Andy Gardner, "Queen" Lexi Shea, Jim Savarick and Daniel Speyer

Dave Metzger, Steve Raszewski, Faith Wobbeking and Brad Raszewski try unsuccessfully to stop Doug Faust from advancing.	It's last chance to win as WBC 2013 comes to a close for Chanan Rothenberg, Lola Reynolds, Megan Mossman and Bobbi Warczak.

2013 Marked the eighth straight return of WBC TransAmerica as a trial event where it fills a nice niche as a quick playing getaway event on the conventions final morning. This year, the event had a new caretaker GM, with the ever-busy Gutermuth clan stepping aside after many years of excellent service.

51 players appeared for the preliminary round, which was a decrease from the preceding five years, but nevertheless filled ten tables. Once again, no table elected to play TransEuropa as an alternative. Things seemed to be going smoothly until halfway through the heat, when the GM realized that no tie-breaker had been specified. This could have been a serious problem, as Trans America is a classic "family" euro, in which tied players are expected to "rejoice in shared victory". This sentiment, while heartwarming, is inappropriate in a tournament setting. Fortunately, former GM Ken Gutermuth was present, and he shared his past wisdom. The tie-breaker (best score when going first in a round) was implemented on-the-fly, and controversy was thus averted.

All winners and runners-up were declared eligible for the next round, and after two dropouts departed to start on the way hom,e, 18 players were seated at four tables. This recipe produced a decidedly female flavor to the stew in the form of four finalists: Doug Faust, Debbie Gutermuth, Bobbi Warczak, and defending champion Carolyn Strock. It should be noted that Bobbi qualified after going from last to first in the last round of her exciting semifinal victory.

As the finalists gathered, the GM surprised them with an impromptu incentive -- a full six-pack of Sunmaid raisins was offered as a prize to whoever won the game for what was - if not the best incentive to win, surely one of the most unusual. The Final started unusually, with the first question to the GM of the entire tournament. This occurred when Doug decided to connect the last of Debbie's cities on his round. His logic was that he would actually lose one less point this way, since he saw that the round would end before his next turn anyway. After consulting the rulebook, it was determined that the round ended immediately, not on Debbie's turn, so Doug's move turned out to be both legal and successful.

The game was tight, with three contenders within one point of each other going into the last round. Even Carolyn, who had trailed badly in the early rounds, had begun to rally. All players played conservatively with each player's starting piece being placed within two spaces of Kansas City. However, the end result was not as close. Doug ended with a score of 4 to best Debbie 9, Bobbie 10, and Carolyn 11 and thereby restore a measure of respect for the male of the species. Doug walked away with the only plaque - and all the raisins for his trip home - having doubled his titles on the way to the car by adding to his Vegas Showdown loot! Semifinal runners-up John Pack and Patrick Shea were awarded the remaining laurel places.

Lola Reynolds, John Pack, Adina Weiss, Debbie Gutermuth and Gordon Stewart in the semifinal game that advanced Debbie.	The finalists vie for the raisins. Doug fought off a wave of estrogen to close WBC on a high note for the guys.
Junior GM Ewan McNay oversees his young finalists.	The lineup of junior travellers in the Final.

 Trans America Junior

There were 23 little train travellers this year for GM Ewan McNay's Junior tournament. 11-year-old Tessa Lytle successfully defended her title to remain the queen of the rails among the junor set. Other accomplished train riders were:

2nd: Sophia Bels

3rd: Emma Weintraub

4th: Ben Waterhouse

5th: Mandy Mossman

6th: Nazare Podvysotsky