Out of the Box Publishing’s Gen Con Championship 2006

Indianapolis, IN (Gen Con Convention 2006)

Mark Kloha

The Out of the Box Publishing’s Championship tournament is an exhilarating 4-day event where players are challenged to play in as many different Out of the Box tournaments as possible. The player who accumulates the most total tournament points is crowned OTB Champion for Gen Con ’06 . Points are awarded for each event in the following way: 1st Place (5 pts), 2nd Place (3 pts), 3rd Place (2 pts) - and anyone who plays in an event gets 1 pt.

This year could be aptly named the year of the Kloha. Trish Kloha, who finished third, last year had vowed to come back and win it all in ’06. But it was her husband that scored higher with a second place finish in 10 Days in Africa to the OTB veteran Tom McHugh. Gen Con also featured the return of one of the greatest players of OTB games in history: Karen Schultz. “Braced for battle,” Karen started her tourney effort off with a bang and first place finish in Wheedle. The end of day one events found Mark Kloha in the lead at 19 points with Karen trailing by just 5 points due to her two first place finishes. Trish Kloha was at 12 points.

The second day was a whirlwind of tournaments featuring a large variety of playing styles. One of the most incredible displays came from a mild mannered Wil (with only one L) Zambole. Wil decimated the field with an impressive win in My Word, then followed that right up with a marginal victory at Letterflip. He would end his day with a decisive win at Blink! giving him a 3 for 3 victory ratio. The day also featured many couple rivalries such as a dominating Abridged win by the Schultzs, and strong showings in other events by the Team Larson, Team Kloha and Team Leece. The end of day point total put Karen Schultz in the top spot with 29 points, and the Kloha’s Mark and Trish close behind with 27 and 22 points respectively.

Saturday featured more impressive turnouts in all the events including a 3 time repeat victory for Snorta! Master, Ms Beth Bowling, and a well played victory by Eben Alguire in Apples to Apples. End of day results gave Karen a 5 point lead over her challenger Mark Kloha at 38 to 33.

The final day featured mostly strategy games and turned out to be a strategic day for Mark Kloha. It came down to the last event of the day, Shipwrecked. Going into the game Mark, due to a win at Fish Eat Fish, moved ahead of Karen Schultz by a one point margin. Once again it would be the last game of the tournament that would be the deciding factor. Mark won his way into the final match where he placed third, giving him enough to earn the championship at Gen Con by a narrow margin of just 2 points!

Mark Kloha – 44 Pts – Champion
Karen Shultz – 42 Pts. – Runner Up

Congratulations to all our dedicated and wonderful players!