swamped ...
What happens when you prepare for 48 participants based upon
WBC 2000 numbers? Nearly double show up!
84 Lost Cities hopefuls made their way to Salon CD
on Friday night, overwhelming this GM and the salon, and frightening
the poor ACW players in the same room. Yet after a harrowing
registration process, the participants sat down for the tournament.
Upon recent recommendations, the tournament rules were adjusted.
This year, rather than using cumulative score, a best of three
games format was adopted for each round. We had found that one
blowout game in cumulative scoring usually ended the round, even
with three games played. By using best of three, each game became
as important as the last, and the rounds actually moved quicker
since two straight games ended the round.
In attendance at the start were Daniel Broh-Kahn and Laurel
Stokes, last year's champion and runner-up. Not for long, though,
as both were bounced in the first round. Following them, were
forty other first round participants, culling the numbers and
allowing the remaining folks to finally fit in the assigned room.
Over the next few hours, with the help of random byes (please
note famed gamer Anthony Rubbo did not get a bye), we ended
up with a nice mix of quarter-finalists, including Laurel Stokes'
husband Thomas, who was proudly wearing badge #666. However,
his deal with the devil fell through, and the Stokes family run
at another championship ended.
The semi-finals found
two young players still competing. Joshua Garton 16 was
paired against Jeff Bakalchuck, and Jordan Ludwick 14 squared
off against Jared Scarborough. But seniority and its attendant
wisdom prevailed, as Jeff and Jared moved on to the finals.
It was now past midnight, and both men looked exhausted. Jared
stated he could not go on, but Jeff was unavailable the following
day for a postponed championship. After some prodding by the
GM, Jared agreed to continue.
Jared made the right choice, as he swept the match. Both hands
were frustrating for Jeff, as he opened five expeditions in the
first game, and four in the second. Too many expeditions are
usually a prelude to disaster. Matching his exhausted patience
against Jeff's risks, Jared won both hands by comfortable margins
(21 to 18 and 53 to 3). Jared took home this year's first
prize, Tally Ho, another of Kosmos' two-player games courtesy
of Jay Tummelson and Rio Grande Games.
|