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DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Tournaments Completed in 2016.

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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Anthropoid]

Postby aspalm on Fri Sep 02, 2016 4:50 pm

Was it worth it?

The language of the question leads to the more inflammatory debate on whether any war is "worth it" or whether an individual dies "in vain" if the cause they were fighting for goes against ones own convictions or for a cause that ultimately failed.

In this case, however, the answer is a resounding yes- it was worth it. Because at the time of action, the individuals were performing what was determined to be the best course of action against an oppressive and evil regime.

It is never fair to look back on any such sacrifice of life and apply the benefit of hindsight. One can only evaluate what the knowledge and options were at the time, a task which is nearly impossible to do with the bias of future perspective.

As Abraham Lincoln put it more eloquently at Gettysburg: that it is "far above our poor power to add or detract" from their sacrifice.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Anthropoid]

Postby Dukasaur on Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:52 pm

Peteee wrote:Creative Component: Was it worth it? Resistance activity in Czechoslovakia increased after the assassination, but still had a relatively small impact on the war. Were all the sacrifices worth it, or should the Government-in-Exile have let sleeping dogs lie?

I anything in the futility of war truly "worth it" ? There are many examples through out history of battles/incidents/raids that at the time did not seem to have much effect but with hindsight and review take on greater significance. The Spartan sacrifice at Thermopylae paved the way for the eventual Greek victory. The Dambusters raid though costly in lives and limited impact distracted the German war effort for a number of months. Oskar Schindler's rescue of Polish Jews although comparatively small is significant in the number of their descendants and his memory.

To me what comes through in this assassination and the examples that I have given is that they crucially gave people Hope. In their darkest hours they were able to believe that someone was thinking about them when all else seemed forlorn. Yes, the sacrifices and the prices paid were high for such a small action but the pebbles were put into motion for the avalanche that became the increased resistance movement.

Who knows what further atrocities Heydrich may have committed, who knows what more the Nazi regime may have done if it hadn't been distracted by it's Czech "problem", for all its "small" impact it may well have helped shorten the war.

Ultimately you ask was it worth it - I respond by quoting you Dukasaur "The church where the seven died is a shrine. When I last visited there, I saw many cards and flowers left by English soldiers -- Gabčƭk, KubiÅ”, the other five are remembered in Britain as well as at home."

I say any action that is remembered and the memory respected was worth it.
morleyjoe wrote:Wow Peteee - how do I top that? Very impressive, so I'm not sure how I can. But you are the only one to provide a creative component at every stage, so I better make a showing of this...

A key word from Peteee in all of this could simply be hindsight. As defined, it is the recognition of the realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision etc., after its occurrence. Hindsight has taught us many things, especially when it comes to war. For example, many believe that World War I was really a pointless bloodbath, while World War II saw nations trying to survive and fight against an evil tyrannt.

But even with this knowledge, how can we really judge if sacrifices were worth it, in seeing things from only our personal perspective? We can read all about it in history books, many of which would have been written by those on one side or the other, as well as those who have no up close and personal experiences regarding the subject of which they write. Having read these accounts, we can often decide what our own opinions would be, but they really don't have true meaning or context.

I honestly believe there is no way one can determine the worthiness of a sacrifice of any kind unless they have had a direct personal connection with the chain of events as they unfolded. And even then, you would likely get so many different answers depending upon from where and by who the events are witnessed. From the boy who's father never comes home, the mother who has lost her family, or the community who has lost their leader, they are the ones who could provide an answer, as they would have personal experiences from the chain of events that unfolded. Even then, I'm sure you would get differing opinions on both sides of any event or action. There is no doubt that there are those who will believe with all of their hearts and souls that the sacrifices made in the noted situation were worth it.

Can we make judgement, even with hindsight, history books, and personal accounts of others? Unless there is a dramatically obvious answer, where the outcome is so incredibly one sided, I feel that there is no way one can truly make a decision, without being one of those who made the sacrifices themselves. And with the event in question, I cannot say that even those personal perspectives would get us any closer to an answer.

So was it worth it? I cannot honestly say one way or the other.
aspalm wrote:Was it worth it?

The language of the question leads to the more inflammatory debate on whether any war is "worth it" or whether an individual dies "in vain" if the cause they were fighting for goes against ones own convictions or for a cause that ultimately failed.

In this case, however, the answer is a resounding yes- it was worth it. Because at the time of action, the individuals were performing what was determined to be the best course of action against an oppressive and evil regime.

It is never fair to look back on any such sacrifice of life and apply the benefit of hindsight. One can only evaluate what the knowledge and options were at the time, a task which is nearly impossible to do with the bias of future perspective.

As Abraham Lincoln put it more eloquently at Gettysburg: that it is "far above our poor power to add or detract" from their sacrifice.

Wow, three very impressive answers. Thank you all for your perspectives.

Aspalm's was in some ways very good. I liked the thesis: one can't give fair judgement with hindsight, but only in view of what the people's knowledge and options were at the time. Nonetheless, the competition is getting hot and given the closeness of the competition small details matter. Thus, the fact that this response was outside of the 1-week submission period puts it in last place. 1 point.

Joe's response was very nicely written, but ultimately his answer was not an answer. A yes-or-no question requires, ultimately, a yes-or-no. There may be reservations, doubts, and conditions, but "I can't say" is not enough. 3 points.

That leaves Peteee as our winner this round. Very thought provoking response, marred only by some clumsy grammar and syntax which in this case is not enough to hide the wisdom underneath. Congratulations, 5 points.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Sun Sep 25, 2016 9:59 pm

As noted previously, Lufsen75 and SuperWang were removed in the previous phase. Goldenwarrior accepted his invites last time, but then promptly deadbeat his games, so he too needs to be removed.

We have 41 players left. The original specs for this tourney called for 8-player games. However, with 41 players, that would mean five games of 8 and one person left over, and a lot of conscripting. Instead, I changed the spec to 7-player games, and I added myself to the mix. That makes six games of 7 exactly, just like last round.

Games 1
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Games 2
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Games 3
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Games 4
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Games 5
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Silly Knig-it on Mon Sep 26, 2016 5:58 am

Jan Masaryk
Memorial plaque with MasarykĀ“s quote "Pravda vĆ­tězĆ­, ale dĆ” to fuÅ”ku" (The truth prevails, but it's a chore). It is a reference to Czechoslovak national motto Veritas vincit (Truth prevails).

It reminds of the saying, " The truth will set you free but first it will kick you in the face." (and many other variations along that line.) And it is very ironic with the US elections for president where both candidates seem to have a loose relationship with the truth and one even seems to have never encountered the word.

And what occurred historically reminds me of the quote, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

But people always seem to think it could never happen here. (Here being wherever they are.)
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby aspalm on Mon Sep 26, 2016 9:47 pm

The statue of Jan Masaryk is located in Hlavni mesto Praha, Czech Republic. The quote reads: "Pravda vĆ­tězĆ­, ale dĆ” to fuÅ”ku" (The truth prevails, but it's a chore).

The quote is, of course, apropos to our times, and to any moment throughout time, including both the past and what is to come. The truth can be very elusive, is never black and white, and in many cases, is open for interpretation. In other words, I disagree that the truth is eventually revealed. Often times, the truth will never be known, or will be distorted by historical perspective.

The quote is better interpreted then, not as a romantic notion, but as a call to action. That we should not accept truths as given. A chore implies work. Long, tiring, tedious effort. And the hope conveyed by the quote is not that that the truth will always be known, but that no matter how messy it gets, truth should always be QUESTIONED. That people should not just accept the prevailing story or belief of the times, but that we should be willing to get our hands and hearts a little blemished in our quest of the noblest of elusive treasures: knowledge.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Tue Sep 27, 2016 6:17 am

Leehar and ruleroftheworld1 have missed their first set of invites. All have been re-sent.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:30 pm

Dukasaur wrote:Leehar and ruleroftheworld1 have missed their first set of invites. All have been re-sent.

On second invite, all were accepted and all games have now begun.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby morleyjoe on Wed Sep 28, 2016 3:03 pm

The image provided is of the life size bronze bust of Jan Garrigue Masaryk, of Prague. It is located above the entrance to the villa where his father T.G. Masaryk lived. The inscription says: Pravda vĆ­tezĆ­, ale dĆ” to fuÅ”ku ā€“ Jan Masaryk diplomat, stĆ”tnĆ­k, humanista 14.9.1886-10.3.1948. Or in English, the inscription is: Truth prevails, but it takes some elbow grease. Jan Masaryk, diplomat ā€“ statesman ā€“ humanist.

While there is no date tied to the quote, I think it could speak about where he was in his political career at the time of his suicide/murder. I would imagine there was some sleepless nights in the Masaryk household in being the only Liberal amongst his Communist government colleagues. The kind of pressure he was under would have required him to really roll up his sleeves and work hard to ensure that he was heard. And it was ultimately this pressure that may have been attributed to why he would have taken his own life.

In the end, maybe, just maybe, I think the truth did prevail. And the elbow grease certainly was needed, but it was used for all the hard work it must have taken to prove that his death was a murder rather than a suicide. To be able to uncover all the truths that were hidden behind the lies of the communist regime, the hard work ensured that 45+/- years after his death, it was recognized what the truth really is. So while it would be a romantic notion to read the quote and use it to reflect upon yourself or the world around you, I think what Jan has been quoted as saying, is very prophetic, and it truly shows that in the end, no matter what it takes, the truth always will prevail.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Peteee on Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:16 am

The Statue is a bust of Jan Masaryk - the Czech politician.

The inscription is 'Pravda vĆ­tězĆ­, ale dĆ” to fuÅ”ku'. (The truth prevails, but it's a chore).
Along with his name date of birth and date of death, and 3 words summing up his life, diplomat, statesman, humanist.
All that is easy to glean from Wikipedia or such like.

The key question is what do I think of the slogan?

To me this slogan has its roots in an earlier quote by Mark Twain, 'A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes'.

What they try to both show is that, all a lie has to do is be heard and it is believed, the truth has to work to be accepted - Truth has to prove itself.
A lie is often spoken first or loudest or by the victors whilst the truth gets buried by this, having to fight to be heard. Repeated enough times the lie becomes the truth.

This slogan is as relevant today as it was in Jan Masaryk's day, in Mark Twain's day even throughout all History.
You only have to look at the political campaigns that are waged on personal insult or false promises rather than on facts.

As a slogan for me it challenges me not to accept what I hear first, to research what is going on and ultimately to discover the 'real' truth.
It says you have to work to get the right answer but in the end you will get there and when you do it will have been worth it.
Orkses is never defeated in battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fighting so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Mad777 on Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:18 pm

This tournament is still active, no ongoing game(s) as of yet.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Wed Nov 02, 2016 5:54 pm

Mad777 wrote:This tournament is still active, no ongoing game(s) as of yet.



Apologies for the long delay. Real life is hectic, as always, and the damned September and October Challenges soaked up most of my CC time. I'm definitely not trying the November Challenge, so I'll be able to focus more on my tourneys again.
:)
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:45 pm

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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Postby Dukasaur on Sun Nov 20, 2016 1:58 am

I've been marking all the creative components by reading them aloud to my wife, and then we discussed them before scoring them. We did this, but because it was the last one and because the results were so close, I decided to to an extra step and do a public poll. I invited everyone in the tournament to vote in the poll, as well as various mods and other people who have helped me judge contests in the past.

You can see the poll result here:
http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=220617

What I find particularly gratifying (and this is an EXTREMELY rare event!) is that the public poll came out exactly the same as what my wife and I had decided on earlier.

1st place: Peteee
2nd: aspalm
3rd: morleyjoe
4th: Silly Knig-it

Congrats to all four of you. All four answers were quite good, and it was a tough job deciding between them. (Thus, the poll.)


The (extremely close) final result after eight rounds of competion is:
Subject: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Masaryk]

Dukasaur wrote:Creative Component Participants:
  • Wencenslaus
    1. Peteee 5
    2. mackadoo 3
    3. aspalm 3
    4. Zbynja 1
    5. molespe 1
  • Jaromir
    1. MyTurnToWin 5
    2. Captn B 3
    3. morleyjoe 3
    4. Peteee 1
    5. aspalm 1
    6. waauw 1
    7. CatchersMitt14 1
  • Charles IV
    1. CatchersMitt14 5
    2. bdb 3
    3. Silly Knig-it 1
    4. aspalm 1
    5. morleyjoe 1
    6. Charle 1
    7. Peteee 1
    8. Captn B 1
  • First Defenestration
    1. morleyjoe 3
    2. Silly Knig-it 3
    3. Peteee 1
  • Rudolf II
    1. aspalm 5
    2. morleyjoe 3
    3. Peteee 2
    4. Captn B 2
  • Second Defenestration
    1. aspalm 5
    2. morleyjoe 3
    3. Peteee 1
  • Anthropoid
    1. Peteee 5
    2. Morleyjoe 3
    3. Aspalm 1
  • Masaryk
    1. Peteee 5
    2. aspalm 3
    3. morleyjoe 1
    4. Silly Knig-it 1



Final Creative Component Leaderboard:
  1. Peteee 21
  2. aspalm 19
  3. morleyjoe 17
  4. CatchersMitt14 6
  5. Captn B 6
  6. MyTurnToWin 5
  7. Silly Knig-it 5
  8. mackadoo 3
  9. bdb 3
  10. Zbynja 1
  11. molespe 1
  12. waauw 1
  13. Charle 1


Peteee wins the Creative Component.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby Dukasaur on Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:18 am

The winner of the tournament is Silly Knig-it. However, the list of winners does not stop there. As noted, there will be more payouts than ever before:
Dukasaur wrote:
Prizes: To celebrate my birthplace, I will have more prizes than I have ever before given out in a tournament! There will be a grand total of Six Years of premium handed out, as follows:
  1. 3 months premium for the winner of each of the eight phases.
      The eight phases are detailed in the third post:
      https://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=215515&p=4744156#p4744156
    • Winner of the first phase is molespe, with a total of 38 points in the first round of Assassinations! Molespe received a 3-month premium prize on Jan 24th.
    • Winner of the second phase is morleyjoe, with 21 points. Morleyjoe received a 3-month premium prize on March 13th.
    • Winner of the third phase was Peteee, with 25 points. Peteee received his 3-month premium prize on April 7th.
    • Winner of the fourth phase is waauw, with 21 points. Waauw received his 3-month premium prize on April 7th.
    • The winner of the 5th phase was CatchersMitt14. CM14 received her 3-month premium prize on August 10th, 2016.
    • The winner of the 6th phase is Shoop76. Shoop received his 3-month premium prize on August 10th 2016.
    • The winner of the 7th phase, with a stunning 28 points, is mageplunka69. Mage received his 3-month prize on Dec 19, 2016.
    • Winner of the 8th Phase is Silly Knig-it, with 21 points. Silly received his 3-month prize on Dec 19th 2016
  2. One year premium to the tournament winner.
  3. One year premium to the player who scores the most in the creative components.
  4. Six months premium to the second-place player overall.
      Congratulations to Morleyjoe, the 2nd place winner!
      =D> =D> =D>
      (Morleyjoe received a 12-month gift certificate Dec. 19th. This is a combination of the six months he is owed for being 2nd overall and the 3 months he is owed for being 3rd in the creative component. It's cheaper to buy one 12-month gift than 3 X 3-month gifts, hence the bonus.)
  5. Three months premium to each of the third, fourth, and fifth players overall.
  6. Three months premium to each of the second, third, and fourth-placing players in the creative components

Dukasaur wrote:GA Medals: I am applying for 2 GA medals. One will be for the most creative participant, the player who contributes the most to the creative components and scores the most points in them. The other will be for the person who wins the most of the non-Assassin games. Note that GA medals are not official until approved.Update: GAs have been approved!Subject: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha :D
mcshanester29 wrote:GA Medals have been approved


The GA medal for the Creative Component goes to Peteee as noted above.

For the most non-Assassin games, Peteee and Leehar are tied with 6 games each. The tiebreaker is the number of points earned through those, which goes to Leehar, who scored 33 points in the two Interludes.

Congratulations Leehar!!

=D> =D> =D>


Congratulations to all the winners!

A big "thank you!" to everyone who played and made this a successful tournament!
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby morleyjoe on Sun Nov 20, 2016 10:33 am

Well done Duk! Best event ever! And thanks for the prizes!!!

Keep up the good (and hard) work!
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby aspalm on Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:26 pm

Thanks so much for this tournament DK- it was fun to stretch the creative muscles.

Can't believe I lost by one vote. Sigh.

Thanks for all the hard work!
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby Peteee on Mon Nov 21, 2016 1:56 am

Big vote of thanks to Duk for organising, it's been a blast.

Congratulations to all the prize winners.

I'm honoured and humbled to have won the creative element. But kudos to all the other entrants you made it a tough but fun competition.
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby Leehar on Mon Nov 21, 2016 11:55 am

Thanks for a great tournament
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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby Mad777 on Mon Nov 21, 2016 12:54 pm

Congrats to you all!

Duke, thanks for another well organize tournament!

GA medals to Leehar & Peteee awarded, as well a Tournament Achievement (Silly Knig-it) & Tournament Organizer (Dukasaur).

Cheers

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Re: DKs CSFR series 08 -- Praha [Final Results]

Postby Captn B on Mon Nov 21, 2016 6:03 pm

Kudos to all the winners in this tournament and special congrats to Silly Knig-it, as overall winner! Ain't you so cool? 8-)

Also thanks to Duk for a very fine tourney! Tho I've never organized a tournament, I've organized other things and they always take beau-coup time! WTG, DK! :P
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