It is definitely true that some players are better at closing the deal on games and making a win happen, whilst others, like me, generally play a fairly solid game, but without making the breakthrough for the win.

It is a considerable source of annoyance to me that since 22 December 2008, I have not won a proper diplomacy game (I won a gunboat in Febuary '09 too, mind), and I'm wondering what people think is necessary, besides mistakes by opponents, to get a victory. Why do some players make the leap from a good position to a win whilst others of us have to settle for draws?


btw, here is a list of the longest runs of draws without a win:


UserID,Name,Games Drawn in a Row
21431, Gobba,28
5615, fortknox,24
21093, Yakoska,24
7126, oldbenjamin,23
15679, Crazyter,23
4946, abgemacht,22
11961, Onar,20
26333, Bob Genghiskhan,20
8431, Carpysmind,19
8290, stratagos,17
7276, Ursa,16
2188, TheGhostmaker,15
20614, schism84,15
26483, killer135,15
10008, V+,14
15678, wydend,14
21355, jmeyersd,14
26491, yayager,14
6265, Centurian,13
10479, rlumley,13
18532, Lan,13
21206, jeromeblack,13
9292, TheBrentingtonExperience,12
10847, Draugnar,12
12416, Troodonte,12
13865, hellalt,12
15498, groverloaf,12
15711, Stmeha,12
20585, DocVanHellsing,12
21355, jmeyersd,12
21431, Gobba,12
2462, zrallo,11
3513, ZeroZero_Peras,11
9735, DipperDon,11
11051, Babak,11
18233, curtis,11
21444, Humanity42,11
21648, tmg996,11
23813, Privacyseeker,11
24018, Kin Marr,11
25181, Madcat991,11
256, Chrispminis,10
7135, ava2790,10
7746, Spell of Wheels,10
10545, Laoban,10
10862, airborne,10
11891, djbent,10
11891, djbent,10
12510, LanGaidin,10
12789, scottrobroy,10
12935, 48v4stepansk,10
13792, WarM,10
15146, Biddis,10
16673, denis,10
17061, tilMletokill,10
17392, eeezfly,10
18739, jabumblepoonus,10
19657, Noob179,10
20401, SirVival,10
21431, Gobba,10
21648, tmg996,10
21752, stormyweatherman,10
22676, KyleFC,10