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Intimate Diplomacy Tournament IV

Players' Scores

Below you'll see a number of tables with some showing scores totalled by all Rounds & others where the Rounds are separated. Like the previous tournament, IDIV also has two divisions & therefore the tables below are, when needed, separate to the respective division.

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Players

The tables below show how each player performed in the respective rounds. To outline the layout of the table, the left hand side shows the position of the player compared to others. It's followed by the player's name & then the countries being played per round together with the points scored. The right hand column has the total score. Scores are; win = 2 points, draw = 1 point & lose = 0 points. As IDIV is being played you'll see a number of question marks (?) & that simple means that game hasn't started.

Division 1

Pos	Player's Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
1	Carl Hanich	I 2	E 2	G 2	F 2	T 2	A-H ?	R ?	10
2	Kester Bearne	E 0	F 2	G 0	A-H 2	I 0	R 2	T 2	8
3	Jim O'Neil	A-H 2	R 2	F 2	T 0	G 0	I 0	E 1	7
4	Peter Hawkins	R 2	I 2	G 0	A-H 0	T 2	F ?	E ?	6
4	Brian Frew	I 2	E 0	A-H 0	F 2	G 0	T 2	R ?	6
4	Gabriel Lecointre	G 0	F 0	R 2	T 2	A-H 2	I 0	E ?	6
7	John Wright	G 0	F 0	A-H 2	E 2	I 0	R ?	T 1	5
8	Ally Bain	E 0	G 0	T 0	R 0	A-H 2	F ?	I 0	2

Division 2

Pos	Player's Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
1	Richard Hucknall	T 2	E 2	R 2	A-H 2	G 0	I 2	F 1	11
2	Steve Hanich	E 2	G 2	I 0	R 2	F 2	T ?	A-H ?	8
2	Todd Hunter-Gilbert	E 2	G 2	A-H 2	F 0	I 0	T ?	R 2	8
4	Jon Hucknall	T 2	A-H 0	E 0	G 0	R 2	F 2	I 0	6
4	Greg Pierce	G 0	I 2	R 0	A-H 2	T 2	E ?	F ?	6
6	Brian O'Farrell	I 0	F 0	E 2	R 2	G 0	T 0	A-H ?	4
6	Michael Valentine	G 0	R 0	A-H 2	F 0	T 2	I ?	E ?	4
8	Andreas Stephens	F 0	T 0	G 0	E 0	I 0	A-H 0	R 1	1

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Countries

In the table below, the first number is the number of times that country is being played in that round. As for the number after the slash, it shows the scores for that country in that round. A question mark (?) means To Be Advised (TBA) whereas a number followed by a question mark, e.g. 2?, shows that some games have finished but not all so continue to watch. If you see a hyphen it means the country wasn't played.

Division 1

Country	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Austria-Hungary	1/2	-/-	2/2	2/2	2/4	1/?	-/-	10
England	2/0	2/2	-/-	1/2	-/-	-/-	3/1?	5
France	-/-	3/2	1/2	2/4	-/-	2/?	-/-	6
Germany	2/0	1/0	3/2	-/-	2/0	-/-	-/-	2
Italy	2/4	1/2	-/-	-/-	2/0	2/0	1/0	6
Russia	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/0	-/-	2/2?	2/?	8
Turkey	-/-	-/-	1/0	2/2	2/4	1/2	2/3	11

Division 2

Country	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Austria-Hungary	-/-	1/0	2/4	2/4	-/-	1/0	2/?	8
England	2/4	1/2	2/2	1/0	-/-	1/?	1/?	8
France	1/0	1/0	-/-	2/0	1/2	1/2	2/1?	5
Germany	2/0	2/4	1/0	1/0	2/0	-/-	-/-	4
Italy	1/0	1/2	1/0	-/-	2/0	2/2?	1/0	4
Russia	-/-	1/0	2/2	2/4	1/2	-/-	2/3	11
Turkey	2/4	1/0	-/-	-/-	2/4	3/0?	-/-	8

Combined Divisions

Country	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Austria-Hungary	1/2	1/0	4/6	4/6	2/4	2/0?	2/?	18
England	4/4	3/4	2/2	2/2	-/-	1/?	4/1?	13
France	1/0	4/2	1/2	4/4	1/2	3/2?	2/1?	13
Germany	4/0	3/4	4/2	1/0	4/0	-/-	-/-	6
Italy	3/4	2/4	1/0	-/-	4/0	4/2?	2/0	10
Russia	1/2	2/2	3/4	3/4	1/2	2/2?	4/3?	19
Turkey	2/4	1/0	1/0	2/2	4/6?	4/2?	2/3	17

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Rounds

You'll see in the titled row the round, division & the starting date for that round. As for the column showing Season, it simply shows when the game finished. If a game was conceded or a draw was agreed, that column will show the last phase. If B05 is shown, it means that after the bids for 1905 the game ended & that S05 wasn't adjudicated. Once all games have finished, in that round, you'll see a summary of events.

Round 1 - Division 1 - 9th Sept 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	Germany	Peter	Russia	Greg	Peter	S02
Jim	Austria-Hungary	Ally	England	Richard	Jim	A18
Kester	England	Carl	Italy	Richard	Carl	B06
Brian F	Italy	John	Germany	Todd	Brian F	S04

Round 1 has finally finished with the conclusion of the Jim (Austria) vs Ally (England) game after Autumn 1918, which I believe is the longest game in the history of this Tournament! It shows how tough Division One is as both players refused to give in as they battled for precious competition points. Ally tried valiantly to block the Mid Atlantic and held Jim at bay for a while and went to the ADB for a Ruling when Jim and the GM refused his request for a draw. Jim really wanted the two points for a win and he argued that he could see a way through which the ADB upheld. He finally broke through by building a German fleet after Ally had overspent in 1914. (Yes another example of how overbidding can lead to disastrous results).

But the match of the round was between the winner and runner-up of IDIII. Kester (England) and Carl (Italy) had met twice before in previous seasons for two draws and this pairing is also most likely to produce a draw. The game was quite even (so a draw was quite likely) when Carl underbid aggressively in 1904 to catch Kester overbidding only very marginally. Carl then won and Kester recorded his first loss since IDII and only his second loss since IDI.

Brian (Italy) and John (Germany) were equal third in IDIII, so this game was a very interesting one. As Brian pointed out, the Right group happens to be the top four from IDIII, so Brian decided to play his "good" countries early. The stats heavily favour Italy, and Brian made the most of it with a solid win. Brian managed to control England for the first two years and put enormous pressure on John. Overspending in 1903 (yet again!) sealed John's fate. Not the best start John, but you have now got Germany out of the way!

The last game was between the winner and runner-up of Division Two in IDIII who were promoted for IDIV. Peter (Russia) dealt with Gabriel (Germany) extremely quickly. This neighbourly tussle is always quick and nearly always in favour of Russia. As a result, Peter is now equal first in Division One having won eight straight games since he started last season.

Round 1 - Division 2 - 9th Sept 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	Turkey	Greg	Germany	Steve	Richard	A03
Michael	Germany	Jon	Turkey	Carl	Jon	B05
Todd	England	Andreas	France	Ally	Todd	A03
Brian O	Italy	Steve	England	Kester	Steve	B06

There were some entertaining games in R1 with two T vs G games that were both won by Turkey. Richard (Turkey) defeated Greg (Germany) to kick his campaign to get back into D1 off to a great start. Richard always had control of the English mercenaries which caused Greg untold grief. Germany is hard at the best of times but particularly against Turkey and it sure doesn't help if you are moving house at the same time. The other Hucknall, Jon was also playing Turkey versus Germany against Michael and also won. A great start to the Hucknalls! Jon finished IDIII very strongly and now has won his opening Cup and League games in IDIV! With mercenaries coming in all directions, Michael never got his defensive lines established.

The other two games featured the two Aussie rookies. One won and one lost. Todd (England) had little trouble landing in Brest against Andreas (France) who is clearly still coming to grips with the bidding, although parts of Andreas' later bidding was psychic according to Todd! Has Andreas now figured out the bidding and is now able to anticipate his opponent's bidding? Time will tell and as GM Ally noted, Ally too lost his first game of ID badly but ended up coming 2nd in his first season. In the last game, Brian (Italy) took on Steve (England). The pair met in Round 1 of the Hucknall Cup and the result was another win for the young rookie. Steve as under enormous pressure with the mercenary France pounding his English western coastline, but like has happened now a few times in IDIV, Brian overbid and busted his treasury. Steve then won very easily.

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Round 2 - Division 1 - 1st Oct 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	France	Jim	Russia	Richard	Jim	B03
Peter	Italy	Ally	Germany	Todd	Peter	A01
Kester	France	Brian F	England	Steve	Kester	A06
Carl	England	John	France	Jon	Carl	B04

All the Round 1 winners were up against the Round 1 losers and three players lost again to all but extinguish their IDIV title hopes. The one first Round loser to win was Kester, the IDII and IDIII Champ who is looking for a third consecutive title. Kester (France) in a hard fought victory overcame Brian (England) to be equal 4th with Brian. Both built their defensive lines early, but Kester eventually got the upper hand through easier growth options in the east.

Peter (Italy) won his ninth straight game (having never lost or drawn) to win by capturing Munich in 1901 from Ally (Germany). Will anyone ever beat him? As the GM said, maybe he needs to be in Division Zero!! Peter bid hard for and controlled France and Austria and felt that he would have battled to win with a big credit deficit had he not won in 1901.

In a rather quick game, Jim (Russia) easily accounted for Gabriel (France) which usually happens with this pairing. And in the final game, Carl (England) got the upper hand right from the word go against John (France) by controlling the crucial mercenary Germany in 1901 to be in equal first position with Peter and Jim.

Round 2 - Division 2 - 1st Oct 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	England	Michael	Russia	Carl	Richard	S05
Greg	Italy	Jon	Austria-Hungary	Ally	Greg	A02
Todd	Germany	Brian O	France	Ally	Todd	A02
Andreas	Turkey	Steve	Germany	Kester	Steve	B06

All the winners from R1 were playing the losers from R1, and only one of the losers won! Richard is in devastating form having found his mojo in D2. The IDI Champ looks set to return to D1 for IDV although a lot can still happen. In another E v R game, Richard's England dominated from the outset. Playing England against Russia is quite difficult (despite some players managing to make it look easy) and Richard bid hard for Germany early and aimed for St Petersburg, and cleverly exploited Russia's weakness of a large front by ensuring there were enough Mercenaries menacing in the centre and south to stop Russia from growing. Michael (Russia) was defending the whole game.

Greg (Italy) landed in Trieste in A02 against Jon (Austria) in a typical ruthless affair to continue his 100% winning record against Jon. Greg went for the jugular and bid aggressively for Russia and Turkey in 1902 which paid off! Todd (Germany) beat Brian (France) in an equally quick game to remain equal first on the table. And the last game featured the two Aussie rookies. After the game ended with an Andreas victory, a mistake was detected in B03 and all agreed that the game should be restarted from this point. The result was very different with Steve (Germany) finally beating Andreas (Turkey) in a very tight affair. Andreas (Turkey) after losing embarrassingly in his opening League and Cup games as he was coming to grips with the rules and strategies, bid hard for the Mercenaries and moved aggressively into the Balkans, Austria, and Russia and almost to victory leaving Steve (Germany) spinning. But Steve fought back and defended well, and ended up in a strategically sounder position with a growing centre count advantage. Andreas' lack of fleets cost him in the end as Steve was then assured of occupying Italy with a victory consequently a foregone conclusion. It will be interesting to see how Andreas fares over the remainder of the season now that he has mastered the rules. Germany has a very poor track record against Turkey, and Steve has become only the second player to win as Germany which sees him in equal first position with Richard and Todd!

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Round 3 - Division 1 - 1st Nov 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	Russia	Ally	Turkey	Steve	Gabriel	A05
Peter	Germany	Jim	France	Jon	Jim	B02
Kester	Germany	John	Austria-Hungary	Richard	John	S02
Carl	Germany	Brian F	Austria-Hungary	Todd	Carl	A04

Peter Hawkins loses his first game ever!! Peter (Germany) was up against Jim (France) in the top of the Table clash. Germany is hard to play, but against a player the calibre of Jim, nigh impossible!! The game was over extremely quickly and Peter has vowed to play a better country the next time he meets Jim.

And Kester (Germany) loses his second game of the Tournament against John (Austria) in also very quick time and making his defence of his ID title now very difficult. John recorded his first win after Kester stuffed up his 1902 bids. John bid hard for and secured Russia and France for a quick win as he figured (and most would agree) that the longer a game goes against a player such as Kester, the longer the odds of winning!!

Gabriel (Russia) recorded his first win of the season defeating Ally (Turkey) who still has to record his first win. Gabriel bid hard for Germany and Austria in 1901 and never looked back as once Russia gets going, she is very difficult to stop. And Carl (Germany) was too good for Brian (Austria) by controlling four mercenaries in 1902 and still coming out with a Credit advantage, to stay in equal first position with Jim.

In theory, all but Ally can still win IDIV!

Round 3 - Division 2 - 1st Nov 2009

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	Russia	Jon	England	Carl	Richard	B04
Greg	Russia	Michael	Austria-Hungary	Kester	Michael	A05
Todd	Austria-Hungary	Steve	Italy	Peter	Todd	B02
Andreas	Germany	Brian O	England	Ally	Brian O	A03

Another exciting round sees Brian and Michael win their first games of the season. In the match of the round, two of the three undefeated leaders were up against each other. Todd (Austria) accounted for Steve (Italy) in the closest pairing of neighbours possible to see him remain undefeated and equal first with Richard. Todd started his manoeuvrings even before the countries were selected by tricking Steve into thinking he would pick Italy as his first preference but privately selected Austria. The rookie feel for this rouse (it is very cut-throat at the top of the table) and Todd played Austria perfectly pressuring Venice already in 1901. Todd then managed to gain a too strong position in 1902. Richard (Russia) easily beat Jon (England) in this fascinating pairing by controlling Germany in 1901 and 1902. With Germany, Russia gained control of the north and once this happens Russia gets on such as roll, England can’t be stopped! Michael (Austria) was too strong for Greg (Russia) whose retreating troops became lost in 1905! And Brian (England) was never in any trouble against the hapless Andreas (Germany). Germany is a difficult power to play at the best of times and Andreas believes he needs to improve on the bidding for the Mercenaries. Andreas is languishing on the bottom of the table, rare for a player of his calibre!

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Round 4 - Division 1 - 1st Jan 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	Turkey	Kester	Austria-Hungary	Todd	Kester	S05
Peter	Austria-Hungary	Carl	France	Jon	Carl	S02
Jim	Turkey	Brian F	France	Todd	Brian F	S09
Ally	Russia	John	England	Richard	John	A09

Carl (France) delivered a second defeat to Peter (Austria) to stay on top of the Table. Peter accidentally dramatically overbid in 1902, and that was it, as there is no way back if your opponent controls all the Mercenaries in 1902 and 1903. Peter played 1901 brilliantly controlling the key Mercenary of Italy and looked at worst to achieve a draw.

Jim (Turkey) lost his first game of the Tourney against Brian (France). Jim forgot to build early on which was enough of an edge for a hard man like Brian to exploit. Jim has now played Brian twice and lost both times. Coincidentally, last time was also a France/Turkey game but Brian played Turkey. As a result of Jim's loss, Carl is now the outright leader with Jim slipping to outright second.

The mighty Kester (Austria) kept Gabriel (Turkey) in the south-east corner, not allowing the Frenchman to get going, keeping his slim IDIV hopes alive. And Ally (Russia) appears to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against John (England) in quite a long game, having 24 centres at the end against John's measly 10!! Ally had seven fleets at the end, but only one of them was in the north and that was stuck on the north coast of St Petersburg since it was built in the winter of 1902! John was always expecting to lose until the spring of 1905 when he "noticed the Russian weakness in the Baltic". This fascinating pairing should favour Russia (although tough players like Kester and John keep proving me wrong), but England can block the Mid-Atlantic forever with three fleets and St Petersburg is not defendable if Russia doesn't keep control of Scandinavia. No wonder Russia changed their Capital to Moscow!!

There are four players all in equal third position. Technically any of them can still win, but with three rounds to go, it looks like either Carl or Jim will take the crown that Kester has held for the past two years! But this middle group of four still needs to win otherwise some of them may find themselves relegated to Division Two for IDV.

Round 4 - Division 2 - 1st Jan 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	Austria-Hungary	Todd	France	Kester	Richard	A03
Greg	Austria-Hungary	Andreas	England	Richard	Greg	B06
Michael	France	Brian O	Russia	Richard	Brian O	S05
Jon	Germany	Steve	Russia	Peter	Steve	S03

The match of the round pitted the equal leaders against each other. Richard was absolutely clinical. The IDI Champ, knowing that these contests could easily end in a draw (Austria Vs France) came out very strongly, bidding hard for the key Mercenaries of Italy and Germany, and getting them both still managed to have a Credit balance lead by the end of 1901. Therefore, Richard gained Italy and Germany again in 1902 and with a 10-5 centre count, that was it. Rumour has it that Todd didn't expect to win against the high flying Richard, so to maximise his chances of a Division One berth next season, he played his worst power against Richard hoping to win his other six games to make it to Division One. So far, Todd is in second position but the pesky Steve is now equal with him as Steve (Russia) managed to easily account for Jon (Germany) who was hoping to get to third position with a win. These R v G games are always very lopsided and Jon didn't stand a chance, but Jon gave it his best shot by going for the quick win! So it looks like a battle for second position and the last spot in Division One next year. But Steve still has to play Richard so Todd is the favourite at this stage.

Brian (Russia) also won relatively easily against Michael (France) to advance to 4th spot on the Ladder equal with Greg (Austria) who beat the hapless Andreas (England). Brian kept his cool, didn't overbid this time, controlled Germany in 1901 and 1903, and achieved a lead in 1901 which he increased every year. France is very hard to play against Russia, so Michael stood little chance against competent opposition. And Andreas (who plays very aggressively) was leading after 1902 (a 10-7 centre count) with only a minor Credit deficit. Seeing that this pairing normally results in a draw (unless one has a bigger lead), Andreas overbid in 1903. Greg read the situation perfectly bidding one credit each for all five Mercenaries resulting in Andreas overspending. Greg then absolutely annihilated Andreas who probably would have received his first competition point had he not overspent. Again, the lesson is don't overbid unless you really have too, and if you do overbid, only do so by a small margin!

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Round 5 - Division 1 - 1st Feb 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	Austria-Hungary	John	Italy	Richard	Gabriel	B03
Peter	Turkey	Kester	Italy	Steve	Peter	B06
Jim	Germany	Carl	Turkey	Todd	Carl	A07
Ally	Austria-Hungary	Brian F	Germany	Jon	Ally	S01

Jim selected Germany in his top of the table clash with Carl (Turkey). A win would have seen Jim in equal first position. But Carl's Turkey started strongly in 1901 and never looked back. Carl is now odds on to win his first ID Tourney and end the reign of Kester!!

Peter (Turkey) ended his uncustomary two game losing streak to deliver Kester's (Italy) third loss as Kester eye-balls relegation. Italy versus Turkey are always hard fought battles and Peter got an early lead in the supply centre count and slowly made headway in the north. It shows you how tight Division One is when a player can go from ID Champ to relegation candidate in a year!! Richard, the only other ID Champ, was relegated last year. Peter is now in equal second position with Jim and the IDIII Division Two winner would no doubt be wrapped about finishing second in his first year with the big guns!! But Peter is playing against Russia in both of his last two games.

Gabriel (Austria) notched up a nice win in the neighbourly battle against John (Italy) to be in equal fourth position with John and two others. As usual for this pairing, the game was quite quick.

And Ally (Austria) recorded his first win of the Tourney against Brian (Germany) after only spring 1901!!! Ally used all his credits to get France, Italy and Russia to go for the quick win! Real Life has been very busy for the IDII Runner-up as he faces the grim reality of a stint in Division Two so it is nice to see him get his first points!

Round 5 - Division 2 - 1st Feb 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	Germany	Steve	France	Ally	Steve	S06
Greg	Turkey	Todd	Italy	Kester	Greg	A05
Michael	Turkey	Andreas	Italy	Peter	Michael	A02
Jon	Russia	Brian O	Germany	Carl	Jon	A02

The match of the round was between the undefeated Richard (Germany) and Steve (France) who was in equal second spot. In the upset of the year for Division Two, the rookie managed to win! In a first, the bids for 1901 were all identical, so all the mercenaries remained neutral. By the end of 1903, Richard had 9 centres to Steve's 6, so Steve was contemplating conceding as he couldn't get through Richard's ironclad defences and Richard had a Credit advantage! But Steve's strong strategic position which included being in Ruhr (which meant Richard had to sit in two home centres and could not build on them) and Tyrolia, Richard's crucial misorder in autumn 1905, and Steve controlling four mercenaries in 1905 and 1906 swung the game into Steve's favour.

Greg (Turkey) was too strong for Todd (Italy) to see Greg now in equal third position with Todd. Greg managed to get fleets into the Adriatic and Ionian Seas and capture Munich to get ahead in the centre count which then enabled him get in position to capture Venice. Todd's second consecutive defeat has certainly put a dent in Todd's Division One ambitions which looked almost certain two rounds ago.

Jon (Russia) secured his second win against Brian (Germany) in a very quick game, as is usual for this very one sided pairing. Brian went out hard to capture Warsaw and looked to be in not a bad position after 1901. But after overbidding in 1902, Jon simply cruised to victory. And in the other Turkey versus Italy game, Turkey won again. Andreas (Italy) crashed to his fifth straight loss in his first season playing Intimate Diplomacy. Mike (Turkey) got off to a strong start having the French take Venice and Andreas conceded the following year. At least Andreas didn't overbid this time!

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Round 6 - Division 1 - 1st Mar 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	Italy	Brian F	Turkey	Steve	?	?
Peter	France	John	Russia	Todd	?	?
Jim	Italy	Kester	Russia	Jon	?	?
Ally	France	Carl	Austria-Hungary	Richard	?	?

Carl's summary of games to follow once all have finished.

Round 6 - Division 2 - 1st Mar 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	Italy	Brian O	Turkey	Steve	?	?
Greg	England	Steve	Turkey	Todd	?	?
Michael	Italy	Todd	Turkey	Carl	?	?
Jon	France	Andreas	Austria-Hungary	Peter	?	?

Carl's summary of games to follow once all have finished.

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Round 7 - Division 1 - 1st Apr 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Gabriel	England	Carl	Russia	Jon	?	?
Peter	England	Brian F	Russia	Richard	?	?
Jim	England	John	Turkey	Steve	?	?
Ally	Italy	Kester	Turkey	Todd	Kester	B04

Carl's summary of games to follow once all have finished.

Round 7 - Division 2 - 1st Apr 2010

Home Player	Home Country	Away Player	Away Country	GM	Winner	Season
Richard	France	Andreas	Russia	Todd	Draw	S05
Greg	France	Brian O	Austria-Hungary	Carl	?	?
Michael	England	Steve	Austria-Hungary	Richard	?	?
Jon	Italy	Todd	Russia	Steve	?	?

Carl's summary of games to follow once all have finished.

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