This year 42 flickers attended the first late night event of WBC. We were placed in the Derby with the Clash of Giants event.  The look of horror on the faces of the ten people who were deeply into their strategy games was exquisite as all of the ELCHFEST folk pressed into the same small room. It was almost worth the price of admission. Luckily the room next door was empty and we moved there.

The first round games started off and were completed within the usual 20 minutes. There were enough sets this year due to some people bringing extras. To those who did I thank you.

The early rounds held pretty much to form with the favorites winning and several new faces rising to challenge the old moose movers. Past Champion Jeff Paull was shown an early exit and as the field was narrowed to the final 10 there was an equal mixture of veterans andl brand new challengers.

The husband and wife team of Bob and Gina Eastman showed they were serious Mooseketeers with Bob getting a 6th place finish before losing to Dan Dolan Jr in the round of six. Roger Taylor came in 3rd in his first attempt at the game showing a steady defensive style.

Defending champion Bob Runnicles was back looking to add a second moose rack to his wall and was in fine form as he cut through the field on his way to the finals. Perennial bridesmaid Dan Dolan Sr was also looking to win the coveted Elk wood and after an early round wild match with Andy Maly where both players missed at least three chances to win, was once again in the finals after dispatching Roger Taylor.

This year's final was a rematch of last year's with Bob Runnicles and Dan Dolan Sr eyeing each other across the table. The silence was broken only by the sliding of the disks as Bob took the first game with a perfect display of moose movement. Dolan took the second game in what was almost a mirror image of the first and both players knew that the first to make a mistake would be done.

The mistake wasn't even really a mistake. Bob's moose Ole veered slightly at the start allowing a slight advantage to be gained by Dolan. This year he would not be denied! In what was the closest final to date a new champion would be crowned.

The quality of play this year was up from previous years and there were several serious contenders that will bear watching in future events. The entire tournament took two hours from signup to finish.

Next year we crack 50 and continue ELCHFEST's march toward Century status.

No moose were hurt in the making of this event ... which is more than can be said for the participants.