On May 6, 1997 I played Showdown at NickelodeinN in Astoria, New York. I was in New York at the time to watch the Kasparov-Deep Blue chess rematch. My interest in the match stemmed primarily from my involvement with the Chinook checkers project. Also, one of my friends from high school and university, Murray Campbell, was a member of the Deep Blue team.

Everyone was very intense during the game and you had to be on the other side of the East River not to hear people shouting the correct answer to each question. It was kind of depressing to have a final score of over 60,000 and finish on the 2nd page.

An air of celebration filled the bar when the final rankings were displayed and NickelodeinN ranked 1st. Pictured from left to right: MAGE, SLUGGO, DR BOB, BRZE and NYDAVY.

While I played Showdown, I sat at a table and chatted with (from left to right) SYZYGY and MTGLAS.

Other team members that night included CHUMLY (who was visiting that night from Jacksonville, Florida) and CAYUGA (who provided me with directions on how to find the place).

Here we have SLUGGO and DR BOB relaxing after the game. They proudly displayed the wall of plaques commemorating all their Showdown wins over the years. There was also a box in the basement filled with more plaques. Congratulations on achieving yet another win that night!

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March 29, 1998