saint petersburg  

Updated 11/26/2008

2008 WBC Report  

 2009 Status: pending 2009 GM commitment

Norman Herrick, NE

2008 Champion

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Event History
2005    Arthur Field     125
2006    Anne Norton     106
2007     Chris Robbins     114
2008     Norman Herrick     106

Euro Quest Event History
2005    Peter Staab     32
2006     Tom McCorry     44
2007     Thomas Browne     30
2008    Tom DeMarco     39
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Anne Norton        NJ    08     60
  2.  Arthur Field       SC    08     56
  3.  Chris Robbins      UT    07     52
  4.  Tom DeMarco        NJ    08     51
  5.  Norman Herrick     NE    08     40
  6.  Tom Browne         PA    07     38
  7.  Peter Staab        PA    06     38
  8.  Tom McCorry        VA    06     30
  9.  Cary Morris        NC    08     24
 10.  Joe Harrison       KY    07     24
 11.  Michael Fox        IL    06     24
 12.  Gordon Rodgers     PA    07     16
 13.  Debbie Davidson    NE    06     16
 14.  David Fox          NY    05     16
 15.  Perrianne Lurie    PA    08     15
 16.  Rob Flowers        MD    08     12
 17.  Michael Kaltman    PA    07     12
 18.  Mike Hazel         SC    07     12
 19.  Kathy Stroh        DE    06     12
 20.  Alan Kaiser        OH    05     12
 21.  Norman Rule        MD    08      8
 22.  Robert Cranshaw    RI    08      8
 23.  Michael Richey     VA    07      8
 24.  Jay Fox            NJ    06      8
 25.  Jeff Mullet        OH    05      8
 26.  Tom Wade           IN    05      8
 27.  Greg Rogers        MD    07      6
 28.  Pete Stein         OH    05      6
 29.  Virginia Colin     VA    08      4
 30.  Kevin Brown        GA    08      4
 31.  Tom Dunning        NY    07      4
 32.  Daniel Eppolito    CA    07      4
 33.  Blair Morgen       NJ    06      4
 34.  Ted Mullally       NJ    05      4
 35.  Lee Mewshaw        MD    08      2
 36.  J. J. Jaskiewicz   MD    07      2
 37.  Andrew Gerb        MD    05      2

2008 Laurelists                                                 Repeating Laurelists: 0

Cary Morris, NC
2nd

Arthur Field, SC
3rd

Rob Flowers, MD
4th

Robert Cranshaw, RI
5th

Kevin Brown, GA
6th


Past Winners

Arthur Field, SC
2005

Anne Norton, NJ
2006

Chris Robbins, UT
2007

Norman Herrick, NE
2008


Blair Morgen, Deb Davidson, Cal Perry, and Harald Henning play at Table 10 as a heat gets underway.

Our 2008 finalists led by 2005 Champ Arthur Field go for the gusto having run the gauntlet to the big game.

Always a Crowd

In 2008, the juggernaut known as Saint Petersburg continued another year of triple-digit attendance; 106 different players in three heats.  Even with a high rate of returning players from previous years, many new faces were seen.  The assigned times and room could not have been a better choice for the tournament.

The Final Board found Rob Flowers, former champ Arthur Field, Norman Herrick, and Cary Morris in a neck-and-neck race to the last round.  Power cards Mistress of Ceremonies, Judge, and Observatory dared not show their heads until near the end, making it an exciting game.  Arthur took advantage of an early Gold Smelter Upgrade, followed by a Lumber Mill upgrade for Rob for easier money managements. Rob also took a slight lead in number of workers early for a better edge going into building and noble-buying phases. Two-thirds of the way through, Arthur led with four nobles, followed by Rob and Cary with three, and Norman with but one.  Seeing the pressure of a looming game end, the purchase of nobles was fast and furious as Rob and Norm increased their nobles to five each, Cary with seven (unique nobles), and Arthur with nine (also seven unique nobles).  The final scores were 84 for Norman (1st), 74 for Cary (2nd), and a tie of 73 for Arthur and Rob. Arthur (third) edged Rob out of third place by a $4 cash tie breaker.

As a first time GM at WBC, Steve Quade strived to get the people into game play as soon as possible.  A simple check-in process of using large index cards and a large collection box seemed to move the line of attendees along.  Setting up large, colorful numbered stands helped get people to their boards and into their seats once the random assignments were selected.  The entire check-in and seating process was down to seven minutes for the 52-attendee heat.  A random drawing door prize at each heat was a pleasant surprise.  Arthur Field generously supplied actual gifts from Saint Petersburg that were handed out to finalists.  Assistance from Rodney Bacigalupo, Arthur Field, and last year's GM, Dan Mathias, was greatly appreciated and helped to smooth the organization.

This could also be called the "year of the suggestion" as many long time players supplied their opinions on how to improve the tournament.  All suggestions were heard and now are being weighed for including in next year's event.  Suggestions included adding a quarter-final, changing to a round tournament format, increasing the cost of the power cards for the first two rounds, removing the power cards, or excluding the power cards for two rounds.  Each suggestion has its merits and will be considered.


2008 Euro Quest Laurelists

Tom DeMarco, NJ
1st

Anne Norton, NJ
2nd

Norman Rule, MD
3rd

Perrianne Lurie, PA
4th

Virginia Colin, VA
5th

 GM      Steven Quade [1st Year]   NA
   q211222910@yahoo.com   NA

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