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Attendance rose to forty this year in spite of several of our regular participants not being able to attend. It speaks well for this 28 year old game that there were seven participants under eighteen years old. Fathers are teaching this game to their children – and teaching them very well as you will see as you read this report.
Five players emerged unbeaten from the initial Swiss rounds – last year's champion Rob Schoenen, former champions Jim Doughan and John Conlon, Aaron Birnbaum, and Antero Kuusi. Tiebreakers were used to add Joseph Birnbaum and former champions Trevor Schoenen and Jim Fleckenstein to the final eight for the playoff rounds.
Quarterfinals
John Conlon and Antero Kuusi played Scenario H Boomer, with John taking the Soviets and Antero the NATO side. It was a quick match, with John sinking Antero's Los Angeles before he could get his Asheville reinforcement into the game.
Trevor Schoenen and Jim Doughan played Scenario E Rebel Without A Cause with Jim's Soviet surface force trying to hunt down Trevor's renegade sub. The first deck saw a lot of action, with Jim managing to score a hit on Trevor's Oppokov, but didn't sink it. Oppokov then sank Jim's Rovnostnyy and managed to escape in the second deck for the win.
Last year's champion Rob Schoenen played Scenario H Boomer with twelve year old Joseph Birnbaum. Things were looking good for Rob as his Los Angeles quickly got a firing solution on Joseph's Zarnista. But his first shot missed. His second shot hit, but only scored 2 sensor damage to the Zarnista which is capable of absorbing quite a bit of damage. Joseph fought back and sank Rob's Los Angeles before he could manage to bring on his Asheville reinforcement. It will be up to son Trevor to keep the championship in the Schoenen family this year.
Joseph's ten year old brother Aaron would face past champion Jim Fleckenstein in Scenario A Sub Duel. Jim took the two Soviet subs while Aaron commanded the British. This was a frenetic match with lots of torpedoes fired by both sides. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be able to score a hit! Finally, Jim's Ivan Rogov managed to sink the Valiant. After several more close calls, the Skvortsov killed the Swiftsure to give Jim the victory.
Semifinals
The first semifinal was John Conlon's Soviets taking on Joseph Birnbaum's NATO force in Scenario H Boomer. Both sides quickly gained contact with each other. John's Ivan Rogov got off the first shot of the fight, but missed. John then tried to break contact and get away, but Joseph doggedly kept the pressure on. The Los Angeles eventually sank the Zarnista, giving Joseph the win.
Final
The final game would pit seventeen year old Trevor Schoenen against twelve year old Joseph Birnbaum. Joseph won choice of scenario. Having won Scenario H Boomer twice, that's what he chose. Trevor chose to take the NATO side. Trevor managed to find the Zarnista and scored a hit, but failed to sink it. Not much more action in the rest of the first deck of cards as Joseph skillfully maneuvered to avoid contact and try to run out the deck and try to make his escape. Trevor did manage to get his Asheville reinforcement on board before the end of the first deck. At the start of the second deck,
Asheville sank the Zarnista before Joseph could make an escape attempt.
Trevor keeps the Attack Sub championship in the Schoenen family for the third year in a row. Do we have a dynasty in the making?
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| Early round action in Attack Sub. |
Attack Sub continues to draw the younger crowd. |
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| Gareth Williams looking to make his move. |
Early round action on Sunday morning.. |
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| GM Steve Caler and Don Greenwood watching the semifinals. |
Finalists with GM Steve Caler. |
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 Steve Caler [10th Year] |
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 stevecal@sssnet.com |
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