This year's Naval War crowd numbered only 21, less than half of last year's total, reflective of the sharp competition for attention with the newer games. The GM intends to schedule next year's first round so that it does not compete directly against the major events. Nevertheless, this year's contest was as exciting as any in recent memory, as it once again exemplified the wisdom of not doing too well too early and becoming the obvious target.

The first round had four different tables with 5-6 players each, with the winner from each table automatically advancing to the Final round of seven players. In a slight change from last year, the other three players would be determined by best point finish over the required 75 points regardless of table, meaning that finishing second was no guarantee of advance to the finals. Table 1 had Alan Arvold emerging as the sole finalist after three hands with 94 points over (in order) Douglas Landon, Rob Drozd, James Fleckenstein, and Matt Evinger. Table 2's two finalists after three hands included Ron Fedin with the winning 87 points, and Greg Wilson with 81, followed by James D Long, Greg Crowe, and Phil White.

Table 3, with six players, proved to be the marathon slugfest of the Preliminaries, with GM Jonathan Lockwood riding a 43 point surge in the fourth hand to become the sole finalist with 103 points (gotta love those destroyer squadrons!), in the process weathering 35 (!) carrier strikes on the North Carolina from four different players before it was sunk by number 36. (The GM's imitation of a harried antiaircraft gunner was most entertaining.) Finishing second was Carolyn DeMarco with 75 points, followed by Geoff Allbutt, James H Long, John Sharp, and Charlie Drozd. Finally, Table 4 placed three high scoring players in the Fnal, with last year's 3rd place finisher Bill Place winning with 94 points, followed closely by Chad Gormly with 92, and reigning Caesar James Pei exercising his sea skills to become the last finalist with 87 points, edging out Nick Ervin and Jim Long (yes, there were three Jim Longs at three different tables ... thus the need for badge numbers).

The championship round was a marathon classic, lasting five hands, as all players faithfully followed the game's axiomatic strategy of ganging up on the obvious leader. Hand 1 saw GM Lockwood take the early lead with 37 points, and he promptly paid the price in Hand 2 by having his fleet sunk out from under him. This allowed Bill Place to take a narrow lead at the end of the Hand with 36 points, with only six points separating the top four players. Hand 3 saw Bill almost sew up the championship, but instead falling short with 71 points to lead the field and become the mandatory prime target of Hand 4. This was quickly accomplished, and Bill dropped back to 64 points as the rest of the field caught up, with Chad Gormly moving to within striking range at 71 points, and James Pei riding a big hand of 33 points to move up to 56. The fifth hand had six players within striking range of victory, turning the game into a free swinging melee. When the shelling stopped, Bill Place was the winner of the wood with 77 points, followed closely by Greg Wilson with 75, Chad Gormly with 74, James Pei with 73, GM Lockwood with 63, and Alan Arvold's 54, topping Rod Fedin's 41 for sixth place laurels. Clearly, this was the tightest finish in Naval War tournament history!