Former GM Effinger Wins Title

The 2025 Innovation tournament used a new Swiss Elimination format, allowing players to join any of the 4 Swiss rounds as they desired with any players with at least 3 wins advancing to Single Elimination. This saw 60 games played by 41 unique players, with 9 advancing to Single Elimination rounds. The main worry with the new format was whether games would need to be adjudicated, but that turned out to be only a minor problem. While there were some slow games in each round, most were unambiguous.

As is to be expected with Innovation, games ranged from fast and decisive victories to long back-and-forth slogs. Last year’s champion, Keith Boone, went 3-0 in the first three Swiss rounds but fell in the Quarterfinal. Last year’s runner-up, Aaron Birnbaum, made it to the Semifinal and was far ahead in both score and achievements when his opponent Randy Martin made it into the 10s and found Databases. That was the end of Aaron’s score pile, which eventually led to his defeat when Randy Mathed to draw an 11.

This led to the Final, where great civilizations led by GM emeritus Robb Effinger and Randy Martin faced off for the title.

We begin our story in prehistory with the disciples of Robb developing Mysticism while the eminently more practical followers of Randy built the Wheel. This set the tone for the course of history.

Randy ensured his people had Clothing, organized them into City States, and developed Agriculture. This earned them the first Achievement.

Robb’s mystics developed nothing except Domestication, presumably to ensure a supply of sacrificial animals. Eventually they did move on to Metalworking (better knives) and Writing (propaganda) and then got bored and made some Maps to start attacking their much more civilized neighbors.

These neighbors, meanwhile, had developed Machinery, Road Building, and Mathematics. Also, Translation – probably in an attempt to figure out what the heck these aggressive map-bearing mystics actually wanted.

Both civilizations started exploring scientific endeavors. Randy developed the Steam Engine and quickly had scientists doing Chemistry on trains. Robb’s Mystics gave up and resorted to Alchemy, with an incidental discovery of Fermenting. Why do you work so hard at science when Alchemical experimentation gets you beer?

Randy’s Steam Engine blew up just before his discovery of Coal (the chemists took the blame, but it was bound to happen eventually). While Coal would have certainly been useful to keep the trains running, Randy’s ever resourceful citizens instead strip mined back to Mathematical basics.

Robb’s Mystics countered Randy’s Mathematicians with Anatomy. This was exactly as creepy as it sounds. Before the Mathematicians were Anatomized, they did invent a Bicycle. Unfortunately, nobody really knew what to do with it.

Robb’s mystics built a Monument to Canning. We don’t ask whether this notable focus on preserving had anything to do with whatever happened between the Anatomists and Mathematicians.

Not knowing quite how to react, Randy’s citizens continued their scientific pursuits Empirically, publishing results with their Printing Press and hoping to bring some sort of sense into the world. This culminated in Randy operating Mass Media, but this couldn’t stop Robb’s map-wielding, canning-obsessed mystics from scoring the 5 Achievement for the win.