Kevin Youells and Joe Collinson rewit some history during one of the heats.	Flagging attendance got a boost by adding a second heat in 2009 for the first time.

This year marked the first use of a second heat, which generated our highest attendance in four years.  The demo was also well received with nearly a dozen people attending.  Newcomers fared very well this year, as Nick Page learned the game at the demo and then proceeded to win his first heat game.  Four earned their first laurels including our new champion who celebrated his first WBC with his first wood.

Heat Highlights:

Ø  Bill Banks dominates his game, scoring a whopping 23 points in pre-eminence markers,  with only Richard Shay stopping him from leading the entire length of the game.

Ø  Matthew Beach scores a tournament high 214 points while cruising to a 40-point win.

Ø  Rachel Harley racks up the second highest score of the heats with 205.

Ø  Alan Hayes scores an impressive 63 points with Great Britain for the highest single epoch score in a second place finish.

Ø  Rome did not fare especially well.  Of the 13 games, those who played the Romans only went on to win twice. 

In addition to the previously mentioned, heat winners included Joe Collinson, Ron Glass, David Anderson, Chris Trimmer, and Charles Stucker.

Semi-final winners were Henry Dove by nine points over Matthew Beach and Bill Beswick who tied for second, Patrick Gorman who finished ten points ahead of top alternate David Anderson , and Kevin Youells over Joe Collinson by seven in the closest semi-final, setting up our field of six for Saturday's Final.

After getting passed the Minoans and playing the Hittites minor empire, GM Kevin Youells took a lead at the end of Epoch I, but it was not to last.  Patrick Gorman followed his Egyptians with the Chou Dynasty and was able to take a two-point lead after two epochs.  Kevin regained the lead - and donned a huge target - when he drew and kept the Romans in the third epoch.  After that, it was all Henry Dove as he played the Arabs followed by the Franks for a huge back to back scoring round which gave him a resounding lead.  He was passed the Incas/Aztecs in an attempt to slow him down, and only  scored 21 points, but it was enough to keep him in the lead.  The United States did not appear in the last epoch, and Henry was given the Netherlands instead.  Patrick Gorman had a chance to catch him while playing Great Britain, but Henry was not to be denied. 

Unlike the last two years where the winner was not determined until revealing the hidden pre-eminence marker scores, this year was not even close, as Henry had led the game from Epoch IV onward and cruised to an 18-point victory in his first WBC.  Congratulations to our new champion, and a huge thank you to my asisstant GMs, Greg Kulp, Craig Yope, and Mark Smith.   I look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Rachel Harley tried to duplicate her 2008 Advanced Civ win,, but her Centurion shirt lost its mojo.	The finalists move to Kinderhook for the title game. Joe Collinson brought his daughter for a cheering section.