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Anyone want to play Ticket
to Ride? Over 300 apparently as the triple century mark was
broken for the first time ever at WBC leaving the late night
entries in the dust. |
Trella Bromley, big honcho in
the TGA and already qualified for the big doings at Gencon couldn't
make it back to the Final after doing so in her first WBC last
year. |
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The incomparable GM Claire Brosius
with her chief conductor Sara Beach. It takes a lot of effort,
planning and extra hands to run an event this size. |
Jay Fox and Jeff Jackson will
be heading to Gencon also. Jay, our leadimg laurelist had a major
impact - as three of his club minions made the Final. |
Can't Stop this Train!
So many tickets, so little time!
This year we had a WBC record-breaking tournament as the 300
mark was borken for the first time with 303 participants. 172
people in the first two heats and 155 in the third heat shattered
the previous attendance record by over 50 players.
 The
check in line ran down the hall into the food court and up the
stairs, but the sorting system kept the line chugging along.
45 minutes from the start of check-in, 43 tables were playing,
filling the ballroom and even spilling over into Marietta during
the second heat. People were taking their first tickets as the
faster beginning games were in the end-game.
Many a contest was decided in the very last play of the game.
Some won with their final build, making their tickets or blocking
their opponents' tickets from being completed. We had more than
one game with the win decided by who got the "longest continuous
route" or "most tickets made" bonuses.
This year being the 10th anniversary of Ticket to Ride,
Days of Wonder sent hundreds of sets of trains for each tournament
player. Translucent sets of 45 trains were given out at the heats.
The finalists got their choice of four of the expansion sets
and the winner received a commemorative coin. The winner also
would go to GenCon to play in the North American National tournament.
In the quarterfinals and semifinals we had three players who
had already qualified for the Nationals: Trella Bromley, Steve
Shambeda, and Jeff Jackson. Jay Fox, our leading laurelist, also
had qualified. None of these national qualifiers made it to our
Final. This year we had two of the youngest players go head-to-head
in the last round which made for an interesting ride home as
brother and sister, Yoni and Adina Weiss, battled each other
and their adult opponents.
Hank Griffin also had a battle on his hands since Alan Elkner,
Yoni and Adina all play in the Jay's Basement gaming group. Hank
had the east coast all to himself as the other three built up
the west. Most of the tickets were completed and Alan pulled
out the win with 128. Adina barely won family bragging rights
over her brother with 122 to Yoni's 121. Hank came in 4th with
a respectable 96 having made as many tickets as Yoni to share
the bonus. Alan had the longest route, which won it for him.
With so many people in the tournament, I want to thank all
my helpers, especially my assistant GM, Sarah Beach. Many folks
helped with the huge check-in line: Anne Norton, Katherine McCorry,
Jennifer Thomas and Larry Loiacono. Katie McCorry helped with
data entry after the first heat, making an overwhelming task
much more fun.
A special "thank you" goes to Norman and Amy Rule.
Norman helped me set up a spreadsheet so I didn't have to write
303 names on the entry list, saving me hours of work. Amy was
my data entry helper as we put 140 games worth of scores into
the computer. I could not have done it without them.
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5th & 6th ain't bad in a 300-player
event, especially for Amy who gets admission to the Sandman parade. |
GM Clair Brosious with Jay's Basement
- er, her finalists. Sorry, got them confused for a minute without
those team shirts. |
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With over 300 Ticket to Ride
players at WBC, you've got to start 'em young. |
9-year-olds dominated this year,
besting their older competition in the event. |
 Ticket To Ride Junior
 32 pint-sized travellers contested GM Matthew Beach's Juniors
tournament on Saturday afternoon with six new top passengers
emerging. Top honors went to:
~1st: Andrew Martin, age 9
~ 2nd: Reorge Parauda, age 9
~ 3rd: Sam Shambeda, age 12
~ 4th: Charlotte Parauda, age 10
~ 5th: Bailey Burdett, age 9
~ 6th: Zacary Morris, age 9
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Claire Brosius [6th Year]
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