How can the season be over already? We hope you got at least one tournament in, cause there were plenty to choose from. We're three months closer to the World Championship in Denver than when we last talked. There are well over 100 players listed on the ARMADA web site who are planning to attend, with more signing up every week! One of the more interesting questions lately though, is who will play in the team tournament. Rumor is that Team New Zealand will be making the trip to defend their title, and there are pleanty of American teams, perhaps lead by the Pit Kissers and the PiggyBackers - both of whom are expected to field more than one team - looking for their chance to knock-off the champs. Will the Europeans come through and make this a real fight? It's hard to imagine not!

Some of these European teams, including "The Best Asians" (Simon Bouton, Chetan Radia, and Gihan Bandhanaraike) and "Intoxicated" (Niclas Perez, Brian Dennehy, and Fearghal O'Donnchu) have been busy competing in the European Grand Prix. Official standings are yet to be released to include these events, but below is a reasonable approximation of the current top ten. With four events to go, it's still wide open!

In North American the 2002 tournament scene is winding down, with October's Tempest in a Teapot as the last major event scheduled, though there is talk of a smaller tournament in Victoria, British Columbia in November which may attract some west coast players. Andy Marshall and Edi Birsan picked up wins in the two big August tournaments, to set the stage for Tempest to (probably!) settle the 2002 North American Grand Prix winner.

Also, we're glad to say that with a new Pouch issue comes a much needed update to the Diplomatic Pouch Tournament Ratings. There was a good bit of movement at the top, with Rob Stephenson slipping with a sub-par performance the New South Wales Championship, and Niclas Perez jumping up to number one with an impressive win at ManorCon (for the second year in a row!).

DAANZ Bismark Cup Standings (Top 10) WDC had a big impact on the Bismark Cup race, but nothing is clear yet, with three more tournaments to go this year. (complete standings) 1 Andrew Goff ACT 22.40 2 Christain Gemballa Moura VIC 19.07 3 Dominick Stehpens WEL 18.19 4 Rob Schone WEL 17.57 5 Brett Chatterton NSW 16.37 6 Craig Sedgwick NSW 15.74 7 Sean Colman NSW 15.70 8 Dugal Ure VIC 15.40 9 Rob Stephenson VIC 14.37 10 Shane Cubis NSW 14.30

European Diplomacy Grand Prix Standings (Top 10) After 7 events, these are the Diplomatic Pouch's unofficial top ten. (complete results) 1 William Attia FRA 3534 2 Yann Clouet FRA 3000 2 Simon Bouton ENG 3000 4 Niclas Perez SWE 2150 5 Miguel Martinez SPA 1800 5 Jens Person SWE 1800 7 Ronald Lokers NTH 1740 8 Jari Mustonen FIN 1200 8 Vick Hall ENG 1200 8 Daniel Hirsch NOR 1200

North American Diplomacy Grand Prix Standings (Top 10) The big question now is, will Edi Birsan's lead hold up at Tempest? Tough to say, with a half dozen likely attendees within easy striking distance!(complete standings) 1 Edi Birsan CA 439 2 Andy Marshall MD 423 3 Nathan Barnes WA 392 4 Chris Martin NY 346 5 Andy Bartalone MD 310 6 Edward Hawthorne WA 306 7 Ken Lemere WA 273 8 Ike Porter MD 261 9 Morgan Gurley NC 250 10 Jerry Fest OR 239

ManorCon XX BIRMINGHAM - A first place showing at ManorCon moved Niclas Perez to the top of the Diplomatic Pouch Tournament Ratings. Congratulations! (complete results) 1 Niclas Perez 2 Simon Bouton 3 Jeremy Tullett 4 Ivan Woodward 5 Cyril Sevin 6 Brian Dennehy 7 Dan Lester 8 Mark Wightman 9 Fearghal O'Donnchu 10 Dave Wreathall

Dragonflight 2002 SEATTLE - Edi Birsan picked up his first win of the year, in the last major tournament of the year in the Western US. (complete results) 1 Edi Birsan 2 Ken Lemere 3 Nathan Barnes 4 Jeff Dwornicki 5 JT Fest 6 Charles Seaton 7 Mary Kuhner 8 Jake Mannix 9 Adam Silverman 10 Edward Hawthorne

European Championship MALMO - Frank Johansen decided that 5 years was long enough to wait for another Norwegian to win the European Championship! (complete results) 1 Frank Johansen 2 Yann Clouet 2 Mark Wightman 4 William Attia 5 Christian Ziethen 6 Doug Massie 7 Simon Magnusson 8 Nicklas Perez 9 Vidar Ambrosiani 10 Aron Ambrosiani

2002 World Boardgaming Championships BALTIMORE - Andy Marshall came storming back after his trouble in Chapel Hill, and Melissa Nicholson wasted no time in establishing herself on another continent! (complete results) 1 Andy Marshall 2 Melissa Nicholson 3 Mike Czajkowski 4 David Hood 5 Mike Hall 6 Doug Faust 7 Rick Manns 8 Brian Ecton 9 Hudson Defoe 10 Ray Setzer

Arcon 18 OSLO - Frank Johansen got 32 players to come to Oslo for the biggest Norwegian tournament in 6 years! (complete results) 1 William Attia 2 Daniel Hirsch 3 Inge Kjol 4 Erik Klette 5 Trond Botnen 6 Lars Hirsch 7 Erland Janbu 8 Anders Granas 9 Espen Aandahl 10 Tomas Nicolaisen

Anyone who attended any of these events (or any others for that matter) who has comments or reviews about their experiences, please send them along!

  Matt Shields
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