to do a three-train run. Several stock rounds later, Jon opened
the Erie, and Jim began the Can Pac, still leaving the NYC started,
but not open. Pierre began the endgame when he bought the first
(5) permanent train, but once again, his second train was gone
before he got to run multiple trains. Jon had the Erie buy the
other two 5's. Jim's Can Pac was forced to buy the first 6, removing
all trains from the NYNH. John was able to get one 6 for the
NYNH, but went bankrupt trying to put a diesel into the C&O,
ending the game. Jon won easily, and Jim's better stock position
was good enough for second place, though his NYC (though finally
open) still lacked a train. Once again, Jon schooled the competition,
but this time he dismissed class early, winning the final in
only two hours.
Thanks again to all of the participants for an entertaining
tournament. I was glad to see more players and more participation
this year. I hope we can continue to grow the event next year.
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