Author Topic: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland  (Read 5746 times)

Offline hsiale

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Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« on: January 07, 2018, 12:33:38 PM »
Good luck in your tournament! Please let us know how you got on afterwards.
The tournament was held at Hex in Wrocław - a boardgaming cafe, really great place for gaming. 23 people turned up. We played 4 rounds Swiss mostly 4-player games (3-player at bottom tables), then cut to top 8 and 2-player single elimination games.

Game 1 I was semi-randomly assigned to table 2 with 3 other people, we played a game quite quickly (the time limit for a round was 40 minutes, I think we were done in about 20), I ended up 2nd and thought it's not bad for someone who during whole 2017 likely didn't play a single game of Carcassonne. Scoring was 3-2-1-0 and for the second round I ended up at table 2, with 2 people who won their first game and 1 who, as me, finished 2nd. I somehow managed to fly under the radar, completing various features with different opponents and letting them fight each other, this gave me the win. So, not expecting this at all, after two rounds I was at 5 points, one player was undefeated and two others were on 5 points, and we landed at the first table.

I don't remember that much details from 3rd and 4th round games, both of them I was at the top table and only one of the opponents changed between those. I managed to win and get a 2nd place, ending the Swiss rounds at 10 points and going to the cut as the 2nd seed. One bad thing during those rounds was that, due to only 40 minute rounds and having to think quite a lot while at the top table, I failed to stick to my favourite tournament rule "one round, one beer". Luckily I was just one beer behind ;)

My quarterfinal opponent was not very experienced, she said she learned to play just a week ago, she played decently but lacked aggression needed in 2-player, so I could get into a few of her important features while mine went mostly unbothered, because of this I managed to control the result and win without any serious risk. All 3 people who spent round 3 and 4 at the top table were in the semifinal, I played a guy I didn't play before during this day, and the remaining two played each other. My opponent played well, the game was harder than the quarterfinal, but all the time I felt he is already tired after playing five games and lacks a bit of willpower to push for the best result, I think this gave me the edge, I had to play carefully and think my moves through (this is the game where I went another beer behind schedule), but all the time I felt I was a bit ahead and as long as I don't screw up I should win this. I managed to avoid mistakes and went to the final.

The final game was super fun, we both played carefully, taking time (no time limit during top cut games), thinking through the turns to avoid mistakes, but still keeping the atmosphere at the table very relaxed. Early in the game there was a decently sized city we fought over, I made a risky move and ended up losing the city 1-2, with my opponent gaining 20 points on it. This seemed to have potential to be a game-deciding move, but with many tiles still in the box, I played on, trying to invent something to make up the difference, there was a strong farm which I tried to sneak into but couldn't find a way to do this, in the end I lost by about 15 points, ending the tournament on 2nd place, which I feel was really good for someone who doesn't play regularly :)

This turned out to be quite long, maybe this post should be moved to session reports?

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3752.0
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 09:46:00 AM by hsiale »

Offline SamoolSamosa

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2018, 12:49:09 PM »
Wow congratulations!  :D

Offline Piasekstc

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2018, 01:27:55 PM »
I agree.
Nice place, great atmosphere.. Couples, families.. Time well spent.
That was my first time in this place and my first tournament ever.
I wasn't expecting to get to the final game either :) I'm still in shock :)
Good game.
See you next time and good luck!!
 

Offline Decar

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2018, 02:54:17 PM »
Great to hear about your games!  I can't believe two CarcC players managed to face each other in the final! That's great news!  By all accounts it sounded like you kept your cool and managed to avoid any mistakes in the heat of battle!  Well done getting so far.  Look forward to hearing about next time too!

The tournament layout sounds very similar to the UK championships.  Piasekstc, will you now have to attend regional or a national contest, how were your games?

Offline hsiale

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2018, 03:25:44 PM »
The layout was the one used during Polish Championships qualifier, but the tournament was just a local one-off event with no overhead. The qualifiers will likely happen later during this year, if this was a qualifier, people from top 3 would be given a spot in finals (and be banned from participating in any further qualifiers).

Offline Halfling

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2018, 11:44:25 AM »
Great write up.

We should have a UK version this year.
The Geek shall inherit the earth if we get a good die role

Offline danisthirty

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2018, 08:50:40 AM »
Thanks for that great write-up hsiale! Please accept this +1 merit for your efforts...

How did it go with the beer? I don't think I would have been able to play Carcassonne at all after more than 3 or 4 pints!

And how funny that you opponent from the final was also a member here at CarcC - it's a good job you didn't say anything bad about him! >:D

Offline hsiale

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2018, 09:27:23 AM »
How did it go with the beer? I don't think I would have been able to play Carcassonne at all after more than 3 or 4 pints!
It wasn't that bad, it was 5 beers but distributed over 7 hours I spent there, I've been eating too, I slept enough the night before, additionally I'm a bit on the heavier side, so drinking doesn't affect me that much. I'm also used to competitive gaming while slightly drunk, the "one round, one beer" rule is quite popular at more casual Netrunner tournaments (at least those held in places which serve beer), which I attend often.

Offline Piasekstc

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2018, 03:07:25 PM »
It was 12:00 that Saturday when my girlfriend finally woke up and said: "maybe we will pass that tournament?"..but encouraged by the look of my face she was ready in thirty minutes and we came to Hex caffe on time. Many people were already there. Most of them looked like they know each other for a long time, so I said: Ok. Let's look cool, blend in and have a good time. 

First round:  First game and at the beginning they put us (me and hsiale) on one table. We didn’t know that fate will cross our paths three more times. From my point of view he looked very confident. Like a guy that takes part in that kind of events very often. As a game progressed my cool started to hmmm.. melt down and my hands started to shake closer to the end of the game. Though, I didn’t loose my track and I didn’t let anyone to jump into my cities. Final counting and - thanks to someone who in the last turn ended one more city on my farm - I gained last 6 points and I jumped just one point ahead hsiale. Win?!? My shacking hands were ideal to thank everyone for a good game :) My girlfriend was 2nd at her table. We couldn’t wait to play one more time.   

Second round: I suppose that It was a top table. Between others there was Miłosz. Guy who in his resume had participation in the Polish championships. I was definitely more relaxed than before. Game was very quick. Notable was that in first 15 picks we choosed 5 gardens and 5 cloisters so our Abbots were sweating a lot under their frocks :) Points were falling from the sky. I took benefits from other guys fighting each other and again it was me who found the best soil to build the largest farm on the board. "Another win? Ok. Bring it on" :) I found my girlfriend jumping and shouting because she also won her game. If she knew what would happen later because of that win..

Third round: Another top table with hsiale, Miłosz and.. yeah my girlfriend :/ > Girl on a deck!! Not good < That game was out of my range. Lack of concentration or because of her or because I was burned out or maybe my luck just left to another player. Bad decisions, risky unsuccessful move on trying to get a farm and I ended 3rd and my girlfriend 4th with big disappointment on here face. "hsiale rule" started to payoff :) His second win and he jumped on a top place.

Forth round: Almost de javu. Me, hsiale, Miłosz and another girl from the top group of players. I needed one point (be 3rd) to secure my place in knocked out stage. My game was more or less the same like in previous round. At the beginning Miłosz blocked my monk in a cloister (thankfully for 7 points). More bad decisions, lack of meeples and I was struggling at the end of the pack. I slowly started to cherish the moment of being there, stepping back to my expectations, thinking „why i came by car?” :) ...but my farming skills helped me one more time and I have finished 3rd (one point better than 4th place). This time Miłosz was 1st and hsiale 2nd which made them ex aequo best players of the first stage. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't go through. I survived on 6th or 7th spot.

Quarter-final: Playing one on one was something new and refreshing that day but same time something well known as we play mostly one on one at home. My opponent was Tomasz. Game was even in a first part but as time went by I gained more and more advantage. Tomasz started to play slow and think long (maybe he was burned out after all day). It's strange but from the half of the game I somehow knew that I will win so waiting for his moves was a little bit annoying. There is also funny story because his son (who was also participant of this tournament) was playing with totally different attitude. I think that this child has a master degree in quick blocking, trash talking and interrupting other players :) I remember from the forums a thread about ways to introduce youngsters to the game (like giving some advantages). That boy will choke you if you'll try :) I won this one without major problems.

Semi-final: That game was just opposite to my quarter-final. My opponent was again Miłosz. We played very quick. Almost like if we were playing with a time limit for each move. On his bad he had almost all roads and not much city tiles. I ended few cities and I took a small farm [obviously :)] that he couldn't compensate with his cloisters, roads and other farms. Pace of this game gave me that needed rhythm.

Final: During knock out stage I wasn't thinking about loosing or winning. I was locked in and focused just on playing and with that approach I came to the final. We have known each other a little bit during the tournament, so there was no that killing instinct atmosphere around our table. I can't ad anything to what hsiale wrote about that game except maybe one thing. When he was trying to get even on my farm I jumped on his to move his efforts that way. That gave me few "quiet" uninterrupted turns In the last part of the game. Although, points difference wasn't that big. That was just a good game to end tiring and intense however entertaining event. 

Final thoughts: That was FUN, especially when you learn and discover something in you or in your way of playing that you never knew before. For example I've never consider myself as a risky player but I ended few times with no meeples for two or three turns and that paid off. I also feel that I became more competitive and aggressive which is not how my girlfriend would like me to play with her at home :) I still think that if it would be championship qualifying tournament there would be nothing for me to look for.. but win is always encouraging. I guess my nick name for Carcassonne should be a "Farm Boy":)     

Offline hsiale

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2018, 10:28:56 PM »
From my point of view he looked very confident. Like a guy that takes part in that kind of events very often.
I guess that's because I play in a lot of tournaments, and the exact game you play doesn't matter that much as long as you know it enough to play without having to think about rules.

I gained last 6 points and I jumped just one point ahead hsiale. Win?!? My shacking hands were ideal to thank everyone for a good game :) My girlfriend was 2nd at her table. We couldn’t wait to play one more time.
I completely forgot that we played round 1 together as well and that the final result was so close :) Once you wrote this now I remember that final counting and this small difference.

Offline Decar

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2018, 12:33:18 AM »
Thats a very vivid write up Piasekstc - well remembered even after a few days!  It's also great to hear that you're using tournaments like this tk find out more about your play style.  I bet you're glad your girlfriend managed to persuade you to visit now!

I like the sound of one-pint per round.  I've got a feeling it would level the playing field some what!  Though I doubt I couĺd play for too many more after 3-4 rounds :/

Offline Maj. Frost

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2018, 11:50:02 AM »
Hey, I've been there :)
I did not get into finals because of just one final tile placement in 3rd game. I've put it into wrong place, if I would put it correctly I would win over one mega field and turn up second instead of fourth. I just got some brain freeze of some kind. I realized my mistake one second after releasing the tile...
Anyway, it was nice afternoon :)
The whole official Carcassonne tournament is still ahead of us, so I hope to redeem myself ;)

Offline Decar

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Re: Local Carcassonne tournament in Poland
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2018, 04:45:05 PM »
Welcome Maj. Frost, Great to hear you were taking part too.... it must be pretty frustrating when you realise what could have been, but hopefully the experience will be valuable fot next year  :(y) :(y)


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