There's A Tournament Tomorrow? Really?

Yes, really. And the Puzzle Brothers, along with 629 other pre-registered contestants, are looking forward to the opportunities the weekend presents.

 

What will make this year's tournament quite interesting - aside from the possibility of Dan Feyer steamrollering all comers in the tournament as he did last year - is the number of top-level solvers who won't be showing this year. A quick glance of the contestant rolls shows top-50 names like Katie Hamill, Eric Maddy, Ron Sweet, Barry Haldiman and Eric LeVasseur not competing as of this morning. This year's confirmed A contestants are:

• Howard Barkin
• Katherine Bryant
• Adam Cohen
• Jon Delfin
• Len Elliott
• Anne Erdmann
• Dan Feyer
• Peter Gordon
• Francis Heaney
• Tyler Hinman
• Doug Hoylman
• Will Johnston
• Kiran Kedlaya
• Joshua Kosman
• Frank Longo
• Brian Olewnick
• Joon Pahk
• Trip Payne
• Doug Peterson
• Arnold Reich
• Amy Reynaldo
• Ellen Ripstein
• Al Sanders
• Dan Seabolt
• Dave Tuller
• Thomas Weisswange
• Stella Zawistowski

The top B-level solvers, if last year's rankings hold, are expected to be Bob Mackey, Richard Kalustian, and Susan Hoffman. Bob has been relegated to B by virtue of winning no A- or B- level awards in the last seven tournaments, and Joon Pahk, last year's B champion, has been moved up to A. Katie Hamill will not be at the tournament this year, owing to other commitments; nor will last year's third-place contestant in B, Ron Sweet. For the record, I will again be competing in the B level this year but realistically won't make the podium, there's just too much of a logjam. Louis Lana (last year's C winner) and David Plotkin move up to B this year, and Boone Gorges makes a big jump from D to B.

The C division will be populated with even more up and coming solvers this year as several people did well enough last year to move up a class or two, including Brian Cimmet, Amanda Yesnowitz and David Moulton.

Stay with The Puzzle Brothers for complete tournament coverage - video updates throughout the day on Saturday, and on Sunday, we will be bringing you live as-it-happens blogging of the final round, brought to you by Cover It Live.