This is an event report for the 9th Annual U-Con Abstract Games Tournament, which was held at the U-Con Gaming Convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, from 12:00 M until 4:00 PM on November 14, 2009.

Five paying participants and one additional competitor came out to compete. Several other competitors from previous years had to cancel due to travel, work, family and other scheduling-related difficulties. Although they were missed, the tournament proceeded. As in years past, I drew heavily from the games listed in my GeekList, Two Player Abstracts Suitable for Tournament Play, even though not all of the tournament games are on that list (yet). The results for the individual tournament games were as follows:

All The King's Men
Clark Rodeffer defeated Matt Arnold
Dave Lamé defeated Tom Knapp
David Whitcher defeated Jody Raiford

Chifoumi
David Whitcher defeated Dave Lamé

Emergo (rectangular version)
Jody Raiford defeated Matt Arnold
Matt Arnold defeated Jody Raiford
Tom Knapp defeated Matt Arnold

Gyges
Clark Rodeffer defeated Matt Arnold
Clark Rodeffer defeated Matt Arnold

Hippos & Crocodiles
Clark Rodeffer defeated Matt Arnold
Matt Arnold defeated Clark Rodeffer
Dave Lamé defeated David Whitcher
David Whitcher defeated Dave Lamé
Jody Raiford defeated David Whitcher

Hive (including the Mosquito expansion)
Tom Knapp defeated Dave Lamé

Mole Hill
David Whitcher defeated Dave Lamé
Clark Rodeffer defeated David Whitcher
Matt Arnold defeated Jody Raiford

Mutton
Clark Rodeffer defeated Matt Arnold
Jody Raiford defeated Dave Lamé

Octi
David Whitcher defeated Tom Knapp

Push
Jody Raiford defeated David Whitcher

Springline
Clark Rodeffer defeated David Whitcher
Clark Rodeffer defeated David Whitcher
Clark Rodeffer defeated Dave Lamé

Tuca Tuca (a Mancala game)
Tom Knapp defeated Clark Rodeffer

Versus (on the limited edition order-5 board)
Tom Knapp tied Jody Raiford

The overall winner this year would have been Clark Rodeffer, but because he was the tournament organizer and not a paying participant, he was ineligible to win a prize. As a result, Tom Knapp of Pittsburgh, PA, USA was the overall winner, with Jody Raiford finishing in second place. Win:Loss:Tie records for the participants were as follows:

Matt Arnold: 3:7:0
Tom Knapp: 3:2:1
Dave Lamé: 2:6:0
Jody Raiford: 4:3:1
Clark Rodeffer: 9:2:0
David Whitcher: 5:6:0

Many thanks to Steve Jones of Blue Panther LLC, Michel Pinon of Asynchron Games and Néstor Romeral Andrés of Nestor Games as well as Stephen Tavener, Cameron Browne, Ralf Gering and Tom Knapp personally for generously providing equipment and/or rules for some of the tournament games. Thanks also to the staff and volunteers of the U-Con Gaming Convention for allowing me to host this event. Finally, thanks to Richard Hutnik, Joe Joyce and Avri Klemer of IAGO as well as Dave Lamé of Games in Michigan for their publicity help. The 9th Annual U-Con Abstract Games Tournament was part of the 2010 IAGO World Tour.