|
Liberty blocks ...
 The
2004 event was a departure from the previous year's single elimination
format. Instead, I used the same three-round Swiss-Elimination
format used at the BPA Block Party this past spring. This would
select four players for Single Elimination to crown our '04 champion.
I conducted a tutoring session before the tourney in Café
Jay with about twenty people on hand. 43 players sappeared for
the first of the three rounds Thursday evening following the
tutoring session.
We played a total of 44 games with players staying for as
many games as they wished. The last of the three rounds had only
seven games as players dropped that didn't have a chance to advance.
Players bid victory points to play the Americans, as they are
the perceived favorite. There were 25 bids with twenty being
a1. There were five bids of 2 and of that group the Americans
had three wins.
There has been much discussion about the supposed imbalance
in Liberty. The statistics do NOT bear
this out. The Americans won 24 of the 44 games played for a 55%
winning percentage. Add to that the US winning 15 of the 28 games
at BPA Block Party and one must conclude its not exactly a cause
for alarm. There were 24 games that saw an early French entry
in the years of '76 or '77 and of those 24 games the American
player won 16. There were nine games without French entry and
all save one of those ended by the year 1778. Te Americans won
the only game that went the distance. The British player held
an 8-1 record if the US was left without the French. Games that
had middle to late French entry saw a 7-4 U.S. advantage.
The British players won both of the semi-final games. Bruce
Reiff and Nick Benedict advanced to a late final on Saturday
evening. Bruce bid 1 to play the Americans. Nick Benedict never
got going as he lost a couple of units early in the south and
they became prisoners. Bruce rolled for an early French entry
and Nick dealt with this by placing an invasion force in Baltimore.
Nick was never able to get going as Bruce drew good cards and
took every opportunity to press his advantage as the French made
their strength felt. Bruce took home his BPA leading 27th wood
as he won a large battle in Hartford that put the nail in the
British coffin, insuring freedom for the colonies and one more
dust catcher in Rhonda's house.
|
Ric Manns [1st Year]
NA
NA