Jamie only started playing online early this year, but has been a Tantrix addict for rather longer. He claims to have one of every Tantrix product ever produced (even the Original puzzle) and with fellow Aucklander Paul Martinsen ("Ponder") holds the computer record for the four longest lines unsolved puzzle. Incidentally, Paul is very likely to win the Fantasy Tantrix competition if Jamie wins the final.

Jamie certainly has the stamina to win the final, because he's won the two longest tournament matches ever - a 2 hour 35 minute 6-game marathon against Justin and the record, a 2 hour 53 minute 7-game match against Steven. In both cases, especially with Justin, it was Jamie's opponent who had to do most of the thinking.

A fairly easy Round 1 win against Alida Remiens was followed by a minor scare in Round 2 when he was only leading Leanne Silver 42-38 with one game to go, but his nerve held and he won the last game. Round 3 was a 73-47 win v Justin Phillips, only Justin's 12 time penalties making the win look so easy.

The crunch match looks to have been the quarter-final against defending champion and 10th seed Steven Trezise. He's the only player from outside New Zealand whom Jamie has played so far, and, amazingly, the highest seed he has met. In a very tense match which for a long time looked like it could go either way, Jamie finally won through by just 6 TPs. The smi-final against Matthew Peek, another Aucklander, was a little easier, Jamie getting a great start and leading by 86-54 before the final game.