Still hitting the beach 12 years
later ...
Andrew Cummins basks in the glow
of ending Mike Rinella's unbeaten streak in the semifinals as
GM Ken Nied observes.
With the last reinforcement placed, the final assault completed,
and the last die rolled, Andrew Cummins emerged as the 2005 WBC
champion. Andrew now simultaneously holds both the WBC and D-Day
crowns, proving that his success is no fluke.
Defending champion Nels Thompson also showed that he was no
flash-in-the-pan by making it to the Final again this year and
actually besting Andrew in the preliminary rounds, but this time
the Brit had the better timing.
Competition was again tough. Going into Round 4, eight players
had a chance at making the semifinals, but the honors went to:
Michael Rinella, 4-0
Nels Thompson, 3-1
Andrew Cummins, 3-1
Scott Fenn, 3-1.
For the second year in a row an undefeated player fell in
the semifinals and the Final reversed an earlier loss. Mark
Gutfreund edged Jim Doughan for fifth place by virtue of his
higher opponents' winning percentage.
Half the field played in three or more rounds. The usual
sharks were there along with a smattering of new faces. The
father and son team of Todd and Nathaniel Bogan played for the
first time and each came away with a win. Veterans Ron Fedin,
Phil Barcafer, Tom Gregorio, and Bryan Eshleman each returned
for a single round, whacked an unsuspecting opponent, then fell
victim to the lure of other tournaments.
In a game where the Germans are perceived to have the edge
-- Supply Points are usually bid to play the Germans -- the final
victory total showed the Germans holding a razor-thin 19-18 advantage.
Bids ranged from a high of 80 to a low of 0; the average bid
was 33.78.
Random pairings in Round 1 produced a pair of "upsets"
as two ex-champs fell early. Anthony Daw beat perennial contender
Jim Eliason - at Jim's team game, no less. Paul Nied surprised
former champ Alan Applebaum and sealed their match by sending
the 346th infantry division (a trio of 2-3-3s usually reserved
for cannon fodder) into Merville to eliminate a pair of British
armor units.
Much to the GM's relief, no matches required adjudication
this year. This may have been due to the format change of starting
the tournament on Tuesday evening and expanding the match time
to 5 hours.
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