Golden Circle XL

98, 129, 131 :: red, blue, orange

we are blue,

amit is red.

*

game over.

and so it happens! finally the day comes! what a win by blue! and reaches one fifty points!! look at the celebrations!! look at the people dancing! they dont know what to do! the grand finale this was and what a finale it was!!

it went on at the steady pace, the whole game, not much fluctuations, steady moves by blue and some bad moves by orange didnt deter the game much from the course, blue must have been smelling victory, and counting the runs. every run counts in a game like this, this win wouldnt have been so much fun if the golden tab at 150 hadnt been reached, he must have been nervous.

red played a loose willed game, he seemed just not ready for the game, and initially the game didnt favor him as well, and such events make it worse.

orange tried the radical strategy: going for the good numbers and not magic numbers on the board, which proved costly in the end. also orange didnt block opponent's magic numbers when she had a chance, what was she thinking then, ravi?

blue played by the textbook. get the magic numbers, get the best numbers available to you, make ports and upgrade. dont be emotional, dont dance, dont cry, just play the game, and people wont mind if you win.

gaining 24 points in this game, the legend that goes by the name "unnamed player" suddenly finds himself at 153.

Spiral, 13 points

105, 109, 119 :: red, blue, orange

we are orange, amit is red

*

skipping directly to the analysis: a close game this one was ravi, very close.

blue was looking a bit weak as she didnt initially go for more than a couple of magic numbers. i think this is turning out to be the golden rule of Spiral.

in the middle to last overs there was this fight between red and orange for the longest road, and it could have gone either way, and was a matter of luck.

orange consistently built roads and that eventually won the game in the end. initially he bought 3 development cards which all turned out to be ritters so those 2 points would have mentally helped him stay calm.

all in all, a very close game, the unnamed player wins in the end, gaining 10 points.

and moves on to 129.

Forest Escape, 13 points

141, 16, 112 :: red, blue, orange

we are red

pruths is blue

more or less, we have a same start for everyone, lets see how this goes from here.

*

blue wins in the end, sweeping the board with three sicpunkts, good values do win in the end, and ravi's prophetic comment finds realization in red's bitter heart.

red did not do much in the middle overs, and suffered robbers and the rolls of seven, all that is part of the game ravi, and red shouldnt be complaining, he only has to look back on his wrong decisions and learn from those.

the unnamed player loses tens of points, falling on 119.

what went wrong? forest escape was red's home ground. red was breast fed in the woodland dale.

Spiral 13 points, (Amit's game or "Geoffrey, you should see this!")

From 6 to 13 in one go... we are red.

The score line before I played my last move was me at 6, pruthvi at 7, other guy (orange) on 6.

So I was 6 and here it how it went:
I made one road - got 2 points with ONLY 5 roads
I made one upgrade - so 1 point
I opened my 3rd ritter - got 2 points
I had 2 siek punts - 2 points

So 7 points in 1 roll of dice, and made it to 13. Clinical finish, Geoffrey, you should have been there. There was utter shock on the display of the other two. The orange was somewhere around 190s when he joined. I got +29 points. Did you hear that, +29?

Even though I will lose many, this victory shall ring in my ears for times to come...

______________________________________

you are right ravi, the end does resemble a person walking on the sidewalk being hit by a toilet seat from outer space, very rarely this happens, i can imagine how the heart caves in when it does happen. a terrific way to win a game. +2, +2, +1, +2 boy! there should be a name for this rare occurrence. what say?

Spiral, 13 points

128, 94, 176 :: red, blue, white we are red

what a sad looking pitch we have here ravi.

red has 3,4,8 and 9 as magic numbers.

white has 8,9,9 and 10.

and blue has 4,8,9 and 9.

so we have players here who obviously know their game, and nobody wants to take any risks.

we are going to try a new strategy here: to build maximum settlements around a single number.

it is working, ravi!!, 3 cards at 8 and 9 each, and we are progressing!

*

what a finish we've had! it couldnt have been more dramatic for anyone... in the last turn, red sits on 12, and white opens his ritter and blocked red's 9, at his turn of the dice, red rolls the fateful 9. the game could have been his, but 4 cards were robbed, red doesnt lose focus, instead congratulates white on the move by saying "lucky son of a bitch you :D" and the only thing he can do is buy a developement card. he does that, and the card slides in his area. red says "lucky son of a gun, i :D" and reveals the sicpunkt. white appretiates the sportsmanship by saying "talk about luckboxing!" red grins.

one highlight of the game was red's capture of the longest road, which was expensive for him for no settlements were made on the resources, but only when he saw nobody going for it he silently took it. the two road building cards really helped.

and the legend of the unnamed player scales his position up by a good 13 points, moving on to 141 points. whats next? the world watches.

Spiral, 13 points

115, 83, 102 :: red, white, blue we are red amit is white what an abrupt end we have witnessed here! the game showed no signs of coming to an end for the next 2-3 turns and Wham! the unnamed player sweeps the island. blue played without much honor and blocked people who werent leading just because, in her words "i can move the robber" such rash thinking got to her in the end and blue ended her story on 11 points. this game was a big blow for white.. who had the longest road for the longest time and forgot about it. much like the romans, who made the long roads and forgot about their empire in the end only to have barbarians take it over unexpectedly. and fortune did favor red, which is not too much because many times red's magic number 5 was blocked and he was denied 4 cards. the unnamed player gains 13 points and climbs to a more respectable 126 today. thats it from the presentation area, over to you harsha.

Golden Circle XL

76, 132, 40 :: red, blue, white we are blue, amit is red all going steady till 5 points, but after that the game slided towards red and white.. some interesting overs in the end, and white slipped and regained points, and ending with the longest road. red wins the game in the end. the unnamed player slips down to 115. tens of if-onlys swarm in his head.

Spiral, 13 points

112, 49, 71 :: red, blue, orange we are red
we have an interesting setting here ravi, blue has 6, 8, 10, 10 magic numbers and red has 5, 6, 9, 10 and nothing much else. red reaches 5 points first, blue isnt doing anything and is still on 2, whats going on over in that camp? ..now we see red being blocked and as a spectator for a few turns, as it happens in this game.

*

what a game we've had here! what! a! game! one of the days that will go down in catan history and rightly so! what a victory registered by red, unbelievable! you have to be here to feel the celebrations!

red started on the right foot from early on, and then after some slow middle overs, picked up the game and ran straight into victory, very very comfortable, like running a superbike against 50 cc mopeds.

there was just no stopping him! the robber turned pale and the very board shook as red marched on, making settlement after settlement, upgrading, gaining 2 points each turn, boy you should have seen this ravi.

you must study the map, it says it all, without a port, without grain and wood, just by sticking around magic numbers, we have seen a game here which was easily won.

nothing could have changed the outcome in the last couple of turns, it was a dream game for red indeed. we are anxious to see where he goes from here.

the unnamed player clocks his highest ever! : 132 points, and ranks 699th among the 24833 registered players of catan on asobrain, making it in the top 3%

is all this too good to be true? how long will he go up before he begins his inevitable decline? over analysis and this blog post may just have started it.

Forest Escape, 13 points

96, 32, 100 :: red, white, blue

we are blue

the game is in progress ravi, white could have done a little better at placing the settlements, lets see what happens.

due to technical difficulties we are sorry to inform you that we cannot relay the pictures to you, on to ravi and geoffery for the analysis over audio.

thanks harsha, we have witnessed another fantastic game here, blue played by the book and comfortably won.

initially he moved a little too fast and was blocked for a long time, allowing others to catch up, in what would have been otherwise a comprehensive victory.

nothing much to be said about the losing sides' performances, they played well, but it still was not enough.

thats it from our side harsha, back to you.

thank you for watching our coverage, we apologize for not bringing you the pictures for this game. we hope to have the next game soon.

the unnamed player moves on to 112 points, we are anxious to see if he can beat his career best of 130 points in this season.

thanks again for watching, stay tuned for sportscenter coming up next. goodbye.

Golden Circle XL, 13 points

97, 46, 11 :: red, blue, orange
we are red
amit is orange

"weeee are the champions, my friends!"

because we all kept fighting till the end, and all reached 12 points.

from then, any catanwasi knows, anyone can win but all have won.

terrific game we had ravi, an excellent example of the genius of the creator of this game.

initially orange builds very close to my settlement, and eventually cutting my route to fertile lands, i let emotions take over and lose interest in the game, playing a few robotic turns.

then the spark happens, a fire is dimly lit, and a voice says "come on! you never know who will win till someone wins." and i pick myself up, go around the settlement, the long way around, making a settlement and upgrading it on a magic number, taking the stone port and moving eastwards.

i did plan to take the longest road once i had pick-4-card choice, but blue was making roads like china, and it broke any road dreams orange may have had.

perseverance is the key. i was moving on slowly but surely, the development cards bought initially did support: 3 ritters and 2 sicpunts. thats five points right there, i thought, and not all is lost. and it was only towards the last couple of turns i could smell victory.

nine didnt roll at the wrong time and did indeed roll at the right time. the unnamed player wins in genuine danny ocean manner.

and quietly gains 3 points, to move on to 100. nobody is clapping. the silence is good.

Spiral, 15 points

17, 103, 148 :: red, blue, orange we are blue amit is red

woha! we have a test match here, 15 points, its going to be a grueling battle.

luck is favoring red, and not favoring blue, and ambivalent towards orange in the initial rounds.

blue's blocked roll often and has had to throw away cards more than a couple times initially, that we know ravi, can be quite a blow.

*

orange ripped us apart in the end, it was his day today. buying development cards by the dozen, which is a smart thing to do in a 15 pointer, but if you get 4 sicpunkts you are indeed lucky.

red have taken the longest road, but waited one turn too long for that. blue was lucky over there.

so all in all, a not so exciting game.

unnamed player slips to 97

Spiral, 13 points

-57, -24, 105 :: blue, white, red we are red

what began as a australia vs. bangladesh match has suddenly found spectators, not because of australia but because of bangladesh.

too overconfident of myself, i played with reckless abandon, placing my settlements without too much thought.. and a heavy price i paid!

game was locked on 4 points: two upgrades, while others were on 2, only to have my magic number blocked and had no choice but to spend several turns lamenting the roll of 8 (which was blocked).

~*

i am really angry right now ravi, and i have no one to be angry on but myself. take a game too casually and this is what happens.

"one moment of weakness and it all comes crumbling down."

blue played well, really well, its empire spawned from the north to the south, across magic numbers and fertile lands.. he should have won.

white won in the end, fortune favored the one who mindlessly built around magic numbers, which was sad to see ravi.

if only may be allowed just one "if only" statement:

> if only the seven hadnt rolled in what became my last turn, i'd have built a city AND upgraded it, and would have won the game.

nevertheless, shame prevented me from becoming too emotional and throwing the game away, ending with a token of -2. i could live with that.

you are an expert in these situations, what do you think of the match, ravi?

the unnamed player is now on 103 points. (his heart rejoices while typing that: a defeat brought not much harm, he is still over 100 points, while his face betrays the joy. grimly he writes this, he must show that he is sad.)

p.s.: a note on the "if only" moments: the legendary "if only" moments in context of catan were born on the streets of pashabhai park, in the early days of october. walking back from amit's house doctor kanani and i would be discussing the game and the rules. both of us were new to the game then, and while we discovered a new rule each day we were also realizing that pruthvi was correct when he said "one more rule is that no matter how will you think you play, amit will win the game in the end."
ergo, amit was the target of much dissent. and what followed in those late hours of midnight, while doctor kanani and i walked till his car were tens of "if only" moments.

Forest Escape, 13 points

91, 46, -14 :: red, orange, blue

we are red

textbook play again, consolidating a stone number, didnt pay much attention to development cards, but they won me the game towards the end.

monopol again proved to be a killer, but using it is an issue of very precise timing. you have to stop yourself from using it for 3-4 cards because in the next turn you *may* get more.

quite an easy victory this seems towards the end, longest road, largest army, sicpunkt.

unnamed player marches on, like federer on grass court, and crosses the 100 run mark, feeling the wind beneath the wings. roger that.

Spiral, 13 points

played this one with amit and pruthvi.

in the days of old, we used to battle on the real board. now we battle via the internet.

amit sticks to the magic number neighbourhood, which proves good for him to an extent. the only negative point being that you are an easy target when a 7 rolls. apart from that, but it shouldnt be too bad, as he picked up several cards at once. the last roll of 5 he picked up 8 cards! eight!

pruthvi was as quiet as ever, and he played well.

but the dog who's day it is, is me, and i won this one as well. sticking to the magic numbers, but rightly going westward towards the port of 3:1 trade, it does come in handy.

the unnamed player jumps to 91.

no games tomorrow folks, hope you've enjoyed our coverage today, thats it from the presentation area, back to you harsha.

Golden Circle XL, 13 pointer

20, 109, 69 :: red, blue, orange we are orange

amit is red.

a close game, amit was up to his moves.

nothing to take back from the game, just another glorious ordinary game of catan.

Big Gold Island, 13 points

18, 48, -11 :: red, blue, orange

we are blue.

its very similar to the default board, only that its got two magic numbers on the island: 4 and 11.

we're off to a fantastic start... a quick village and an upgrade, while red and orange are still on 2.

orange looking good for the longest road.

*

and thats it folks, what a match we witnessed!

one of the biggest margins of victory... 7 points each, and a gain of 21 points. everything happened at time. the rolls of seven, the number 12 appearing oh boy! ravi you should have seen this..

no competition really, just simple maneuvering, sticking to the basics, and not making mistakes, not jumping when you are winning and not showing any ghamand at any point in the game, respecting your elders and saying your prayers.

the map speaks for itself, so we'll cut the analysis short for this one. over to you harsha.

Spiral, 13 points

54, 67, 7 :: blue, red, white

we are red


started with one settlement at 8,4 as magic numbers, 5 for sheep and another at a 6-9-5 for stone and grain.

upgraded in the first turn itself, only to be blocked.

blue has both settlements on magic numbers, we are anxious to see how he plays.

blue expands to 4 settlements, all on magic numbers, and upgrades 2. his score is 6 points now.

***

great end to the game by blue. was going neck to neck, 6-6-5, 9-9-8, then blue opens up his road card, jumps to eleven, makes a settlement and pulls out a victory card.

white and blue werent even close to pose as threats, perhaps if i had one more ritter and one more round, i could steal two of blue's points, perhaps.

so we have seen ravi, if the magic numbers are good and closeby, it pays well to build only on them, ignoring the rest of the board.

Golden Circle XL, 13 points

45, 50, -36 :: red, orange, white

we are red.

also played entirely by the textbook, covered all resources except stone with the initial couple of settlements.

due to the large pastures in the southern central region i went further down to the ocean and made the sheep port, which came in handy.

each five-roll brought three wood and 2 cards of my choice which were mostly brick, for the road. one ritter at the right time, and one development card.

orange played well, and just missed the victory by one round. good consistent play by orange.

white was always going to be a little weak and stayed true to its nature, not bad play though, but banked too much on the longest road, which i robbed towards the end, in the last overs.

unnamed player jumps to 54 and gets a the green tab again, after more than 5 weeks.

Forest Escape, 15 points

33, 27, 16 :: blue, orange, red

we are blue.

result: very unlikely win. an excellent example of the genius of game design. without anything much i started the game and the middle-ages brought nothing much, opening up spaces with the poorest of numbers, like 2,3,4 and 10.

did not buy many development cards, one early in the game, which turned out to be a victory card. the probability of a victory card coming to you is directly proportional to your need for a ritter.

played by entirely by the textbook, assisted by two monopol cards, didnt use either at the appropriate time, set the steady pace for progress.

both the opponents wasted roads on both their settlements' expansion. we have seen ravi, that the roads are crucial to winning a fifteen pointer. i just had to lengthen my road to the maximum (15) and it was a guarantee that the two points were mine.

as you can see, no brick industries were in my domain, just exchanging wood for brick after realizing the fact which was in my favor.

unnamed player jumps to 45.