power grid [Updated October 2006]  

2006 WBC Report  

  2007 Status: pending 2007 GM commitment

Jim Castonguay, PA

2005-06 Champion

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Event History
2004    Eric Brosius     84
2005    Jim Castonguay     94
2006    Jim Castonguay     79

Euro Quest Event History
2005    John Downing     25
2006    David Houston     36

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jim Castonguay     PA    06     80
  2.  Eric Brosius       MA    04     40
  3.  Rod Spade          PA    06     39
  4.  David Houston      MD    06     30
  5.  John Downing       VA    05     30
  6.  Robert Sohn        NJ    06     28
  7.  Bill Crenshaw      VA    06     27
  8.  Gerald Lientz      VA    05     24
  9.  Evan Tannheimer    MA    04     24
 10.  Leigh Eirich       MD    06     16
 11.  Matt Calkins       VA    05     16
 12.  Tim Swartz         MD    04     16
 13.  Raphael Lehrer     MD    06     12
 14.  Luke Koleszar      VA    06     12
 15.  Perrianne Lurie    PA    05     12
 16.  Richard Meyer      MA    04     12
 17.  Bill Salvatore     MD    06     11
 18.  Steve Koleszar     VA    05      8
 19.  Frank Hastings     MD    04      8
 20.  Barb Flaxington    NJ    06      6
 21.  Tom Browne         PA    05      6
 22.  Phil Rennert       MD    06      4
 23.  Marshall Phillips  VA    04      4
 24.  Lyman Moquin       DC    05      3

2006 Laurelists

Robert Sohn, NJ
2nd

Leigh Eirich, MD
3rd

Luke Koleszar, VA
4th

Bill Salvatore, MD
5th

Phil Rennert, MD
6th


Past Winners

Eric Brosius, MA
2004

Jim Castonguay, PA
2005 - 2006

 Five-player games were the norm throughout the event with attendance dictating the need for only two 4-player matches.

 Gordon Rodgers (left) and Perrianne Lurie study the game situation on the USA map in the preliminary round.

Even More Power ...

We had 79 attendees over three heats playing on the US and Germany maps, with 19 advancing to the semi-finals played on the map of Italy. 23 heat games were played, 15 on the U.S. and eight on the German map. There were two 4-player games, one during the preliminary heats and one semi-final; the remainder were 5-player. The 4-player preliminary game ended in a 4-way tie for first: all four players powered 18 cities!

The winners of the semi-finals were Luke Koleszar, defending champ Jim Castonguay, Bill Salvatore, and Bob Sohn. Leigh Eirich was the closest second in the semi-finals. She matched Luke's 15 cities powered, but had only eight in cash compared to Luke's 14.

The Final was played on the map of France with the central portion which contains Paris excluded to provide a challenging game.

Turn 1: Leigh and Bill (who went second and third for purchasing resources) each bought four coal cheaply causing Jim to pay eleven for three coal to power the two cities he built later.

Turn 2: Jim paid 22 for power plant 11 and Luke paid 23 for power plant 17. In the building phase Bill built two cities in the north and blocked Luke's expansion west. Luke in turn built one city and blocked Bill's expansion east.

Turn 3: Bob, who was the first player, was the only one to purchase a power plant (power plant 16 for 16). Leigh built one city and blocked Bill's expansion to the west.

Turn 4: No one purchased any power plants. Bill, who would have built first this turn, passed and became even more blocked.

Turn 5: The bidding for power plants was fierce. Jim paid 38 for plant 26, Leigh 36 for plant 28, and Bill 36 for plant 27. Bob did not purchase a power plant. Everyone now had three power plants.

Turn, 6: Only Luke and Bob purchased power plants. Bob built four cities this turn, for a total of nine, which initiated Step 2. At this point, the city count was: Bob 9, Leigh 7, Luke 6, Jim 6 and Bill 5.

Turn 7: Everyone but Leigh purchased a new power plant, but she was the only one to buy a new plant on turn 8, paying $46 for #32. Also on turn 8, both Bob and Jim stockpiled resources.

Turn 9: The Step 3 card was revealed. Everyone bought power plants at cost except for Bob who paid 97 for plant 36 (which was the highest numbered power plant bought). Bill stockpiled extra resources. Jim built his 15th city to end the game, and won by powering 14 cities. Luke, Leigh, and Bob each powered 13 cities, and Bill 12. Jim purchased power plant 23 this turn, and also had power plants 26 and 31. Bob took second and had power plants 19, 21, and 36. Leigh came in third with plants 28, 32, and 35. Luke claimed fourth with plants 25, 30, and 33. Bill was last with plants 20, 27, and 29.

Total expenditures in the Final were: Jim - $122 on five power plants, $145 for fuel, and $292 for15 cities; Bob - $174 on six plants (including $97 on the #36 plant), $157 for fuel, and $236 on 13 cities; Leigh - $150 on five plants, $104 for fuel, and $268 on 13 cities; Luke - $143 on six plants, $96 on fuel, and $284 on 13 cities; Bill - $102 on five plants, $118 on fuel and $292 on 14 cities.

Of the 26 five-player games, the winner powered 14 cities most often (nine times), then 15 cities (seven games), 16 cities (six times), 13 cities (twice), 11 and 12 cities (once each). The most popular power plants in players' possession at the end were: 25 & 28 (25 each), 26, 31 (24 each), 20 (23 games), 21, 31 (22 each), 24 (21 games), 32 (20 games), 29 and 33 (19 each). This listing closely matched the power plants held by the winners: 25 (14 games), 26 (11), 33 (7), 31 (6), 20 (5), 28, 29, 30 (4 each), 21, 34, 39 (3 games each). Interestingly, the only eco-plant to make either top 10 list was plant 33, which was third most popular among the game winners. Plant 50 was purchased in seven games, twice by victors.

Jim Castonguay proved persistent in defense of his title, playeing in all three heats. He placed second in the first two heats and won on the third try to advance to the semi-final round.


2006 Euro Quest Laurelists

David Houston, MD
1st

Rod Spade, PA
2nd

Raphael Lehrer, MD
3rd

Bill Crenshaw, VA
4th

Barb Flaxington, NJ
5th

 GM      Kathy Stroh  [1st Year]   NA
   KStroh@Comcast.net   NA

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