The overall winner was Doc Binder (a genuine doctor).
I was 7th out of 80.
This should give some insight: http://www.windycityweasels.org/wdc
How does it work?
Well, a bunch of folks fly in--from as far away as New Zealand and Australia. There were, I think, 4 Europeans (3 French, one from the Netherlands).
After everyone checks in at the appointed time, a computer program assigns boards and countries. There is a central clock (at most events) so all games have to move at the same pace. The central clock also features "drop dead timing," meaning when the clock hits zero all order-writing must cease.
There is a scoring system. In this case, it was squaring of the number of sc's owned and determining the percentage of the overall total. It was a best 3 of 5 rounds. I played Russia, England, Austria, France, and Italy. I had only one common opponent in the five rounds and that was due to two brothers being on the same board. They swapped one out for a player I'd met previously.
There was a final board, which I narrowly missed. That was my goal, so in that sense, I failed. I did have a terrific time though.
Next year: it's in the DC area.
I was 7th out of 80.
This should give some insight: http://www.windycityweasels.org/wdc
How does it work?
Well, a bunch of folks fly in--from as far away as New Zealand and Australia. There were, I think, 4 Europeans (3 French, one from the Netherlands).
After everyone checks in at the appointed time, a computer program assigns boards and countries. There is a central clock (at most events) so all games have to move at the same pace. The central clock also features "drop dead timing," meaning when the clock hits zero all order-writing must cease.
There is a scoring system. In this case, it was squaring of the number of sc's owned and determining the percentage of the overall total. It was a best 3 of 5 rounds. I played Russia, England, Austria, France, and Italy. I had only one common opponent in the five rounds and that was due to two brothers being on the same board. They swapped one out for a player I'd met previously.
There was a final board, which I narrowly missed. That was my goal, so in that sense, I failed. I did have a terrific time though.
Next year: it's in the DC area.