Before getting into the riveting story that is the adventure of the Ingenious tournament at WBC, there is a plea to all attendees. Please bring a copy of Ingenious to your heat. You are guaranteed that someone will need it. If you want to be guaranteed a spot to play and a hero in the GM’s eyes, bring a game. If you don’t have one, try and buy one. There is a cheap cardboard copy that is the same game and will still work.

This year saw an amazing 128 individuals try to prove that they were the smartest of the smart. The first heat saw 96 people which was an impressive turnout. Each heat produced fewer people with the final heat being the smallest because the GM can’t read a schedule correctly and paired it up against Facts in Five. Oops!

The semifinals saw many top gamers trying to add another plaque to their impressive trophy cases. There were 9 double winners though Ray Wolff led the pack with two wins and a second. A couple younger faces were present, most notably Angelina Gonzalez, a past Juniors champion.

As would be expected with such strong competition, each match was exceptionally close.

Ta.ble 1 Final Scores:

• Luke Koleszar: 9/10
• Alyssa Mills: 9/9
• Ray Wolff: 8/12
• Scott Saccenti: 8/10

Table 2 Final Scores:

• Jeff Meyer: 11
• Suzanne Taylor: 10/12
• Debra LeWinter: 10/11
• Bruce Rae: 8

Table 3 Final Scores:

• Amy Rule: 11
• David Metzger: 10
• Sam Wolff: 9
• Angelina Gonzalez: 6

Table 4 Final Scores:

• Henry Allen: 13
• Andrew Freeman: 12
• Rebecca Roppolo: 10
• Megan Mossman: 7

The final table included the intimidating group of Henry Allen, Amy Rule, Jeff Meyer, and Luke Koleszar. Abstract games like Ingenious tend to lack excitement when trying to describe the game but there was a lot of energy at the table. The most energizing part of the game was the table talk, mostly by Jeff. The GM’s favorites include: “Bad news bears,” “The perfection is on the other side of the table,” and Trash.” You can guess how his hand looked…

Everyone one was much more cutthroat than the Juniors earlier in the week as they blocked off numerous rows without even a hint of guilt. The junior’s at least pretend to feel bad.

At the end of the game, Luke was able to beat out Henry followed by Amy, who was excited to win a plaque for the first time in a while, and Jeff. Final scores were: Luke: 12, Henry: 10, Amy: 9/13, Jeff: 9/10.