Coverage of the upcoming IFPA10 World Pinball Championship takes us to Chicago, where the RedEye talked with brothers Josh Sharpe (ranked 15th in the world) and Zach Sharpe (ranked 3rd in the world). Both Josh and Zach will be representing the USA at the inaugural Epstein Cup prior to the kickoff of IFPA10. Check out the article HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce after an 18 year hiatus, the Charity Challenge is returning as part of the IFPA World Pinball Championship, starting this year at IFPA10 in Germany. The Charity Challenge was a big part of the original IFPA World Pinball Championships back in the 90's, raising thousands of dollars for the Midwest Athletes against Childhood Cancer organization.

We will be teaming up with Kids Fight Cancer here in Chicago, who provide pediatric and adolescent cancer patients with a safe, educational and entertaining environment which reduces the stresses, side effects and emotional struggles confronted during cancer treatment. The organization was founded in 1985 by James Pesoli, who unfortunately passed away from his own battle with cancer in September 2011. We were fortunate enough to be able to grow up with the Pesoli family right across the street from us, and had plenty of pinball battles with his sons Jim and Joe over the years. What they have been able to do over the years teaming up with their dad has been truly inspiring to us as we work closely with our dad to spread the interest of competitive pinball across the globe. Click HERE for more details on their organization.

In addition to the funds raised at the Charity Challenge itself, we are also accepting donations via paypal and check/money order through the end of the month when we will crown the next World Pinball Champion.

We are excited to announce that both Stern Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball have agreed to match what we're able to raise for Kids Fight Cancer DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR. A $5 player donation is $15 raised for KFC, a $20 player donation is $60 raised for KFC!

To donate via check, please make the check payable to "Kids Fight Cancer", but mail to the IFPA home address, attn Josh Sharpe, at 545 E Thornhill Lane, Palatine, IL 60074. We will gather all the checks together and mail them off to KFC when we're back from Germany.

To donate via paypal, please send money to "pinwizJ@aol.com". Please include your mailing address, and mention Kids Fight Cancer in the subject line so we can forward that information to KFC.

Any questions please contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com, and thanks in advance for your support.

The IFPA is excited to announce that the following players have been now qualified for the $tern Rewards Program based on their April 2013 IFPA endorsed tournament performance! These players have until August 15th, 2014 to exercise their reward option.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Daniele Celestino Acciari
Daniele earned 172.82 WPPR points in April, including a victory at the Pre-Pinburgh Doublewide Grill tournament, and an insanely impressive victory at the inaugural PAPA Circuit Final. In addition, Daniele won one of the Classics Divisions at the Michigan Pinball Expo. With his performance during his trip out to the US, Daniele is actually qualified for both the IFPA Pennsylvania and IFPA Michigan State Championships, sitting in 2nd and 8th place respectively.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Tony Pierce
Tony moved up 6318 spots by earning 2.97 WPPR points from his 10th place finish at the Outer Banks Pinfest, as well as .91 WPPR points from his 4th place finish at the April Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This moved Tony up to the 3404th ranked player in the world. Currently Tony is sitting in 19th place in the IFPA North Carolina State Championship standings.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Aaron Williams
Aaron moved up 5363 spots from his victory at the April session of the Middle Tennessee Pinball League. Aaron earned 5.02 WPPR points for the victory, which has moved him up to a rank of 2801st in the world. Currently Aaron is sitting in 2nd place in the IFPA Tennessee State Championship standings.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – David Spake
David moved up 4913 spots from his 6th place finish at the Souther Fried Pinball Tournament. This netted David 9.55 WPPR points and boosted him into now being the 2043rd ranked player in the world.

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their April 2013 tournament performance.

The biggest movers for April 2013 included Tony Pierce from Thomasville, NC, who moved up 6318 spots by earning 2.97 WPPR points from his 10th place finish at the Outer Banks Pinfest, as well as .91 WPPR points from his 4th place finish at the April Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This moved Tony up to the 3404th ranked player in the world. Currently Tony is sitting in 19th place in the IFPA North Carolina State Championship standings.

Aaron Williams from Murfreesboro, TN moved up 5363 spots from his victory at the April session of the Middle Tennessee Pinball League. Aaron earned 5.02 WPPR points for the victory, which has moved him up to a rank of 2801st in the world. Currently Aaron is sitting in 2nd place in the IFPA Tennessee State Championship standings.

David Spake from Atlanta, GA moved up 4913 spots from his 6th place finish at the Souther Fried Pinball Tournament. This netted David 9.55 WPPR points and boosted him into now being the 2043rd ranked player in the world.

Congratulations to Tony, Aaron and David, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their April tournament performance!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for April 2013 is current World Pinball Champion Daniele Celestino Acciari from Italy. Daniele earned 172.82 WPPR points in April, including a victory at the Pre-Pinburgh Doublewide Grill tournament, and an insanely impressive victory at the inaugural PAPA Circuit Final. In addition, Daniele won one of the Classics Divisions at the Michigan Pinball Expo. With his performance during his trip out to the US, Daniele is actually qualified for both the IFPA Pennsylvania and IFPA Michigan State Championships, sitting in 2nd and 8th place respectively.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of April included Cryss Stephens from Pennsylvania with 165.90 WPPR points, Zach Sharpe from Chicago, IL with 150.07 WPPR points, Joshua Henderson from Plainfield, IL with 134.74 WPPR points, and Keith Elwin from Carlsbad, CA with 126.65 WPPR points.

Congratulations to Daniele and the other top WPPR point earners of the month!

To celebrate the launch of the Metallica Pro Pinball machine, Stern and the IFPA are teaming up to host 12 launch parties going on across the US!

There will be machines set up at each location on free play, with a cash prize tournament also being held throughout the party. Please see flyer for location information, and contact the IFPA at ifpapinball@gmail.com should you have any questions.

We're looking to round up some volunteers to help us with hosting the Stern Metallica Launch Party tournaments.

The date Stern is targeting is Friday, June 7th.

If you are interested in helping serve as an IFPA representative for a launch party in your city, please send me an email (ifpapinball at gmail dot com) including the city you live in. We'll then get that information to Stern to try and find a distributor/operator/location owner in your area to match you up with to get the party set up.

IFPA representative duties would include game setup at the site, along with running the tournament portion of the party.

As one of the top 250 players in the World Pinball Player Rankings as of the end of 2012, Tim Hansen from Sunnyvale, CA qualified himself for the IFPA's $tern Rewards Program. The $tern Rewards Program allows qualifiers to purchase a brand new Stern pinball machine at a special IFPA price. Tim redeemed his reward for an AC/DC Premium, which came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Gary Stern himself.

Tim finished ranked 49th in the world at the end of 2012, and has since moved himself up four spots to 45th with a victory at the Thirteen Thirteen Tournament back in January. With that performance along with a top 10 performance at the Battle of the Beach, Tim currently sits in 8th place in the IFPA California State Championship standings.

Congratulations to Tim, and remember if you're interested in qualifying for the $tern Rewards Program, check out the rules here.

The IFPA is excited to announce that the following players have been now qualified for the $tern Rewards Program based on their March 2013 IFPA endorsed tournament performance! These players have until August 15th, 2014 to exercise their reward option.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Trent Augenstein
Trent earned 164.32 WPPR points in March, including a victory at the Ohio Pinball & Gameroom Festival and the Texas Pinball Festival (both the Main and Classics tournament). In addition, Trent had a 4th and 2nd place finish in the Main and Classic tournaments at the Louisville Arcade Expo, the final stop of the 2012 PAPA Circuit.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Debra Sea
Debra moved up 4980 spots by earning 1.21 WPPR points from her 4th place finish at the ACME Comics Monthly Pinball Tournament, as well as .40 WPPR points from her 7th place finish at the March Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This moved Debra up to the 5095th ranked player in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Joey Stroman
Joey moved up 4452 spots from his victory at the DFW Pinball and Arcade Club Tournament, 70th place, 31st place and 117th place finish in the Texas Pinball Festival's Main Tournament, EM Tournament and Modern Tournament respectively. In total, Joey earned 32.24 WPPR points, which has moved him up to a rank of 879th in the world.

BIGGEST MOVER AWARD – Chad Hyatt
Chad moved up 3186 spots from his 33rd and 25th place finishes in the Louisville Arcade Expo's Main and Classics tournaments respectively. Chad also finished in 13th place in the March Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This netted Chad 10.29 WPPR points and boosted him into now being the 1817th ranked player in the world.

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their March 2013 tournament performance.

The biggest movers for March 2013 included Debra Sea from Greensboro, NC, who moved up 4980 spots by earning 1.21 WPPR points from her 4th place finish at the ACME Comics Monthly Pinball Tournament, as well as .40 WPPR points from her 7th place finish at the March Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This moved Debra up to the 5095th ranked player in the world. Currently Debra is sitting in 16th place in the IFPA North Carolina State Championship standings.

Joey Stroman from Longview, TX moved up 4452 spots from his victory at the DFW Pinball and Arcade Club Tournament, 70th place, 31st place and 117th place finish in the Texas Pinball Festival's Main Tournament, EM Tournament and Modern Tournament respectively. In total, Joey earned 32.24 WPPR points, which has moved him up to a rank of 879th in the world. Currently Joey is sitting in 13th place in the IFPA Texas State Championship standings.

Chad Hyatt from Morganton, NC moved up 3186 spots from his 33rd and 25th place finishes in the Louisville Arcade Expo's Main and Classics tournaments respectively. Chad also finished in 13th place in the March Lost Ark Monthly Pinball Tournament. This netted Chad 10.29 WPPR points and boosted him into now being the 1817th ranked player in the world. Currently Chad is sitting in 14th place in the IFPA North Carolina State Championship standings.

Congratulations to Debra, Joey and Chad as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their March tournament performance!