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"
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