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Railways of the World (ROW) WBC 2019 Event Report
Updated February 2, 2020.
 
30 Players Randy Williams 2019 Status 2020 Status Event History
  2019 Champion   & Laurels
 

Newcomer Randy Williams Is King Of the Rails!

Thirty railroad gamers competed in the second Railways of the World/Railroad Tycoon tournament. Nearly half the players (twelve) did not compete last year. Two preliminary rounds, a semi, and a final were contested in a two-day period. After finishing fourth in his first heat, new player Randy Williams came back to win his next three games to take the title.

Unlike last year, none of the games needed extra time beyond the 3-hour slot allotment. Ten preliminary round games were played, with plays fairly evenly divided among the Eastern US and England maps (three), and the Europe and Nippon maps (two each). Also unlike last year, there were plenty of copies of games available, so last year’s problems of having to split games up to ensure all of the tables could play were avoided.

Twenty-two people came for round 1, splitting into four games of four players and two of three players. The boards played were Eastern US and England (twice each), and Europe and Nippon (once). Michael Aubuchon edged Virginia Colin by 60-57 in the closest game of the first round. Other winners were Pascale Lafrenière, Shiv Chopra, Jim Fleckenstein, Dvd Avins, and Jonathan Towne. The results from round 1 were:

Railways through Europe

  • Dvd Avins -74
  • Ben Isgur -67
  • Steve Shambeda – 53
  • Kelly Krieble – 49

Railroad Tycoon – Eastern US

  • Game 1
    • Pascale Lafreniere - 120
    • Roger Jarrett - 115
    • Mike Horn - 105
    • Eric Alexopoulus – 94
  • Game 2
    • Shiv Chopra -109
    • Pieere LeBoeuf -75
    • Paul Rubin – 68
    • Bruce Beard – 59

Railroad of England

  • Game 1
    • Jonathan Towne - 61
    • Chris Long - 50
    • John Henry - 48
    • Randy Williams – 47
  • Game 2
    • Michael Aubuchon -60
    • Virginia Colon -57
    • John Gelesh – 22

Railways of Nippon

  • Jim Fleckenstein -97
  • Henry Allen – 85
  • Ed Gilland – 76

Another four tables continued on with the second preliminary round, later on Wednesday evening. Four different titles were played, with eight new players joining nine players returning from the first round. Two of the second-round games were especially close. At the Nippon table, Randy Williams and Bill Herbst both had 68 victory points, but Randy had the most links, the first tie-breaker. At the England table, John Henry beat Stephen Altbackar, 57-56. Henry Allen had an easier time at the five-player Eastern US board, beating Kelly Krieble 89-70. The results from round 2 were:

Railways of Nippon

  • Randy Williams -68
  • Bill Herbst -68
  • Carolyn Caton – 62
  • Roger Jarrett – 58

Railways of England

  • John Henry -57
  • Stephen Altbacker -56
  • David Stoy – 42
  • Eric Alexopoulos – 38

Railways through Europe

  • Shiv Chopra -61
  • Tim Mossman -53
  • Pierre LeBoeuf – 52
  • Curt Collins – 45

Railways Tycoon – Eastern US

  • Henry Allen -89
  • Kelly Krieble -70
  • Tony Newton – 55
  • Susan Singer – 52
  • Paul Rubin – 37

The ten preliminary round games had one repeat winner, Shiv Chopra, earning him the top overall seed. There were eight other players who won once. No one finished second twice, but nine players were second (and not first) once. All nine winners showed up for the semifinal, but only six other people came to the Thursday semifinal round. With only fifteen people present, the semifinal was cut to three games of four, and seeds thirteen through fifteen were left out of the semifinals.

As a result, the Thursday semifinals were three tables of four players each. The players were seeded based on the results of preliminary round play and the multiple entry-single elimination tie-breaking criteria established by the WBC. Where players remained tied, they were placed according to their best margin of victory percentage over the second-place score. As the only person to win twice, Shiv Chopra claimed the top seed. The next eight seeds won once, so the five that won on their first try were ranked ahead of the three who won on their second try, and all were seeded within each group by victory percentage. Seeds ten through fifteen all finished second in their first game, and were ranked by their percentage of the winning score in their game. The next three seeds belonged to players who finished second in their second game.

Semifinals

Players were seated at the three semifinal tables by rank, with Table 1 matching seeds 1-6-7-12, Table 2 had 2-5-8-11, and Table 3 with 3-4-9-10. Once seated, the players discussed which games they were interested in playing. If no consensus was reached, the default map was the Eastern US board.

The first Railways semifinal table was played on the Europe board. Top seed Shiv Chopra was edged by Tim Mossman, in a very close game (68-65-64-61). England was set up at the second table, and was even closer. Ben Isgur edged Jonathan Towne by only one (84-83), so both qualified for the final, since the best second place finisher was needed for the four-player final. Table 3 was also on the Europe map, with Randy Williams claiming the easiest win of the round (73-65) over Jim Fleckenstein. Below are the results of the semifinal games

Railways of England

  • Ben Isgur -84
  • Jonathan Towne -83
  • Michael Aubuchon – 78
  • John Henry – 59

Railways through Europe

  • Tim Mossman -68
  • Shiv Chopra -65
  • Hnery Allen – 64
  • Pascale Lefreniere – 61

Railways through Europe

  • Randy Williams -73
  • Jim Fleckenstein -65
  • Roger Jarrett – 60
  • Dvd Avins – 48

Final

The three semifinal winners and the closest second place finisher advanced to the Railways final Thursday night, played on the Nippon map. The final matched preliminary round winners Randy and Jonathan against preliminary round second-place finishers Ben and Tim. Tim won the right to go first by bidding only 3 in the initial round, getting 3 victory points for the first delivery. Tim later completed the first 3-link delivery for another 3 VP. Randy took a lead into the middle game by completing three major lines. As the players’ revenue reached the level of diminishing returns, the lead changed hands with virtually every turn.

After final round scoring and checking the baron bonuses, the win came down to loans. Randy’s two-point lead evaporated when his loans exceeded his closest challengers. In a photo finish, Randy, Jonathan, and Ben all ended with 70 VP. The first tie-breaker, most rail links built, decided the contest for Randy (with 13), and both Jonathan and Ben had 10. Second place was decided by the second tie-breaker, most money, won by Jonathan.

The results of the final in order of finish were Randy Williams (70), Jonathan Towne (70), Ben Isgur (70), and Tim Mossman (61).

The final order of finish for all players were:
1) Randy Williams
2) Jonathan Towne
3) Ben Isgur
4) Tim Mossman
5) Shiv Chopra
6) Jim Fleckenstein
7) Henry Allen
8) Mike Aubuchon
9) Roger Jarrett
10) Pascale Lafreniere
11) John Henry
12) Dvd Avins
13) Bill Herbst
14) Stephen Altbacker
15) Virginia Colin
16) Chris Long
17) Pierre LeBoeuf
18) Kelly Krieble
19) Carolyn Caton
20) Mike Horn
21) Ed Gilliland
22) David Stoy
23) Steve Shambeda
24) Paul Rubin
25) Tony Newton
26) John Gelesh
27) Eric Alexopoulos
28) Curt Collins
29) Susan Singer
30) Bruce Beard

I would like to thank our returning and new players, and I hope the event will recover some attendance next year. Thank you also to my assistant GMs, Kelly and Carolyn. My two main takeaways remain “Please bring copies of the game” and “Show up for the semi, you never know what might happen”. I hope to see you all again in 2020.

 
2019 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 1

Jonathan Towne Ben Isgur Tim Mossman Shivendra Chopra Jim Fleckenstein
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
 
Shiv Chopra on way to laurels. What deliver should be next?
Finalists with GM Pierre LeBoeuf.

 

 

 
GM    Pierre LeBoeuf [2nd Year]   NA
      NA