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Railways of the World (ROW) WBC 2024 Event Report
Updated November 3, 2024
25 Players Ben Isgur Event History
  2024 Champion & Laurels
 

Isgur Earns Rail Baron Status!

After a 5 year absence, Railways of the World returned to the WBC. Twenty-five railroad gamers competed in the tournament. Only 10 of participants in this tournament competed in it the last time it was held. Three Heats, Semifinal, and a Final were played over 3 days. One of those returnees, Ben Isgur, took a pair of second place finishes in the Heats to qualify for the Semifinal, then reeled off 2 victories to take home the championship.

Ten Heat games were played, with Europe getting played the most (3 times), followed by Mexico and England, both with 2 plays. Single plays of Nippon, Sweden, and Portugal accounted for the rest of the games. Seven of these games were played with 4 players, while the other tables had only 3 compete.

Twenty people came for Heat 1, splitting into 5 games of 4-players. The boards played were Europe (twice), Nippon, Mexico, and Sweden. Matt Lahut snuck by Shiv Chopra 68-67 on the Sweden board, for the closest victory in Heat 1. Other winners were Jim Fleckenstein, Ed Gilliland, Chris Wildes, and Harald Henning. The results from Heat 1 are shown below:

 

Heat 1 Results
Board First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place
Railways of EuropeJim Fleckenstein (72)Dan Falk (59)Pierre LeBoeuf (54)Stephen Squibb (36)
Railways of EuropeHarald Henning (75)Roger Charnesky (55)Jack Stalica (53)Dave Tianen (40)
Railways of MexicoChris Wildes (53)Stephen Costa (44)Randy Williams (43)Michael Aubuchon (36)
Railways of SwedenMatt Lahut (68)Shiv Chopra (67)Rick Miller (56)Dan Winnowski (47)
Railways of NipponEd Gilliland (75)Ben Isgur (69)Steve Shambeda (57)Eric Engelmann (51)

 

Another 3 tables of 3-players competed in the Heat 2. Each table played a different title, with 2 new players joining 7 players returning from the first Heat. The closest of the second round games was on the England board, where Don Tatum won 65-64 over Ed Gilliland. The Portugal board was the second closest, with Rick Miller edging Shiv Chopra 77-72. Tim Mossman had the easiest win, 72-61 over Pierre LeBoeuf. The results from Heat 2 are shown below:

 

Heat 2 Results
Board First Place Second Place Third Place
Railways of PortugalRick Miller (73)Shiv Chopra (67)Michael Aubuchon (61)
Railways of MexicoTim Mossman (62)Pierre LeBoeuf (57)David Tainen (37)
Railways of EnglandDon Tatum (62)Ed Gilliland (59)Stephem Squibb (44)

 

New this year, a third Heat. Only 8 players, including 3 playing in their first Heat, showed up for this last chance to advance. Both boards had 4-players, with Europe and England chosen. Neither game was particularly close, with Chris Trimmer and Steve Shambeda posting wins. Heat 3 results are shown below:

 

Heat 3 Results
Board First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place
Railways of EuropeChris Trimmer (81)Ben Isgur (77)David Stoy (53)Pierre LeBoeuf (47)
Railways of EnglandSteve Shambeda (71)Rick Miller (58)Eric Schlosser (48)Stephen Squibb (44)

 

With 25 participants, BPA rules allowed for up to 12 Semifinalists. No one won twice, so the winners were ranked by how early (round-wise) they posted their win. There were 10 players who won once, 2 players finished second twice, and 4 other players were second once. Nine of the 10 winners showed up for the Semifinal, as did both players that had 2 second place finishes. Pierre LeBoeuf ended up getting the last slot when no other second place finishers turned up.

As a result, the Semifinal was 4 tables of 3-players each. The players were seeded based on the results of preliminary round play and the Heats Most Wins - Timing 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.

Players were seated at the 4 Semifinal tables by rank. Once seated, the players discussed which games they were interested in playing. The choices ended up being England, Mexico, Nippon, and Portugal.

The first Railways Semifinal table was played on the Portugal board. Matt Lahut dominated the game, winning by 24 while taking only two shares. England was set up at the second table and was closer. Rick Miller posted an 88-79 win over Jim Fleckenstein. Table 3 was on the Mexico map, and Ben Isgur posted a big 101-61 win over Chris Wildes. Shiv Chopra won on the Nippon map, 100-87, to claim the last Ffinal slot. None of the top 7 seeds advanced to the Final. Below are the results of the Semifinal:

 

Heat 2 Results
Board First Place Second Place Third Place
Railways of PortugalMatt Lahut (93)Chris Trimmer (69)Harald Henning (64)
Railways of EnglandRick Miller (88)Jim Fleckenstein (79) Pierre LeBoeuf (78)
Railways of MexicoBen Isgur (101)Chris Wildes (61)Ed Gilliland (49)
Railways of NipponShiv chopra (100)Tim Mossman (87)Steve Shambeda (64)

The four Semifinal winners advanced to the Final on the Nippon map. The Final matched Heat winners Rick and Matt against Heat second-place finishers Ben and Shiv. A bid of 4 earned the right to go first. Shiv was overheard complaining that he had chosen the wrong RR Baron, before the first round even began, and he ended up only getting 1 bonus point as a result. Both Ben and Matt got the maximum 8 point Baron bonus. Ben managed to complete 5 of the 7 major lines, and used that advantage to get an early lead and cruise to an easy win.

Final scores were

  1. Ben Isgur (77)
  2. Shiv Chopra (65)
  3. Rick Miller (57)
  4. Matt Lahut (56)

I would like to thank our returning and new players, and I hope the event will recover some attendance next year. We will probably need to win the trial vote next winter to get back into the WBC, so please publicize this event if you wish for it to continue. Thank you also to my assistant GMs, Steve and Rick. My 2 main takeaways remain “Please bring copies of the game" and “Show up for the Semifinal, you never know what might happen". I hope to see you all again in 2025.

 
2024 Laurelists Repeating Laurelists: 0
Chopra, Shivendra Miller, Rick Lahut, Matt Fleckenstein, Jim Mossman, Tim
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
 
Chris Wildes enjoying a Heat of Railways of the World. GM Pierre LeBoeuf in Heat action.
Shiv Chopra working his way to the Final. Finalists with GM Pierre LeBoeuf.
 
GM  Pierre LeBouef [3rd Year]