In 2023 I did not post the results of the 2022 Dipsters Annual Tourney -- because I lost every single game! Every one! I was too disheartened to post about it, even though I have posted updates for ... the 2021 tourney, the 2020 tourney, and even the 2015 tourney. But now I can lift my head in truimph! Best showing ever! I came in 7th! Here are my historical results:
That's a screen grab from this googledoc spreadsheet I made.
For this year, that's a win, two 3-way draws, and four losses. Good enough for a 7th place showing. My win came playing Austria, a great power with which I usually lose. Badly. But this time it came together. Here's the entire course of the game as a PDF, and here is the final screenshot of the board at the end of the game:
I'll note that this game lasted until 1926 -- my hunch is that I do better in longer games. Some day I'll look at the statistics on duration of game vs likeliness of my victory. And I should note that I BARELY won this. With my enemies just making a few different moves, they could have forced the draw and stopped my solo. The End of Game statements were very interesting reading in that game, so go check them out. But I hope you, my humble reader (the one of you that has made it this far down the post) will forgive me for quoting from the Italian EOG statement, from the gracious Andy T:
Michael of Austria, I think you played an excellent game. You consistently outguessed me in the south after the stab, and you made the most of the opportunities that EGI mistakes presented to you. Well done!
That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my Diplomacy gaming, lol.
As I have done in the past, let me copy and paste Martin's always-entertaining tourney report. Thanks Martin!
After a few fits and starts, the Dipsters 2023 No-Press tournament is finally complete, and the winner is Keith Schneider, with a combination of one solo and five draws for a total of 735 points. Keith is now a four-time (I believe) Dipsters champion! It's interesting that he won with only one solo, while multiple players had two solos -- but they all had at most one draw to go with their solos.
Below are the full results; as always, let me know if there's a discrepancy in your results.
| Rank |
Player |
Results |
Score |
| 1 |
Keith Schneider |
W23334L |
735 |
| 2 |
Ken Navarro |
WW3LLLL |
560 |
| 2 |
Martin Rubens |
W2344LL |
560 |
| 4 |
Bruce Williams |
WWLLLLL |
420 |
| 4 |
Chris Fridrich |
W333LLL |
420 |
| 4 |
Peter Wyatt |
WWLLLLL |
420 |
| 7 |
Michael "Cayzle" Alterio |
W33LLLL |
280 |
| 8 |
Arto Hakkarainen |
W3LLLLL |
140 |
| 9 |
Robin Walters |
3334LLL |
105 |
| 10 |
Andy Tomlinson |
234LLLL |
35 |
| 11 |
Mark Perryman |
WLLLLLL |
0 |
| 11 |
Ron Poet |
WLLLLLL |
0 |
| 11 |
Todd Lawson |
WLLLLLL |
0 |
| n/a |
Alan Lange |
4L |
-15 |
| 14 |
Yves Grosdidier |
334LLLL |
-35 |
| 15 |
Mitch Arvey |
23LLLLL |
-70 |
| 16 |
Gian Paolo Costantino |
33LLLLL |
-140 |
| 16 |
Markus Kaestenbauer |
33LLLLL |
-140 |
| 16 |
Scott Ellis |
33LLLLL |
-140 |
| n/a |
Arnaud De Bruyn |
3LLLL |
-160 |
| 19 |
Andrew Brierley |
34LLLLL |
-175 |
| 19 |
Gabe Racz |
34LLLLL |
-175 |
| 19 |
Mike Yatchman |
34LLLLL |
-175 |
| 22 |
Hamish Williams |
44LLLLL |
-210 |
| 23 |
Charles Welsh |
3LLLLLL |
-280 |
| 23 |
Mark Isenberger |
3LLLLLL |
-280 |
| 25 |
Dov Kass |
4LLLLLL |
-315 |
| 25 |
James Geluso |
4LLLLLL |
-315 |
| 25 |
Jason Whitby |
4LLLLLL |
-315 |
| 25 |
Jonathan Powles |
4LLLLLL |
-315 |
| 29 |
John Quarto-vonTivadar |
LLLLLLL |
-420 |
The "n/a" ranks are due to Alan Lange replacing Arnaud De Bruyn, who disappeared during the tournament. Thanks to Alan for stepping in; amusingly, he got a draw from the 1-center mercy position he took over, but a loss from his other (much better) replacement position.
There were 14 solos in the 30 games (a fairly typical percentage for DNP tournaments): five French, four German, two Austrian, two Turkish, and one Italian. There were also two 2-way draws, four 3-ways, and four 4-ways. Overall, the tournament was one of haves vs. have-nots: France, Germany, and Turkey did well, while the other four powers ... did not. The full scores by power:
France: 1700
Turkey: 860
German: 825
England: -645
Austria: -680
Italy: -820
Russia: -1240
And now for some awards:
The Give Peace a Chance award (most draws with no solos) goes to Robin Walters with four: three 3-ways and a 4-way. Keith Schneider actually had more draws with five, but took himself out of the running for this prestigious award by inconveniently soloing and winning the tournament.
The Victory or Death award (most solos with no draws) is shared by Bruce Williams and Peter Wyatt, with two solos each. There were also three players with one solo and no draw (Mark Perryman, Ron Poet, and Todd Lawson), which is a lot of work to end up where you started.
The Détente awards (for 2-way draws) go to Keith Schneider and Martin Rubens (the tournament winner and co-runnerup!) in dnp2319, and Andy Tomlinson and Mitch Arvey in dnp2325. Oddly, both games were GT draws, but they were along different stalemate lines.
Finally, many thanks to the UKDP judgekeeper, Mario Huys, for keeping the judge going despite a few technical issues and allowing us to hold the tournament.
Thanks to everyone for playing! There will be a DNP24 starting probably sometime in the (northern hemisphere) summer. A registration announcement will be sent to everyone on this mailing list and to the Dipsters group when the time comes.
Martin
