Resurrecting an old Chestnut ...
The game normally is for five players. However, the tournament
format utilized the four-player variant published in THE GENERAL
31-4. The primary differences between the published game and
the variant are bidding for countries and usage of a USA Control
Table.
Germany, the perceived power in the game, is the first country
bid upon. Britain and Russia are then randomly selected for the
second and third bidding rounds. France is the default country
with a zero bid. The points bid by a player are subtracted
from the final score. Bidding is allowed in 1/2 point increments.
The control of the USA is randomly determined each turn. France
and Britain are the two countries with the best chance but even
Germany has a chance at gaining control on each turn.
The format for the tournament with 16 players in attendance
began with four preliminary games with four players in each game.
The preliminary round was followed by a final composed of the
four preliminary winners. The average bid for Germany in the
four preliminary games was 3.5. As opposed to last year where
the preliminary round saw the winners of each game being won
with a different country, this year Germany won three of the
four boards. The winning scores (after bid deductions) ranged
from 15.5 to 18. The margin of victory ranged from one point
to four. The games all appeared to be closely fought contests.
The final saw Phil Rennert take the hard charging Brits to
victory. The last turn saw Germany, played by Paul Saunders,
make several furious one-to-one attacks. All of the attacks failed
and Britain hung on to win. The score for Phil was 21 after subtracting
the bid of 2. Phil scored in every area where Britain is allowed
to score. Nicholas Anner (France) and George Sauer (Russia) each
scored 16 after their bids were subtracted from their scores.
Paul Saunders with a bid of 4 came in fourth with a final adjusted
score of 15.
Thanks to George Sauer who assumed GM duties for the scheduled
GM who was unable to attend.
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