AREA Ratings

GM: Jon Lockwood

Past Winners
1991: John Poniske - PA 1992: Mike Crowe - VA Joe Beard - AZ 1993-1994 Phil Evans - VA 1995 Bruno Sinigaglio - AK 1996-1997 Greg Smith - PA 1998-1999 Randy Heller - MD 2000 Lane Newbury - TX 2001

once more behind the sand dunes ... The AFK tournament equaled last year's record of 29 entrants, thanks in part to the free form scheduling format for the first and subsequent rounds, but also because of the AFK demo at Café Jay run by GM Jonathan Lockwood, which drew eight new players into the tournament! Expectations are high for a new record attendance next year with the influx of new players and the (hopeful) return of others. Surprisingly, the Germans had the majority of victories this year, winning 18 matches to the British 10, although that would make little difference to the eventual champion. Round 1 saw the highest proportion of German victories (12 to 3), as most of the newcomers fell to more experienced German players. First round survivors included two-time champion Bruno Sinigaglio, Vince Meconi, GM Jonathan Lockwood, 2001 champion Lane Newbury, Robert Hahn, James R Tracy, newcomer Raymond Woloszyn, 2000 champion Randy Heller, two-time champion Gregory Smith, Kevin Hacker, Tom Shaw, Warren Day, Patrick Mirk, and Victor F Hogen Jr. Round 2 saw the victories dramatically even out, with a German margin of four victories to the British three. It also witnessed the most stunning upset of the tournament, as Raymond Woloszyn proved he was no fluke by defeating number one seed Randy Heller with a stubborn and competent British defense. Other matches saw Sinigaglio (Br) defeat Hacker (Ge), Meconi (Br) defeat Shaw (Ge), Lockwood (Ge) defeat Hogen (Br), Newbury (Ge) defeat Day, Hahn (Ge) defeat Mirk (Br), and Tracy (Ge) defeat Gregory Smith (Br) in the round's other significant upset. In Round 3, the play balance continued to swing in favor of the British, as Lockwood scored the only German victory over Raymond Woloszyn, who was forced to concede following the failure of a high-risk 1-1 surrounded counterattack with several soakoffs on 21/5 near Alexandria. Sinigaglio (Br) defeated Tracy (Ge) in the round's longest and most unusual match, which featured Sinigaglio breaking out of Tobruch and driving a huge salient into the German position, effectively splitting the Afrika Korps in two and forcing Tracy to expend too much time reducing the "bulge." Vince Meconi (Br) defeated Robert Hahn (Ge) who would go on to finish 5th in his best showing to date. Defending champ Lane Newbury advanced to the semifinals on a bye. The semifinals saw the defeat of last year's tournament finalists, as Sinigaglio (Ge) defeated Newbury (Br) when Bruno capitalized on a British tactical misplacement to seize Tobruch, then methodically battered his way into Alexandria by early 1942. Meconi relied on solid conservative play as the British to defeat Lockwood's Germans, as supply shortages first forced Lockwood to attack Tobruch and take it with heavy losses, then compelled the Afrika Korps surrender when no further supplies arrived. The championship match featured two players who have known and played each other since 1967! Sinigaglio's Germans faced critical supply shortages early on, leading Bruno to employ "The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch" (1-1 attack against Tobruch) in August 1941 in a desperate bid to retrieve the situation. The attack failed, and Vince Meconi earned his first Afrika Korps wood with one German and four British victories, a tribute to his careful calculating defense.