kremlin [Updated October 2004]  

2004 WBC Report   

 2005 Status: pending 2005 GM commitment

Steve Cuccaro, MD

2004 Champion

2nd: Marc Houde, VA

3rd: Jim Jordan, MD

4th: Charles Davis, WV

 5th: Roy Pettis, VA

 6th: Don Tatum, MD

Event History
1991    Jim Fuqua      25
1992    Sean Cousins      20
1993    Jim Fuqua      49
1994    Caleb Cousins      42
1995    Sean Cousins      36
1996    Sean Cousins      20
1997    Tracy Graf      46
1998    Chris Geggus      46
1999    Bruce Glassco     38
2000    Tom McCorry     45
2001    David Buchholz     51
2002    Steve Cuccaro     50
2003    Llew Bardecki     56
2004    Steve Cuccaro     48


Offsite links:

AREA Ratings

boardgamegeek

 Laurels
Rank Name

From

Last
Total
 1. Steve Cuccaro

MD

04
82
 2. Tom McCorry

VA

01
46
 3. Llew Bardecki

ONT

03
40
 4.  Marc Houde

VA

04
35
 5. David Buchholz

MI

01
30
 6. Bruce Glassco

NJ

99
30
 7. Charles Davis

WV

04
25
 8. Peter Stein

NY

03
24
 9. Peter Pollard

TN

02
24
10. Bob Jamelli

PA

00
24
11. Nick Smith

UK

01
18
12. Peter Staab

PA

99
18
13. Sean McCulloch

OH

02
16
14. Jason Wagner

NJ

00
16
15. Jim Jordan

MD

04
12
16. Jerry Ohlinger

NY

03
12
17. Ron Wuerth

VA

02
12
18. Sean Cousins

ME

01
12
19. James Hopkin

CA

00
12
20. Steve Cameron

PA

01
  9
21. Linda Pattison

MD

03
  8
22. Ray Stakenas

MI

02
  8
23. Roy Pettis

VA

04
  6
24. Jay O'Donnell

OH

99
  6
25. Barry Shoults

MI

03
  4
26. David Rohde

MI

02
  4
27. Elizabeth Lang

MA

00
  4
28. Don Tatum

MD

04
  3
29. Zach Fietsch

NC

01
  3
30. Mark Neale

ME

99
  3

Past Winners

Jim Fuqua - MI
1991, 1993

Sean Cousins - ME
1992, 1995-1996

Tracy Graf - MD
1997

Chris Geggus - UK
1998

Bruce Glassco - VA
1999

Tom McCorry - PA
2000

David Buchholz - MI
2001

Steve Cuccaro - MD
2002


Llew Bardecki - ONT
2003
       
 


Laughing at the Cold War ...

WELL AT LEAST THE FINAL WAS ENTERTAINING

Last year fate cruelly toyed with tour long suffering GM, denying him wood when he was on the very edge of victory. Could he bounce back from that cruel disappointment?

The pre-convention auction seemed to give a favorable omen. When it was time to sell a copy of KREMLIN, Head Auctioneer Bruce Reiff summoned the GM to the front of the room and announced everybody was bidding against him. When the bidding ended the room had taken pity on our hero and allowed him to get the game.

But when it comes to the tournament, there is no pity for the GM- everybody is looking for blood. Heat 1 featured a twist as for once there were no new players at the GM's table. (Thus no prize for Learn the Game at the 5PM Demo Beat the GM at the 6PM Heat). However, the table featured two previous champs. And despite the GM having his chances, perennial semi-finalist Mark Neale came away with the win.

Heat 2 featured another relatively tough table, and in this game the GM was no factor. It did feature a horrendous display of bad die rolling by Ewan McNay, who couldn't roll less than a 7 just about the entire game. Which doesn't get you waves, but it does produce a lot of deaths during the health phase, and Charles Davis was able to get on top when the Politburo emptied out.

Two more heats on Thursday paraded more former champions to the GMs table (like moths to the light). More lost opportunities in the first game that goes the full eleven turns with Greg Crowe getting the win. The second game Ewan McNay's dice come alive as he gets the win (and loses any sympathy points he had earned from his die rolling debacle the night before).

Winners from the other games were: Rich Curtin, Pete Staab (who overcame the stigma of mistakenly being named the GM in the convention book), Don Tatum, Paul Haaken, Steve Cuccaro, Marc Houde, Llew Bardecki (the reigning champ who played all four heats before managing a win in the final heat), Jeff Ladd, Ray Pettis, and Jim Jordan (a pretty good year for Age of Renaissance players). Llew's win meant only one player played in all four heats without a win: Guess Who?

Of note in the other heats was the Paul Haaken "I Just Smoked the Party Chief Russian Jig". A very nice touch which hopefully starts a trend. (I wonder if the girl with the Russian uniform plays Kremlin? Never mind.)

All winners showed up for the semi-finals except Ewan, giving him the John Coussis "I Beat the GM, then Blew off the Semis" Award. (Hey Ewan, I bet you wouldn't have been reading a book in my final ). Steve Cuccaro, Roy Pettis and Don Tatum won their semi final games with Jim Jordan, Marc Houde and Charles Davis finishing second to also advance. An ironic moment came when Mark Neale was eliminated because of the scoring system that is named after him.

The final turned out to be an entertaining game. Marc Houde got two quick waves and needed more than a 7 on a twenty-sided die for the third, but missed. Charles Davis got a wave on Turn 4 and Jim Jordan got one on Turn 5, then missed on Turn 6. Turn 7, Charles, needing an 18 or higher, purges the Party Chief, putting Roy Pettis at the top. Unfortunately his man is at the Cure and is killed off on Turn 8. This gave Steve Cuccaro the opening he needed, and he was able to stay at the top until turn 10 when the game ran out of Politicians. Congratulations to Steve who is the first two-time champion since Sean Cousins managed it in 1995.

Meanwhile next year the convention moves to Lancaster. Does this mean the Curse of Hunt Valley will be lifted from the GM with the change of location? Hope springs eternal for Cubs fans, Red Sox nation and the Kremlin GM.

 GM      Peter Stein  [10th Year]   199-30 28th Ave., Flushing, NY 11358
    AttackPeter@aol.com   (NA)

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