EuroQuest VIII Winners
Nov. 25, 2010

Record attendance of nearly 300 descended upon EuroQuest's new location for another four-day run, this year at spacious new surroundings at the Hilton in Pikesville, Maryland. In addition to the usual tournament fare, gamers were also asked to sample and rate some of the hottest of the new Essen games and, under the moniker “EssenFest at EuroQuest,” a number of these games were given away as prizes.

It was a good year for first-time attendees at EuroQuest. Randy Buehler, coming all the way from the Seattle area for his first EuroQuest, carted off the Harold L. Siegelman (“HLS“) Trophy for top individual honors, amassing a record-tying total of 31 points in the weekend-long competition, after reaching the finals in four events, taking second-place plaques in all four. In this case, the old saying “close, but no cigar“ was not quite true ... no championship plaques won, but he did get the big overall trophy.

Convention Director John Weber presents Mike Buehler with the 2010 Siegelman Award.

The runner-up was the 2007 HLS winner, Rob Kircher, who battled with Randy for the top honors up to the convention's final hours on Sunday. Rob finished just short with 28 HLS points, as both he and Randy passed the overnight leader, Mike Turian, another EQ first-timer who had won two tournaments and took third place overall with 27 HLS points. Henry Dove and Edward Fear, each with 24 points, rounded out the top five.

Harold Siegelman Award

Randy Buehler, WA
31 pts

Rob Kircher, RI
28 pts

Mike Turian, WA
27 pts

Henry Dove, MD
24 pts

Edward Fear, NY
24 pts 

A complete listing of tournament winners from EQ VIII follows:

 

Mike Turian, WA
> 26

Edward Fear, NY
> 52

Doug Galullo
> 49

Edward Fear, NY
> 31

Barb Flaxington, NJ
> 44

Jeremy Oppenheim, VA
> 32

Andrew Yao, VA
> 27

Mike Turian, WA
> 42

Rebecca Hebner, DC
> 43

Rob Kircher, RI
> 37

Eric Monte, NY
> 66

 Sceaudeau D'Tela, NC
> 45

Total Tournament Games Played: 408 (252 in main events, 156 in Wild Card)

Like Randy, Mike Turian, Edward Fear, Doug Galullo, Jeremy Oppenheim and Eric Monte scored wins in their very first EuroQuest appearance. For Andrew and Rebecca, it was their first time in the EQ winner's circle after reaching their first final at EQ. Randy, Mike and Ed captured the revived team tournament that attracted a total of 57 players (19 teams). Their team, the Magic Men, garnered 26 points to edge out the Hardy Laurels (another strong team consisting of EQ first-timer Andy Latto and the 2008 and 2009 Siegelman winners, Alex Bove and Sceadeau D'Tela). The Magic Men did so well at this year's EQ that their second best scores would have beaten 17 of the 18 opposing teams. Third place went to Wabbits Wevenge, the same team that had won the last two editions back in 2004 and 2005, featuring two members (Eric Freeman and Barb Flaxington) who won events. The team tournament was sponsored by EPGS (Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Society) with the generous assistance of GameSurplus.

Just as it was a good year for newcomers at EuroQuest, it was a bad year for defending Champions trying to repeat. Sceadeau D'Tela (Agricola and Dominion), Legend Dan Hoffman (Princes of Florence), Rich Shay (Puerto Rico), Kirk Harris (Ra), Ted Bohaczuk (St. Petersburg) and Cliff Ackman (Thurn and Taxis) were all on hand to defend their titles, and none succeeded; only Sceadeau in Dominion was able to reach a Final table where he finished third. The only repeat winner from 2009 was Eric Freeman, who romped to his fifth Wild Card title, now having won the last four in a row. Eric fended off an early challenge from Eugene Yee and amassed an impressive total of 334 Wild Card points, winning 16 of 29 games played. Runner-up in the Wild Card went to Rob Kircher, whose 181 points nosed out Eugene Yee with 173 points. Rounding out the top six in Wild Card points were Jeff Mullet (161), Eric Monte (101) and Jordan Shea (92). The most popular game in the Wild Card event was -- no great surprise -- 7 Wonders, the designated “hot new Essen game,“ which was played 20 times by a total of 63 people. The three copies on hand (including one English edition) were in constant use throughout the convention.

Nevertheless, there were a few familiar faces in the winner's circle at this year's EQ. Barb Flaxington, who reached her fourth final table in Puerto Rico in eight EuroQuests, recorded her first EQ win after settling for runner-up twice previously. Rob Kircher repeated his 2007 triumph in Thurn and Taxis, keeping alive a streak of four straight finals in that event. Rob, while finishing second in both the HLS and Wild Card points standings, broke his own record for tournament wins at a single EuroQuest, winning 21 games this year, two more than in 2009. Finally, Sceadeau D'Tela, last year's Siegelman Trophy winner, experienced a bit of a “sophomore slump“ this year, dropping to sixth in the Siegelman standings, but still managed to take a win in Stone Age, which was the one new addition to the main event tournaments at EQ this year. This means Sceadeau is just the fourth person to win three different tourneys at EuroQuest, joining Arthur Field, Lyman Moquin and the late Tom Dunning in such elite company.

For a complete pictorial review of Euroquest as seen from the camera of Eric Haas, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/erichaas/sets/72157625236997785/.

For a more detailed account of Euroquest VIII see http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/60818/2010-euroquest-recap.

The winners and laurelists for all events are listed on their respective event AAR pages at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook.

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