Session Report, in which, even after hundreds of plays, I discover something new in my game

The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: Hearts, Tichu, Puerto Rico, Yinsh, Caylus, The Menorah Game x 2, San Juan.

Attendance was low; not sure why.

I ran into an event in The Menorah Game that I had never encountered before.

It's Alive Playtesting

Speaking of such, Reiver Games hosted a "blind playtest" of It's Alive last night, which means a group of people who never played before trying to learn the game on their own and played with the new graphics. It appears to have been a success.

Five out of seven immediately ordered a copy, and the other two were considering. One of the reviewers left comments on BGG.

Elitism in Gaming

Edward Pollard at Digitally Disillusioned wrote a thoughtful article on elitism in the new board gaming world. Discussion has followed on his post and also on BGG.

JIB Awards, Final Round

My previous Haveil Havalim post made it to the finals in two categories, Best Jewish Religious Post and Best Jewish Humor Post. I'm not entirely sure how the post qualifies as a Jewish Religious Post, and I'm not expecting to win either award, but you can vote for me, if you really want to.

Game News

An online backgammon site is trying to gain some free publicity by sending Paris Hilton a personalized backgammon set for her to play while she's in jail. They'll probably con some foolish bloggers into linking to the press release.

More women move online to play games as more board games move online.

Peru's 15 year-old Chess Champion Emilio Cordova was found living in Brazil with a 29 year old stripper, having run away after winning the South American Chess Championship.

If you think that Chess is wacky and dangerous, this week there were two murders violent altercations over card games, in Tauranga, New Zealand ("Detective Trevor Brown says alcohol and cards do not mix.") and in Columbia, South Carolina. Now you know why it's illegal to play cards in South Carolina. (corrected - thanks meowsqueak!)

If you live near Augusta, there is a Board Game Mania summer camp for ages 7-11, July 16-20.

There's an article here about the city of Vitoria, Spain, trying to set a world's record for simultaneous card players. 362 pairs. They don't say what game. Anyone have more details? (And don't most Bridge and Poker tournaments beat that?)

Yehuda