Kniziathon 2005
Congratulations to:
James Borthwick the 2005 DiceConWest Kniziathon Champion; and
Ian Chatfield the runner up.
This tournament happened because Gery McLaughlin made it happen. On the day we had a table with a mountain of Reiner Knizia's games and a supply of information sheets and score sheets. People picked up a game and played. They handed in their scores and good old Excel did the rest. We had an amazing 33 players play in the Kniziathon enjoying such games as diverse as Fish Eats Fish, Samurai, Traumfabrik, Durch Die Wuste, Lost Cities, Royal Turf, Modern Art and so on and so on.
The great thing about the Kniziathon was that people were very willing to play new games with total strangers. And the young kids who were there joined in the fun. The Lamont clan posted a reasonable score and the Macintosh crew did just as well. My 8 year old nephew Adam Simpson had the time of his life in the one rated game he played in. A really nice event.
Oh, and one more plaudit for Gery M. He ruled himself out of the prizes which was a shame as he finished third on points. But we gave his prize to Kenny Anderson and, instead, gave Gery a thank you prize for getting this show on the road.
Of course, we also thank Reiner for designing all the fine games. At the setup first thing in the morning, some of us were tempted to start playing before the doors officially opened, just to score some points.
Ellis Simpson
1 July 2005