Awards From DipCon XXXIV / Regatta II

The NADF 2000 All-Stars The North American Diplomacy Federation handed out its first annual "All-Stars" Awards. The 2000 All-Stars, as voted by the NADF Council from among the tournament players having a rating of 2300 or greater and who have made meaningful contributions to the hobby during the calendar year, were Edi Birsan, David Hood, and Chris Martin. Shown at left are Birsan, Buz Eddy (director of the NADF), Hood, Manus Hand (NADF Council member, and, of course, the tournament director), and Martin.

The 2000 Grand Prix The NADF also awarded the second annual Grand Prix ("not the French pronunciation") Award. The Grand Prix is awarded to the best tournament performer in North American Diplomacy during a calendar year. The winner for the year 2000 (succeeding Chris Martin) was Matthew Chirchill Shields. Yes, there's a target embroidered on the back of Matt's prize shirt (or at least there may as well be!).

Best Performance by Each Power Top Row (left to right): Eric Jurgeleit (Best Austria); Spencer Bernard (Best England); Eric Jurgeleit again (Best Italy). Center row (left to right): Edi Birsan (Best France); Tom Kobrin (Best Germany), with the Tournament Director; Robert O'Connor (Best Turkey). Bottom row: Yarden Livnat (Best Russia); and the rogues gallery assembled.

The Davy Jones Award Bear Barrow (above, left) took home the Davy Jones Award, which is traditionally awarded (in the nautical-themed ARMADA tournament) to the player finishing in dead last. (The tournament director wishes to say here, though, that he honestly cannot say enough about Bear -- a credit to the ARMADA, and [honestly] a very talented player!) The Coast Guard Award Taylor Hayward (above, center, with the tournament director) received the Coast Guard Award for his efforts. The Coast Guard Award is given to the player finishing highest in the rankings without having achieved a solo victory. Keep the peace, Taylor! The Captain Ahab Award Steve Smith (above, right) walked away with the Captain Ahab Award. This award is given to the player finishing highest in the rankings without benefit of a solo victory or a draw result. Steve's impressive record consisted of three rounds of pure futility. In all three rounds, Steve played his power all the way until 1909 and was eliminated then. All that work, and Moby Dick still got him in the end! Call him Ishmael.

The Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian Awards For their efforts in the game known as The Immaculate Concession, Andy Marshall and Edi Birsan received the Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian Awards, respectively. These awards go to the perpetrator of the best stab of the tournament and to his most unfortunate victim. Edi's France took a conceded solo in only four game-years, and Andy allowed it to happen to such an extent that he lost something like five centers, including all of his home SC's, in a single year! ...Hey Andy, what are you doing letting Edi's hand get around behind you again??

The Runners-Up Top row (left to right): Jerry Fest (Deck Hand Award, 7th Place); Eric Jurgeleit (Gunner's Mate Award, 6th Place); Dave Scully (Engineer's Mate Award, 5th Place); Spencer Bernard (Boatswain's Mate Award, 4th Place). Bottom row: Tom Kobrin and Yarden Livnat share the First Mate Award (2nd Place) because the tournament director foolishly failed to specify enough tie-breakers to tell them apart.

The North American Championship Team The team known as the "Rocky-Crossers" (Yarden Livnat, Jerry Fest, and Mike Hall -- who incidentally is responsible for the truly awe-inspiring collection of prize hardware!!!) took the team competition by a wide margin.

The 2001 ARMADA Champion For placing highest among the ARMADA membership (again!), Yarden Livnat successfully defended his 2000 title by becoming the 2001 ARMADA Champion.

The Top Board And here they are all assembled -- the cream of the crop. Counter-clockwise from lower left, we have Eric Jurgeleit, Jerry Fest, Dave Scully, Spencer Bernard, Yarden Livnat, Tom Kobrin, and...who is that in the upper left?

El Capitán David Hood receives his trophy from the tournament director, who holds the Regatta's permanent trophy. David's name will be engraved and mounted onto the permanent trophy alongside Edi Birsan, the 2000 winner. Congratulations to David Hood, 2001 North American Champion!!

The Director's Award Some might ask, "what did the tournament director get?" Here I am shown enjoying the best prize of all, and one I hope everyone else shared: a great time! In preparing all these photos for the Webpage, I cropped myself out of all the pictures I could, but I must say that it was difficult to excise my smiling and laughing face over and over. I had a great time and all the photos prove it so well. See you all at next year's Regatta!