High
school buddies got together for first real seven-player game in
June 1984.
We recorded all our FTF results from that game forward to
some 120 or so games until about 1986.
There were scores of different players
involved, some in Charlotte and some in Chapel Hill.
We eventually called
ourselves the Carolina Amateur Diplomats (CADs). Discovered
the greater hobby in late 1985. Six
of us went to our first Dipcon in
1986 in Fredricksburg, MD, where one of our best players Morgan
Gurley was in the Top Board. I
decided, at the urging of Larry Peery
and others to start our own convention, Dixiecon, which started in 1987
on the UNC campus. Along
with many other CADs, I got involved in postal play, winning my first
four games but then really cut back on my postal play due to lack of
time. Hosted World Dipcon in 1990 and ‘98 as well as the 1994
Dipcon. I have been to many
tournaments over the years, and have enjoyed them all.
I won the following: Dipcon
1987, Prezcon 1997,1998,1999, Origins 1997, Avaloncon 1998.
I was particularly proud of the CAD results at the 1997 Origins,
as I took first, Tom Kobrin second
and Ed Turnage fourth.
I have a
hard time remembering individual Dipgames, even a couple of weeks
after I get back from a convention.
They all sort of run together in
my head. I can say that
when I have done well in conventions it is because
I have won games, or in a couple of cases, two games at the same convention.
My style is very much to go for the win if I think it possible,
but only if I sense that a lot of the players on the board don't
really mind. You would be
surprised how often that is true. It is an old adage, but
paying attention to the little powers on the board is the key to victory
- they will help you just to be part of what is going on rather than
bystanders or even participants in a tangled 5-6 way draw.
The thing
I remember most about conventions is the people I meet.
I particularly remember getting to know Chris Martin, Tim
Richardson, and other Potomac types in a 3:00am trip for food at the
1997 Prezcon. I also very much
remember the first time I met people like Larry Peery, Edi Birsan, Mark Lew, Jim
Yerkey and others.
DAVID
HOOD
sketch
by Buz Eddy
David Hood
