six rounds of swiss action
This
year's tournament was attended by players from as far away as
Florida, Wisconsin, and California. Although participation was
smaller than last year, the field included all of the best players
from the past couple of tournaments. Unfortunately, illness caused
one past champion, Pat Mirk, to drop out after the first day.
Former GM John Sharp played in the first round, to help keep
the numbers up! We thank him for his gracious service over the
past several years.
Philip Shea defeated all six opponents to amass 617 points
and take the Wood for Best Player. During his undefeated run,
Philip played the Allies five times, also earning the Eisenhower
award for best Allied play. Assistant GM Brian Fitzpatrick finished
second at 5-1, losing only to Shea. Shea and Fitzpatrick both
employed the style they've learned in the excellent A&A competition
at the Game Parlor in Chantilly, Virginia, which emphasizes economic
superiority and building plenty of infantry.
The defending champion, Phil Rennert, came in third with 418
points, losing only to Shea and Fitzpatrick. Joe Powell, finishing
4-2 with 412 points, beat out Eric Lind's 4-2/ 417 points for
fourth place because Powell won their head to head contest. Russell
Vane claimed the sixth and final wood with 318 points. Joe Powell
and Russell Vane tied for the Hitler/Tojo award for the most
wins as an Axis player.
Although
the bids were much higher this year, averaging 17.23, the Axis
still won only 45% of the games, the same as last year, when
the average bid was 13.44. The most popular bid was 18. Of the
ten 20-point bids, the Allies won a surprising seven.
The Rules of Arbitration designed by Philip and Brian seemed
to be successful, as there were few disputes over games that
had to be adjudicated because of time. The new point system,
giving players100 points for each win and one point for each
win by an opponent, also seemed to work out well. If anyone has
any suggestions on how to improve the new systems, please e-mail
me at the address below.
This was my first year as the GM. I enjoyed the experience
very much and will be repeating next year when I hope to make
Axis and Allies a Pre-con event. The competition takes
up two full days, and a large number of people let me know they
chose not to play because of conflicts with other games.
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