queen's gambit [Updated October 2005]  

2005 WBC Report  

 2006 Status: pending 2006 GM commitment

Karl Henning, CT

2005 Champion


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Event History
2002    Buddy Sinigaglio     61
2003    Larry Lingle     59
2004    Brian Sutton     43
2005    Karl Henning     51

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Brian Sutton       MD    05     48
  2.  Larry Lingle       PA    04     46
  3.  Buddy Sinigaglio   CO    03     34
  4.  Karl Henning       CT    05     30
  5.  Phil Rennert       MD    05     21
  6.  Lee Fitzjerrels  Monaco  04     18
  7.  Craig Moffitt      NJ    03     17
  8.  Alex Bell          MD    05     12
  9.  Seth Kirchner      KY    04     12
 10.  David Gubbay       TX    05      9
 11.  Chelsea Sinigaglio NJ    04      9
 12.  John Pack          CO    03      8
 13.  Evan Cogwin        PA    02      6
 14.  Sean McCulloch     OH    03      4
 15.  Bob Heinzmann      FL    02      4
 16.  Ted Lange          AE    05      3
 17.  Dan Dolan Jr       NJ    02      3
 18.  Ken Whitesell      PA    02      2
          

2005 Laurelists

Brian Sutton, MD
2nd

Alex Bell, MD
3rd

David Gubbay, TX
4th

Phil Rennert, MD
5th

Ted Lange, AE
6th


Past Winners

Buddy Sinigaglio, CO
2002

Larry Lingle, PA
2003

Brian Sutton, MD
2004


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Swiss Format.

Three heats were played during this phase. Participants could play one game per day, however, additional wins after the first did not confer any special benefit other than that of additional experience. A total of 35 games were played this year during the swiss segment, up from 27 in 2004. More players were able to participate this year due to a bank of loaner games provided by Queen's Gambit supporters. The moral - bring games to play! Don't depend on the kindness of others. In any case, thanks to those who were willing to trust the tournament with your games. After the Final was completed, each loaner game was inspected and brought up to full inventory, if necessary.

The victory totals during the Swiss segment saw the Jedi winning 19 to Darth Maul's 16. The game continues to play at close to 50-50. The time limit rule did not come into play during the Swiss segment. Results were as follows:

Tuesday Heat: Darth Maul, 6 wins - Naboo, 8 wins.
Wednesday Heat: Darth Maul, 4 wins - Naboo, 6 wins.
Thursday Heat: Darth Maul, 6 wins - Naboo, 5 wins.

Notable events during the Swiss included three games in which Quigon, Obiwan and Darth Maul were each eliminated. In one of those games, Darth Maul and Obiwan were eliminated on the same card play - one via the attack and the other by a Riposte.

Single Elimination.

A total of 21 games were played during the SE segment with Darth Maul winning 12 and the Naboo nine. The final tally for all 56 games played was Darth Maul 28 - Naboo, 28. The elimination rounds were played successively every two hours with neiher breaks or byes. A time limit pressure was added to the single elimination round this year in order to recreate the time pressure situation the Naboo faced during the movie - i.e., Anakin must shut down the Droid army lest the Gungan diversion be dispelled before Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka capture the throne room and Nute Gunray.

The time limit constraint resulted in one unexpected win for Darth Maul, played by Nute Gubbay. In that game, Anakin (Gino Sinigaglio) was at the last circle and there were no extra Droid fighter cards in play. Darth Maul was dead, the Naboo had control of the throne room and a slightly injured Obiwan was on the third floor of the palace. Gubbay, in a show of genuine sportsmanship, passed on 12 consecutive card plays as the time limit approached in order to allow Gino a fair opportunity to advance, but it was not to be.

There were no byes during the single elimination rounds. When an odd number of participants advanced to a following round, an eliminator was pressed into service to preclude a bye. During the 1st elimination round, 20 qualifying winners squared off for battle to the death. Darth Maul won seven of the ten games. Among the ten winners were two past champs, Larry Lingle and Brian Sutton. During the second elimination round, Darth Maul won two of the five games; however, past champion Lawrence Lingle was crushed like a dead opossum on the Pennsylvania Turnpike by Phil Rennert. During the thirrd elimination round, Darth Maul won two of the three games played with defending champ Brian Sutton still in the hunt. During the semifinals (4th elimination round), Karl Henning playing the Naboo defeated young Alex Bell and Brian Sutton playing Darth Maul defeated an eliminator to advance.

The Championship pitted Karl Henning's Droids against champ Sutton's Jedi. The game went Brian's way early and it looked as if he would be the first champion to repeat. While the two Jedi were keeping Darth Maul busy in the generator core, Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka were dismembering all of the droids in the palace. Eventually, the Naboo gained control of the throne room and all of the transport hexes on the first floor of the palace. As a result, the Federation had no droids in the place and no reinforcements could be brought over from the Gungan battlefield. It looked like a sure win for Brian - all that remained was for Anakin to shut down the droid control ship. But then Yogi Berra was sighted. In a flurry of Darth Maul attacks, both Jedi were killed and Darth Maul exited the generator core. The Sith quickly dispatched all the Palace Guards on the first floor, then sprinted up to the third floor and sliced a host of Naboo into history. It was an awesome finish to a game well played by both finalists with Karl Henning becoming the new Queenís Gambit Champ.


24 little Naboo were enrolled into the longest of the Juniors events which was played with two-kid teams on each side. Though it went long into the night, the team of Carolyn Strock and Brian Pappas emerged triumphant over the squad of Thomas Strock and Jack Doughan. GM Frank Sinigaglio provided a variety of special matching prizes for the kids which, all told, made this one of the most popular events in the Junior's competitions.

 GM      Bruno Sinigaglio  [1st Year]   NA 
    sinigaglio@hotmail.com   NA

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