Welcome to a Single Elimination tournament that has been transformed into a well-oiled machine. What was once a chaotic affair ending after midnight, has become a triumph of planning with players quickly playing their next matches, and a final round which began at 9:30 PM. It must be time to retire!

The tournament rules of the last few years were in effect. Rather than using cumulative score, a best-of-three games format was adopted for each round. Cumulative score was kept for tie-break purposes, should one of the three games played end in a tie. Once again, this helped the pace of the tournament since winning two straight games ended the round.

A diverse group of 60 Lost Cities hopefuls made their way to Salon CD. Husbands. Wives. Young. And the older than young. Among the ranks were Jared Scarborough and Daniel Karp, the respective champions from 2001 and 2002. Also in the group was 13 year old Lisa Gutermuth, who won her opening round, over her "older than young" opponent Steven Caler.

Lisa was bounced in Round 2, but Steven's wife Carol Caler made it all the way to the semi-finals, defeating Jared Scarborough in the quarterfinals. Fellow champion Daniel Karp met a similar fate in the quarters, running into Charles Blahouse. Joining Carol and Charles in the semi-finals were Jeff Gardner (who had an incredible sense of humor and one of the best laughs I have ever heard), and Doug Galullo, sporting his Florida tan and playing faster than Seabiscuit racing War Admiral.

In the semis, Doug squared off against Jeff, momentarily driving the laughter out of the poor man in two quick rounds - 52-34 and 64-39. But, that was merciful compared to the beating Charles inflicted on Carol ­ 94-57 and 111-23. Charles racked up a 70+ point expedition in each game, despite playing five expeditions in the second game.

The finals featured a clash in styles. First, there was Doug's laid-back Okefenokee look, compared with Charles, who was dressed in a suit (I think the first player dressed that way since Tom Landry). Second, there was Doug's 186,000 miles/second playing style (you could actually see the light bending in) versus Charles' calculated approach, with Father Time resting his hand on Charles' shoulder.

Patience prevailed in Game 1, with Charles again playing five expeditions, and winning 45-17. Warp-speed Doug struck back in Game 2, lasering a win 44-31. Then the unthinkable happened. Charles speeded up his game a bit. Doug paused for thought, and Game 3 ended in a 41-41 tie. Cumulative score broke the tie in Charles's favor, and Mr. Blahouse was crowned the 2003 Lost Cities champion, winning Mamma Mia, courtesy of Jay Tummelson and Rio Grande Games.

It was a fantastically bizarre ending, to a wonderful tournament. Four years and four different champions. Lost Cities rocks!