You'll note that my record as a Diplomacy player is very mediocre, lol. Heck, in 2019 I laid the big goose egg with seven losses! Considering that I believe the quality of players is very high in Martin's Dipster group, I don't mind. Each year I look for a milestone to be happy about. In 2015 I managed a solo victory! This year I managed to lose only four of seven games, my best year yet in terms of minimizing losses. I also play more frequently on another site, playdiplomacy.com, which I believe has a much more average general level of player skill ... on that site, I currently am ranked 479th out of 23,507 ranked players. Figure 90% of those are dilettantes, and I'm still ranked in the top quarter of respectable players.
Anyway, back to the DNP2020 tourney. I managed to avoid a loss twice with three-way draws and once with a four-way draw, but the one that I'm most proud of (that is, the one that hurts the most to have lost) is this one:
This game came down to me (England, in blue) and France vs Turkey (in yellow) and Austria. I stabbed France, hoping Turkey would follow suit and stab Austria, but at first he did not. Instead, he was clever and secured his line stretching from Sevastopol (in the Russian Crimea) to Portugal. THEN he stabbed Austria AND held fast at the winning Sev-to-Por line. Good play by me, excellent play by Turkey! Still, so close! Sigh.
As I did once in the past, let me copy and paste Martin's always-entertaining tourney report. Thanks Martin!
After eight months and 45 games, DNP20 has now finished. The winner is Jason Whitby, with a result of two solos, four 3-way draws, and one loss. Congratulations to Jason! However, the championship wasn't fully decided until the end of the final game, dnp2035. If Maxim Popov had soloed in that game -- and for a while it looked like he had a shot at it -- he would have tied Jason for the championship (it also would have been the only Italian solo of the tournament). But Maxim finished with a 3WD in that game, and third place overall.
Here are the full results; please let me know ASAP if you see an error in your score:
| Rank
|
Player
|
Results
|
Score
|
| 1
|
Jason Whitby
|
WW3333L
|
980
|
| 2
|
Gian Paolo Costantino
|
WW334LL
|
805
|
| 3
|
Maxim Popov
|
WW33LLL
|
700
|
| 3
|
Allen Schweinsberg
|
WW3LLLL
|
560
|
| 5
|
Chris Fridrich
|
W3334LL
|
525
|
| 6
|
David Norman
|
W333LLL
|
420
|
| 7
|
Miguel Goldfeld
|
W334LLL
|
385
|
| 7
|
Robin Walters
|
W334LLL
|
385
|
| 9
|
Andrew Brierley
|
W34LLLL
|
245
|
| 9
|
Ken Navarro
|
33334LL
|
245
|
| 9
|
Martin Kaplan
|
W34LLLL
|
245
|
| 12
|
Dave Kleiman
|
W44LLLL
|
210
|
| 13
|
Bruce Williams
|
W3LLLLL
|
140
|
| 14
|
Andy Tomlinson
|
W4LLLLL
|
105
|
| 14
|
Bruno Tizon
|
3334LLL
|
105
|
| 14
|
John Quarto-vonTivadar
|
W4LLLLL
|
105
|
| 17
|
Gabe Racz
|
3344LLL
|
70
|
| 17
|
Markus Kaestenbauer
|
3344LLL
|
70
|
| 19
|
Peter Wyatt
|
333LLLL
|
0
|
| 19
|
Ron Poet
|
333LLLL
|
0
|
| 21
|
Christian Dreyer
|
334LLLL
|
-35
|
| 21
|
Dov Kass
|
334LLLL
|
-35
|
| 21
|
Keith Schneider
|
334LLLL
|
-35
|
| 21
|
Kent Disch
|
334LLLL
|
-35
|
| 21
|
Michael "Cayzle" Alterio
|
334LLLL
|
-35
|
| 26
|
Mike Yatchman
|
344LLLL
|
-70
|
| 27
|
Charles Welsh
|
33LLLLL
|
-140
|
| 27
|
Eric Hunter
|
33LLLLL
|
-140
|
| 29
|
Mark Perryman
|
34LLLLL
|
-175
|
| 29
|
Martin Rubens
|
34LLLLL
|
-175
|
| 29
|
Scott Ellis
|
34LLLLL
|
-175
|
| 32
|
Lloyd London
|
3LLLLLL
|
-280
|
| 32
|
Mark Isenberger
|
3LLLLLL
|
-280
|
| 32
|
Todd Lawson
|
3LLLLLL
|
-280
|
| 35
|
Hamish Williams
|
4LLLLLL
|
-315
|
| 35
|
Yves Grosdidier
|
4LLLLLL
|
-315
|
| 37
|
Alan Lange
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Arto Hakkarainen
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Bob Blanchett
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Craig Reges
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Ed Henry
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Gilles Marion
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
John Van Voorhis
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Rian Mitra
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
| 37
|
Sang Yul Bae
|
LLLLLLL
|
-420
|
There were 18 solos, 20 3-way draws, and 7 4-way draws. The 40% solo rate was similar to most previous DNP tournaments. Surprisingly, the best performing power was Austria, with England a close second (England actually had one more solo, but Austria had several more draws). France, usually the strongest power, finished a poor fifth with only a single solo and an underwater overall score. The results by power:
1. Austria (1270 points): 4 solos, 12 3WD, 6 4WD, 23 losses.
2. England (1220): 5 solos, 10 3WD, 4 4WD, 26 losses.
3. Turkey (170): 3 solos, 7 3WD, 6 4WD, 29 losses.
4. Russia (-285): 3 solos, 6 3WD, 3 4WD, 33 losses.
5. France (-320): 1 solo, 11 3WD, 4 4WD, 29 losses.
6. Germany (-425): 2 solos, 8 3WD, 3 4WD, 32 losses.
7. Italy (-1650): 0 solos, 6 3WD, 2 4WD, 37 losses.
Thanks to everyone for making the tournament a success. With 45 players, it was the largest Dipsters tournament since 2008! On the whole, orders were entered in a timely fashion -- although it can always get better. ;) I only had to replace one person, a first-time player who didn't understand the time commitment involved. Thanks to Kent Disch for taking over that spot.
And now for some awards:
The Give Peace a Chance Award (most draws with no solos) goes to Ken Navarro, with an impressive five draws (four 3WD and a 4WD). This resulted in a high enough score that Ken finished ahead of several players with solos. Honorable mention goes to Bruno Tizon, Gabe Racz, and Markus Kaestenbauer, who all had four draws and no solos. Jason Whitby also had four draws, but spoiled it (for purposes of this award only!) by having two solos.
The Victory or Death Award (most solos with no draws) goes to…nobody. The closest were Bruce Williams, Andy Tomlinson, and John Quarto von-Tivadar, who each had one draw to go with their solos.
The Breaking Even (the Hard Way) Award goes to Peter Wyatt and Ron Poet, who both had three 3WD and four losses to finish with exactly zero points. All that work and you're back where you started. ;)
I've already been asked about DNP21, and the tentative plan is to open registration in a few weeks, probably late March or early April. The tournament announcement will be sent to this distribution and to the Dipsters Google group. If you haven't yet joined the new Dipsters, which migrated to Google Groups following the demise of Yahoo Groups, let me know and I'll send you an invitation.
Thanks again to everyone for a great tournament!
Martin
