carcassonne [Updated October 2003]  

 2003 WBC Report  

 2004 Status: pending 2004 GM commitment

Richard Jones, UK

2003 Champion

2nd: Jay Fox, NJ

3rd: Ray Stakenas II, MI

4th: Laurel Stokes, NJ

5th: Verity Hitchings, DE

6th: Lisa Gutermuth, TX

Event History
2002    Debbie Gutermuth

  
150
2003    Richard Jones     132

Euro Quest Event History
2003    Scott Buckwalter     37


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 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Richard Jones

UK

03
50
 2. Debbie Gutermuth

TX

03
33
 3. Jay Fox

NJ

03
30
 4. Scott Buckwalter

MD

03
30
 5. Ray Stakenas II

MI

03
20
 6. Michelle Hymowitz

MD

03
18
 7. Bob Stribula

PA

02
18
 8. Laurel Stokes

NJ

03
15
 9.  Eric Hymowitz

MD

03
12
10. Ken Dunn

MD

02
12
11. Verity Hitchings

DE

03
10
12.  Robbie Mitchell

VA

03
  9
13. Matt Miller

NJ

02
  9
14. Gwen Alvian

MD

03
  6
15. Thomas Robinson

NC

02
  6
16. Lisa Gutermuth

TX

03
  5
17. Ewan McNay

CT

02
  3

Past Winners

Debbie Gutermuth - TX
2002
       
 


Carcassonne Adventures ...

GM Michelle Hymowitz (top right) teaches newcomers how to play in the Cafe Jay demonstration.

This years' tournament was extremely successful with a total of 132 different participants. Having four heats allowed us to pick up many new players when there was a lull in the games offered during those time slots.

Many interesting games were played; one worth mentioning was during the second heat where I saw the largest city built that I had ever seen in any game, and it was owned by four of the five players. It turned out that the fifth player made more points in his fields than those who had built the 44-point mammoth city.

I also tracked many of the new players who came to the demo on Tuesday evening. Carolyn Speciale, who learned how to play on Tuesday evening, participated in every heat and by the end of the tournament had won two of the four games she played which qualified her for the finals. Way to go, Carolyn!

When it came to the semi-finals, only one qualifier, Brad Jones, had won three games. All of the other qualifiers won either two (10 qualifiers) or one game (14 qualifiers). It was a tough call, but in order to make it to the semis with one win, you had to REALLY beat the table!

Now, to the semifinals! It was neck and neck for all five games and the heat was on! In my semifinal game, it looked like I might pull out a victory, but at the last moment, when we counted the points for farmers, Jay Fox emerged the ultimate victor. He "bought the farmî" so to speak, and it helped him move toward the final round. The last semifinal game to finish was extremely competitive. When the final scores were calculated, Verity Hitchings had won by a single point!

Our most impressive player in the prelims did, Brad Jones, did not make it through the semis. But another Jones, Richard to be exact, picked up where he had left off. The final round was brutal, but in the end the victor, whose name shall be synonomous with the best Carcassonne player at WBC for this year, was Richard Jones.

I hope that everyone enjoyed the tournament and I look forward to many new and exciting games at next year's WBC.

Time for teaching is a little scarce as a Heat begins. That's Michelle barely visible amongst the competitors near the event kiosk.



 Jessica Hardesrty outdid 19 other little Carcassonne players in the Juniors event. The other finalists were:

2nd: Emily Coleman of NY

3rd: Carolyn Strock of PA

4th: Katherine Sudy of VA

 GM      Michelle Goldstein  [1st Year]   2862 Aspen Hill Rd., Parkville, MD 21234 
    michg2@msn.com   NA

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