The First ZoxSo World Champion

IT'S OFFICIAL:  Congratulations to Anand Mehta!

On Saturday August 13th, Anand Mehta became the 2011 ZoxSo Open World Champion! Anand now goes on record as being the first person to win a ZoxSo World Championship Title.

This is particularly significant since, as I've noted quite often during the past few months leading up to this inaugural event, "How often does anyone get the chance to become the first recognized world champion of an ancient game?"

2011 ZoxSo World Champion Anand Mehta

Here's a run-down of the championship finale:

"On August 13th at the 2011 ZoxSo Open World Championship at Dragonflight, after a best 2-out-of-3 playoff match between Anand Mehta and Laura Sears, Anand emerged as the first ZoxSo World Champion!

 As his reward for victory in this first of its kind event, Anand Mehta was awarded the 2011 ZoxSo Open World Championship Title, and received the fabulous ZoxSo World Championship Trophy as well as gift certificates for merchandise from The Game Matrix and Uncle's Games, and a few other assorted prizes. Congratulations Anand!"

Laura Sears, who finished as clear runner-up in this premier event, had literally mowed down the field during the first leg of the modified Swiss tournament with a 4-0 score, and was positioned to run away with the 2011 World Championship Title when she beat Anand in the first game of their play-off match.

 However Anand, who had started the Championship slowly during the early part of the main event and then clawed his way back into contention with three wins in a row, rebounded in his play-off match with Laura by winning the second and third games to pull off a surprise come-from-behind victory! This first-and-second-among-equals result between Anand Mehta and Laura Sears sets the stage for an intense rivalry between these talented players for a long time to come.

As Laura has promised, "I'll definitely be back next year to play (read, seek revenge) in the 2012 ZoxSo World Championship Tournament!"

I must say that I for one was on "pins-and-needles" during the entire main tournament, and especially during the incredible nail-biter play-off-round match!

I cannot wait to see the next clash between these two great players, and I'm also curious to see who may emerge during future ZoxSo competitions to challenge their dominance.

Next-up: ZoxSo at PAX Prime which is taking place this coming weekend August 26 - 28th 2011 at the Washington State Convention center in Seattle, WA, where I and other "ZoxSo Masters" will be running ZoxSo demos all weekend for Uncle's Games. We will be free-floating demoers in the free-play areas throughout the table-top gaming areas, while Uncle's Games will be manning their game store booth in the Special Demo Area, Room 2A.

Look for us wearing "ZoxSo Master" T-Shirts at PAX this weekend, where we may hand you the following poem on a Golden Throne ticket, with the chance to enter a drawing and win a collectible ZoxSo prize:

"Find a ZoxSo Master!

To seek the Golden Throne...

It will mean a ZoxSo demo

& perchance a gift to own."

And as always, for more details about ZoxSo, The New Ancient Game
check out: www.ChessMate.com.

Ciao for now...

-- deMarcus

Keep your eyes on the Throne!

 So True, So True!

On the popular web site BoardGameGeek.com, one of the gamers (GGWithrow, who said that in general he liked ZoxSo and thought it was a good game), made this comment in his post on one of the ZoxSo threads:

"One of the elements of this game that I find distasteful is how difficult it is to keep an enemy Zing from reaching the golden throne once they are one or two spaces away from it."

I thought about this for a bit on and off, and then earlier this evening I pointed something out in reply:

"You make an excellent point, GGWithrow!

And in so doing, you've aimed a spotlight directly at the two most important things to keep in mind when playing a game of ZoxSo:  Keep your eyes on the Throne, and your opponent's Xing under lock and key!

Alright, alright... there is a third important thing to remember: Keep your own Xing as-snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug -- if you can.

I can't tell you how many times I've overlooked critical tempii, tactics, and new ideas during placement, only to look up and see my opponent's Xing (pronounced ZING, by the way) stepping briskly towards the Throne, unstoppable, soon to be crowned the new Emperor.

But alas, the fault was mine because I did not place as well -- nor follow up as well -- as my opponent.

So I say, 'Long live the New Emperor (until next game, that is...)!'

Well then, I hope to see you all at the 2011 ZoxSo Open World Championship Tournament at the Dragonflight Game Convention next weekend (Saturday August 13th) in Bellevue, Washington at the Bellevue Hilton.

Come and see some exciting games, check out the convention, spectate a little... and maybe even play in the main ZoxSo event yourself."

And so here, I must bring something up that I have brought up several times since beginning to plan this, the first ZoxSo World Championship:

How often is it that a player gets the chance to become the first recognized world champion of an ancient game?

Until next time...

-- deMarcus

Check us out on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZoxSo-The-New-Ancient-Game/230610136962343