Evolution of the German Imports
For this year's tourney, I reduced the number of heats from
three to two in an attempt to offset the multiple heat penalty
in the Century calculations, and because there were only two
unique players in the third heat in '04. Therefore I was a bit
concerned when only eight players arrived for the initial heat
on Tuesday. But those two games were noteworthy in that newcomer
John Miklos won the first game he entered and Skip Maloney won
a game for the first time (according to him) in three years at
WBC.
The second heat had me even more concerned when a few minutes
before the start I only had a handful of players. But in an
instant a proverbial rush occurred and there were 20 players
in attendance including a few rookies. However, in that heat,
experience showed as veteran competitors Tom DeMarco, Pete Staab,
Rob Eastman, Matt Evinger, Roy Gibson, and Kaarin Engelmann came
out on top. Notable in the second heat was Kaarin's win, where
she recovered from 43 points behind after three rounds to win
in six. Also, in one of the lowest scoring games in recent memory,
Tom DeMarco and Roy Gibson tied in a game with the final scores
17-17-12-8.
Although there were an optimal eight winners for the semifinals,
schedule conflicts reduced the group to seven even after including
two alternates, Verity Hitchings and myself. With both first
and second place finishers advancing to the Final, Tom and Verity
advanced from one table, while Skip and Pete tied in a short
five-round game, 69-69.
In the Fnal, Pete Staab jumped out in the lead on the first
round and built upon it in the second. The usual hammer the
leader tactics pushed him into last in the third round where
he stayed during the fourth. However, he had built a strong
foundation of animals for the fifth (and deciding) round, where
his 25 points gave him his first Tyranno Ex championship, 69-56-55-51.
Continuing my look at starting seat performance from last year,
out of nine four-player games the third player (green) won or
tied five, continuing the trend from last year. The third player
is the only one moving last once per game. In the maximum length
game (seven rounds) all other players move last twice.
Overall attendance increased from 23 to 27. Of note was the
fact that we gained at least four brand new players to Tyranno,
all of whom indicated they hoped to return next year. Informal
feedback indicated that many regulars did not arrive in time
for the Tuesday heat. That coupled with the conflicts during
the semifinal will lead me to explore alternative schedules for
'06.
|