"Nate is like my Newman." — Ted McClelland
If nothing else, Game No. 208 taught a practical life lesson to Whitten Davis, Chris’ 12-year-old son: It’s not always the Newmans of the world who cause you problems.
"Stranger danger," the elder Davis explained, pointing to Ben DiPaola, whose Austria turned the tide on Whitten’s Turkey. "Sometimes it’s the nice guy you have to worry about."
Game No. 208, played today at my house in Little Italy, was our second straight with a couple of pre-teens. We again capped play at five hours, and this time, we made it through seven game-years while playing with our standard house game timing. The game ended by time limit after the Fall 1907 turn in the following center counts:
England (Ted McClelland): 4; 8.602 points.
France (Christopher M. Davis): 6; 19.355 points.
Germany (Don Glass): 5; 13.441 points.
Italy (Kevin O’Kelley): 8; 34.409 points.
Russia (Jim O’Kelley): 4; 8.602 points.
Turkey (Whitten Davis): 2; 2.151 points.
Kevin topped the board in his second outing with a solid Italian performance that started with the rare three-build opening. He poached both Marseilles and Trieste, to go along with Tunis. (His old man has accomplished the feat twice, in Games 7 and 39.) He quickly learned the folly of ticking off two neighbors, but fortunately, backpedaling runs in our family. He offered to retreat Marseilles off the board in Fall 1902 in exchange for peace with France, and by 1903, he had reached a status-quo peace with Austria (in which he got to keep Trieste and Greece) that turned into a solid alliance for both players.
The French deal didn’t go as well, as the Davismen are a treacherous lot. France and Italy started fighting in 1904 and their war lasted the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, the smaller but much more fierce Davisman was causing your correspondent all sorts of trouble. By 1904, he had taken Sevastopol and Moscow from me, and I was down to two centers. But Whitten never capitalized on his successful Russian attack, thanks to the smiling Austrian with the pocket full of candy.
Next time, Whitten surely will recognize the danger.
Our next time will be Wednesday at the Red Lion. We’re closing in on two boards. How about joining us and helping us close March Madness with a bang? Leave your candy at home. Kids can’t play in our bar games.
Check out the supply center chart here, and let’s hear from the other players!
