Reiff Sneaks In to win 2019 Union Pacific Championship

In a surprising come from behind victory, Bruce Reiff jumped from what looked like third place at best to claim victory in the last scoring round of the final.

We tried a new time and day for the tournament this year, moving to a continuous play format on the second Saturday starting at noon. Attendance was similar to last year with 25 players, most of whom played in all three heats. There were 19 total games, with 74 player starts.

Bruce Reiff and Steve Shambeda (assistant GM) won all three of their qualifying heats, while Jeff Jackson (GM), Trella Bromley (assistant GM), and Jeff Senley managed two wins each. We advanced eight people to two seeded semi-final tables, with the top two from each table making the final.

Participants in the semifinals, in rank order, were: Bruce Reiff, Jeff Jackson, Jeff Senley, Trella Bromley, Chris Meyer (assistant GM), Rich Meyer, Paul Bonday, and John Henry.

Semifinal table 1 (Bruce, Trella, Chris, and John): John just learned the game in the demo that morning and did very well to make it to the semi-final, but found himself among the sharks and finished in last place. Bruce stayed in front throughout the game, while Trella was able to pass Chris for second place at the last minute. Chris was ahead after the third dividend, but Bruce stole the red majority from Chris and Trella managed to take just enough away to advance by finishing two points ahead of Chris.

Semifinal table 2 (Jeff J, Jeff S, Rich, and Paul): Paul Bonday worked very hard to build a beautiful red line, only to have Jeff Jackson swoop in and steal the company from him right before the third dividend. As a result Jeff won with Rich Meyer a close second. Jeff Senley put up a valiant effort, but in the end he couldn’t quite get enough to make it to the final table, finishing third.

All agreed to run the final at 8am Sunday to make sure Rich could defend his Facts in Five title. That early start provides a built-in excuse for any poor play that occurred… Playing order, based on performance from the previous rounds was Bruce first, followed by Jeff, Trella, and Rich.

Both Bruce and Jeff struggled early on to get things going, while Trella and Rich were able to build and hold impressive monopolies through the first two dividends. Halfway through the game it seemed that Rich and Trella were fighting for first while Bruce and Jeff were trying to avoid last place. Then Jeff made a critical error (see excuse) by inexplicably failing to make an obvious investment before the third dividend, which guaranteed himself a solid fourth. Bruce started his comeback with that payout by getting Green second place and ties in Orange and White, and that momentum carried over to the final dividend to give him a very close win. Final scores: Bruce 120, Rich 119, Trella 116, Jeff less than that.

Congratulations, Bruce! And thanks to everyone who participated and made it a fun, exciting Saturday (and Sunday). We look forward to seeing everybody again next year.