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Jim Vroom and GM Tom DeMarco have
their hands full with a seasoned competitor. |
Rob Brode, Ashley Collinson and Dave
Dentel meet in the Preliminary rounds. |
No Experience Necessary ...
Registration and assignment of tables went a little smoother
this year, and I think I know how to make it even more efficient
next year (that's what comes from playing lots of Euros; you
start looking at everything in terms of increasing efficiency).
Ten former champions were among the field of 57. Steve Dickson
won his game, finishing +10 spaces past the finish (which is
the first tiebreaker for advancing to the semi-final), while
Thomas Stokes won his game at +9 spaces and the biggest lead
of 13 spaces over his runner-up, Shea Lawson. Other winners were
Tim Packwood (+8), Rob Brode (+5), Ken Gutermuth (+5), Emily
Bacon (+4), Haim Hochboim (+4), Aurora Pack (+4), Jim Vroom (+3),
Thomas Browne (+3), Greg Crowe (+1), and Tom DeMarco (+3).
Ten players dropped out and one reinforcement arrived to provide
48 for the second round. Tim, Ken, and Jim V all got a second
win, giving them ten points and the lead to advance. Tim had
the best tiebreaker at +15 spaces past the finish, followed by
Ken at +14 and Jim at +5 spaces. One point back, with a first
and a second finish were Steve (+14), Jon Gemmell (+8), and John
Pack (+5). Wins were also grabbed by Anne Norton, Ashley Collinson
(+10 past the finish), Sean Druelinger, Raphael Lehrer, and John
Weber.
Seven more players dropped out before Round 3, and Shea returned
(after helping her dad run a heat of Lost Cities), giving eight
full tables of five. Tim took his third win, finishing with 15
points and an impressive (and unnecesary) +21 spaces total past
the finish line. John P got his second win and finished with
14 points, while Ken only got a third but still finished with
13 points. Marc Houde had the most impressive finish: +13 spaces
(the maximum possible) past the finish in just this game, and
the biggest lead at 18 spaces ahead of second place Emily. He
totaled 12 points, along with Anne, Haim, Jim V, and Greg. Seven
players (Steve, Emily, Thomas B, Bill Burch, Rob, Brittany Bernard,
and Tom D) finished with 11 points, and five players (Thomas
S, Ashley, John W, Jon, and Mark Geary) finished at 10 points.
With 40 players playing at the end of the third set of games,
20 players would advance to the semi-final. That would advance
all players finishing with 10 points or more. However Brittany,
Bill, and Jon departed to pursue other glories, which allowed
three players with but 9 points to advance. Of the seven players
who finished with 9 points, Josh had the best tiebreaker at +10
spaces, followed by Jessica Foster (+8), and Raphael Lehrer (+5).
Just missing the cut were Jonathan Jones, Derek Landel, Eric
Wrobel, and Sean D.
In the semi-final round Jessica had the best finish at +9 spaces
past the finish and finished eight spaces ahead of Rob (second
at +1), Jim V, Steve, and Ashley. Haim vanquished Josh (second
at +3), Raphael, John W, and Anne. John Pack gave Tim his first
loss, along with beating Thomas B (second at -3), Mark, and Greg.
And Tom D, got the win over Thomas S (second at -3), Emily, Ken,
and Marc. Josh advanced on the strength of best second. Rob had
the second-best second place finish, so he took 6th place laurels.
In the fifth and Final round, John jumped out to an early lead,
but the others were able to rein him in. Tom was able to get
a fair amount of cards and parlayed that into a race towards
the finish. He sat on the penultimate space (in the final 5/3
castle) and triggered the end of the game by being the only player
to exhibit. He advanced five spaces to +4 past the finish, but
paid for it with two cards stolen and no set by the end. No detectives
were able to catch Tom so, as usual, it came down to the bonuses
for the best sets at the final exhibit. Josh had the second best
set with nine cards and got to advance four spaces, but that
only put him at +2 spaces past the finish and two spaces behind
Tom. John had the best set with 10 cards, giving him the 8-space
bonus and thrusting him to +6 spaces past the finish, two spaces
ahead of Tom, and into the Winner's Circle for his third WBC
Adel Verpflichtet crown.
Two points to consider if you'd like to give Adel Verpflichtet
a try next year:
1. The Adel Verpflichtet Demo was run right before the main event,
and was attended by half a dozen players, one of whom, Haim,
was then able to play to 4th place laurels in his first bite
at the apple. Some people have told me I am a good game 'splainer;
but Adel Verpflichtet is actually a very easy game to
learn.
2. The threshold for advancing to the semi-final was nine points
again this year. Josh Githens missed the first round, and was
still able to advance to the semi-final with a first and a second
place finish. So don't think if you lose in the first set of
games that you won't be able to advance.
I am thinking about moving the tournament to Saturday next year,
early enough to finish (except for maybe the Final) before Slapshot
starts at 11 PM. There are not a lot of tournaments that both
start and finish on Saturday evening. Comments are welcome.
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Jessica Foster, Alyssa Gumkowski and
two-time champion Mark Geary contemplate adding to their collections. |
The finalists mug for the camera before
John Pack won the meeting of two-time champs over Tom DeMarco. |
PBeM Tournament 2010
After 40 games involving 33 participants over five preliminary
rounds, two semi-final rounds, and the Final, Tom DeMarco, without
a set to his name, emerged victorious by a single space over
Greg Thatcher. It started with Bob Hamel racing to an impressive
lead only to see thieves whittle away his collection. After piling
up a decent set, Tom DeMarco challenged Bob's exhibits until
he himself was the leader and near victory. Then he was robbed,
burglarized, and purloined to a dangerously low level. Greg,
the new set leader, moved up and looked to be impossible to stop.
But with a final gasp (and the loss of what remained of his set),
Tom moved across the line. Greg also exhibited -- but held back
when three thieves showed up to enjoy the sites and help themselves.
That proved the difference as Greg's set was so hammered that
he only collected four bonus spaces -- coming up one short. After
Tom and Greg, Raphael Lehrer finished third with the best set
of 11 cards (one space short of the finish line), Bob Hamel was
fourth, and Steve Cameron finished fifth. Sixth place laurels
went to Marc Houde as the next best semi-finalist. See all the
details at http://www.gameaholics.com/adv_tournament.htm
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Gamemaster Tamara Houde corrals this
year's crop of little art collectors/swipers in the Juniors room
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... and awards the prize to Mirth
Pack who made a clean sweep of the event for the Pack clan as
her dad picked up his third title. |
Adel Verpflichtet Junior
In the Juniors event ten kids reported to Tamara Houde's artshow
to swipe the best refrigerator crayon art. Mirth Pack proved
to be the most promising young art collector. She was followed
in order by Jon Barry, Adam Wojtasczyk, Brett Fox, Sara Harthan,
and Nicole Pysnack.
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