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Dave Meyaard amd Keith Layton plot
their moves. |
Crime doesn't pay in this particular
game, it seems. |
Somebody forgot to bring the Welcome
Mat ...
Welcome to the 23rd edition of the WBC Adel Verpflichtet
Tournament! Once again it is time to recount the escapades
of Aristocrats, Auctioneers, Thieves and Detectives. Nearly half
of this year's contestants had taken home laurels in the past,
and six were former champions. The GM, in a burst of early senility,
neglected to schedule a demo; though not required for a "C",
or "Coached" tournament, the demo is a good vehicle
for welcoming potential newcomers or a quick refresher on the
rules. As such, there was a dearth of new players this year.
That lapse won't happen again. Though some of the usual family
groups were missing (no Packs, Hennings, or Bernard/Zhaos), other
couples and family groups were in evidence (Houde, Czyryca, Voisin,
Collinson/Worley, & DeMarco/Norton).
To advance to the semifinal, points are awarded based on the
finish position in each game played (1st=5, 2nd=4, 3rd=3, 4th=2,
5th=1. In 4-player games, points awarded are: 1st=5, 2nd=4, 3rd=2,
4th=1). The players with the highest totals after three games
advance, while the number of contestants who advance is determined
by the number of players who are still playing after the third
set of games (half the players, rounded down to a multiple of
five).
Among
the first set of seven games, Shea Lawson got the best win of
the tournament, finishing 10 spaces past the finish line (the
maximum is 13), followed by Pam Gutermuth at +9 spaces. Both
of these young ladies have run the tables in past years, Shea
winning all of her first round games in 2008, and Pam in 2009.
Other winners in the first set of games were Ashley Worley, Philip
Livingston, Tim Packwood, Glen Pearce, and GM Tom DeMarco.
Only one player dropped out after the first round, and three
new players joined in for the second set of seven games. Shea,
Ashley, and Philip each won again, with Ashley taking over the
overall lead with ten points and a total of 16 spaces past the
finish to Shea's 13 and Philip's four spaces. Just behind, with
a win and a second was Steve Cameron at nine points. The other
winners were Tamara Houde (eight points), and former champions
Mark Geary and Derek Landel (seven points), while Keith Layton's
two second place finishes kept him in the pack at eight points.
For the third and last preliminary round three more players dropped
out (including Pam). Shea got her third win, thus leading the
way into the semifinals with 15 points and 20 total spaces past
the finish. Other winners were Tamara, Derek, Peter Staab, Marc
Houde, Robert Voisin and Anne Norton. Because there were at least
30 players in each of the three games of the first round, 15
would advance. Following Shea into the semifinal were Ashley
with 14 points, Tamara and Philip with 13, Derek with 12, returning
champion Ray Stakenas II, Mark and Steve with 11, and Marc and
Tim with ten points. There were six players with nine points
vying for the last five slots. These ties were broken by total
spaces past the finish. Peter led this group with a total of
13 spaces (making it to the semi in spite of missing a round),
Robert with nine spaces, Glen with eight, Keith with seven, and
David Meyaard with five. Kelly Czyryca with nine points and three
total spaces didn't make the cut. This year's semifinalists got
an average of 11 points, compared to 12.07 last year, 12.0 in
2011 and 11.5 in 2010.
After changing rooms, three semifinal games got underway. The
three winners and the top two runnerups would advance. Peter
beat out Tamara, Steve, Shea and Robert. Mark outdistanced David,
Derek, Ashley, and Keith. And Marc was triumphant over Philip,
Glen, Ray, and Tim. Tamara had the best second at three spaces
past the finish, while Philip just squeaked by David both
finished at one space past the finish, both had a longest set
of only three cards, but Philip's oldest card in his set of 1616
beat David's oldest card of 1660, so Philip advanced while David
collected sixth place laurels. This wasn't the first time that
two family members (Marc and Tamara) have both graced a Final
board. The Bernard sisters, the Henning siblings, and the Pack
and DeMarco families shared space in previous Finals.
The Final was characterized by a dearth of successful detectives,
with the jails capacity not being tested until the end. Tamara
confounded the detectives by stealing from exhibits five times.
But Philip used the run-run-run strategy to outdistance his competitors,
crossing the finish line by two spaces and triggering the endgame.
Tamara's success in stealing gave her the biggest set of twelve
cards at the finish, advancing her eight spaces, but that only
got her one space past the finish for second place while Mark
got the four-space bonus for the second longest set to finish
third, followed by Marc and Peter.
Two points to consider if you'd like to give Adel Verpflichtet
a try next year:
1. Though there was no Demo this year, the Adel Verpflichtet
Demo is usually run right before the main event. There have
been players who have gone to the Demo, and then were able to
advance all the way to the Final table. Some people have told
me I am a good game explainer; but Adel Verpflichtet is actually
a very easy game to learn. Next year the Demo will return.
2. It is possible to advance to the semifinal even if you do
poorly (or miss playing) in the first game. With a threshold
for advancing to the semifinal of nine points (as it has been
a couple times), you can still advance to the semifinal with
a decent finish in the remaining two games. So don't think if
you don't win in the first set of games that you won't be able
to advance.
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Ashley Worley and Derek Landel tiptoe
through the art show as GM Tom DeMarco observes. |
The semi-finaists have abandoned the
Ballroom before the Liar's Dice onslaught for the tranquility
of Strassburg. |
Play
By Email 2013
GM John Pack won his own tournament over a field of 25 as the
4th BPA Adel Verpflichtet tournament concluded after 30 games
of swiss elimination play.
The Final opening saw all five players at the Auction House
for three of four consecutive turns (bringing up comments about
Groundhog Day arriving early) -- with many high and second-high
checks spent in the early going (and not too many thieves being
able to actually get away with a stolen check). The funniest
moment came when four thieves reached for and, ineptly, shredded
the check. Discussion turned to who had the "right"
piece. Initial movement came via detectives putting three thieves
in jail on two different turns. All four of the oldest cards
put in an appearance during the game. John Pack reached the first
corner after the jail had filled to capacity while Tom DeMarco
and Kevin Wojtaszczyk were left without thieves. Missing options
can be decisive in this game. Two thief-less players opened the
way for John to sprint toward the finish (since exhibits are
much safer). Mike Kaltman fell behind while building a huge set
but made up ground by the time John reached the second corner.
Then came the massive crime wave - with Laurie Wojtaszczyk, then
Mike, and finally John scoring two, three, and three collectibles
with a single thief. Tom had gallantly kept pace just a space
or two behind the leader but lost items to every thief during
the crime wave. That left him exhibiting but unable to advance
in the last stages of the game. Kevin built a huge set before
moving and rode detectives past the second corner, but didn't
move much after detectives brought the criminal element under
control. The last move came with John on the final space, his
thief having reconnected his full set, and Mike having moved
within striking distance. The last move saw John exhibit for
five spaces and cross the line while Mike banked on another turn
with a fruitless detective. Mike's better set (by virtue of the
D-1616) wasn't enough to make up the distance though he also
crossed the line for second place. The rest of the Top Six were
Kevin, Laurie, Tom, and George Seary. The Final took just 15
days to complete -- with some turns taking less than five minutes
for all players to log on and complete their selection. It was
a breathtaking race all the way to the finish line! The next
tournament will begin October 1st! See all of the details at
http://www.gameaholics.com/adv_tournament.htm. |