2008 - A Retrospective (Part 3)

The Carlisle tournament was the start of a sequence: I played rated tournament Scrabble on four consecutive weekends, a first for me. The second of these weekends saw me travel up north to Sunderland, where I played Mikki Nicholson in the BEST North regional final at Laura Finley's house. As she proved many times over the course of the two days we were there, Laura truly is the hostess with the mostest: Mikki and I were never short of a drink or snack. My confidence, Scrabble-wise, was a bit low following Carlisle, and game one here did nothing for that: I was crushed 356-567! My consecutive bonuses of RATBAGS and OUtCHEA(T) only narrowed the deficit, as Mikki was already well ahead following DEGAMES, (R)EQUITAL (104) and DONARI(E)S. The nice spot of MINUTIa(L) was the cherry atop an already resplendent cake for him.
Game two saw me triumph 480-449, but only after we had both played a phony early on: Mikki played HE(M)OTYPE*, then I stupidly played DAI(M)OSEL* as a 9x, only to see it vanish off the board! Mikki had also played MOMENTA(L)* following my first move ULuLATE(D), which I failed to challenge. My mid game play of (E)NQUIRER for 104 proved decisive, although Mikki cut the spread with a final move of FREeG(A)NS. Game three started cagily, before I pulled away with AgATIZE(D) for 104. This cued Mikki in for three bonuses in four moves (SNOUTEd, REEARNE(D) and A(R)MOIRES) to retake the lead. I then became unsure of the two sevens in ADELNTU, and played the fairly woeful ANTED for 39. This should have cost me, but fortunately a decent K score plus trapping Mikki with a V saw me squeak a 437-389 win. Mikki played FE(A)RSOME for 80 early on in game four, only to see me counter immediately with ZATI (96). He maintained a slight lead over a cagily played midgame, before bonusing with dEIFESt (71) on a tight board. My reply of T(E)ENAGER pulled me almost level, but a decent score for ADULT gave Mikki a handy 30pt lead. Holding EILNNOO, I opened a second bonus lane with LOIN/(ZORI)L, and was rewarded with a pickup of CESU. Mikki blocked the likelier of the bonus lines, ensuring that E(N)OUNCES (83) was good for the win.
The final game of the day saw me start with the easy GOATEED, only for Mikki to respond with pAUSERS and INTONAT(E), countering my second bonus of OdONATE. Decent scores with the Z and X kept me apace with Mikki's consistent scoring, before I took a decisive leave with PERIDIA. I then made a few blocky plays to ensure the win, although it was not a well played section of the game for me. The scoreline of 459-376 meant that I was 4-1 up overnight, needing only two more wins to progress.
Early bonuses of PENNANT and E(N)DOGENS, in response to Mikki's R(E)STRaIN, gave me a handy lead on a blocked board in game six. I then picked one of the most horrible racks I have ever seen - TUUVWYY! Luckily, I was able to play out of this, with YU (29), V(A)W (17) and BUY (24) leading to the much nicer rack of CEIIST? The subsequent bonus of STICkIE(R), plus a score of 40+ with the K, proved decisive. However, I needed to be vigilant in the endgame and block GNATTIE(R) with AFF - other moves tied or lost. I was hoping to wrap up the fixture in game seven, but missing SMORING (which I didn't know) and N(E)GROISM (which I saw but was not sure of) early on proved costly. My only bonus of RESTING (90) could not match Mikki's DALLI(E)RS, TONGERs and cHATTER, leading ultimately to a score of 381-487. Game eight started nicely for me - consecutive bonuses of APoL(O)GIA and S(P)OILAGE gave me a handy lead. However, Mikki had the consecutive CASSENE and FIeRIER, which gave him the lead after I was forced to change my rack of seven consonants. A vital score of 47 with the X game me the pre-endgame initiative, which I held onto as Mikki had an ugly final rack of JMNTUUU. The 6-2 scoreline doesn't reflect how close the match was - I actually finished with a negative spread, since both of Mikki's wins were by over 100! I thus qualified for the national quarter final stages, and regained most of the points lost the previous weekend (+3 taking me to 203).

The following weekend (the third in the sequence of four) saw me participate in the Nottingham Nomads tournament for the first time. The divisions are round robin groups of nine played over both days, with one sit-out per round; promotion and relegation take place following Saturday's conclusion. Prizes are awarded on both days; effectively, each day is a separate tournament. My first game, against David Webb, could not have started better: the first rack of AAEPRSZ giving me a nice 106 point head start! Sadly, YaKItO(R)I got blocked the following move, but I was able to play FOrKINg soon after. David managed OUTSTRI(P) and SWOO(N)IER, but I held on to win 462-368. Three bonuses against Phil Appleby took me to a 491-433 win, and I then did likewise against Wayne Kelly, winning 441-413 (including the anagram of PARTICLE). Two early bonuses of MOUSIEr and SAT(I)ATES saw me to a comfortable win against Di Dennis after she missed the possible 9x of wAR(S)LING. Four bonuses against Ed Martin, including ATHAnOR (the only bonus playable), saw me to a 486-377 win. Austin Shin's mODE(R)ATO and BANDAGe(S) put me on the back foot, but a late EROTICA - following earlier bonuses of AIRBO(R)NE and SENATES - gave me another high scoring win, 502-438. At this point, I practically the group winner, since the nearest contenders were two wins and a large amount of spread behind me. I was determined to keep winning, however, and bonuses of GROoMED and hEXACTS saw off Jared Robinson, 482-304. An easy start of ANODIZE (75) and (Z)ANJA (42) gave me a nice lead against Martin Harrison, despite missing GUERI(D)ON soon after. A good spot of KET(O)T(I)C as a 4x for 52 dealt with a tricky rack, and put me over 100 ahead. Martin soon struck back with VOI(D)aBLE, and we entered a tense endgame on a board with few openings 11 points apart, and ?SSSS not yet played! Fortunately, my play of TOE (12) from EEENOST blocked all possible bonuses for Martin, and picking a C gave me outplays in several places. It was my win, 399-384. This gave me a Saturday record of 8-0 +698, which meant that I had taken the division by four whole wins! I was later informed that this was only the second time in the history of the tournament that someone had won all eight games of the day in the top group. This was possibly the zenith of 2008 for me, Scrabble-wise - my tournament rating for the day was 235! My joy, however, lasted all of ten minutes when I found out how expensive the hotel bar was...

More to follow reasonably soon, including the second half of the Nomads tournament, and my first encounter with Nigel Richards (current World Scrabble Champion).

2008 - A Retrospective (Part 2)

Following Warrington, next up was the NSC(T) Northern Regional qualifier, held in Shipley. I'd managed to go 6-0 in the same event last year; however, it was seven games this time round. I won my first two games easily enough, despite mindlessly losing three turns in the process (especially bad was playing TROJANS* - eek!) I then got trounced by Wayne Kelly - one of those games that was unwinnable, although overlooking SEITANS near the end to reduce the spread was pretty poor. Another two lost turns in my next game nearly cost me, but bonuses of TEENDI(N)G and LeV(O)DOPA, plus some nice sixes (WITTOL and FRIGOT), were enough to clinch it. A nice score of 530 saw me to a comfortable win in the next round, helped by the nine PA(RE)NTAGE. I played READOR(N)S as a 4x too quickly in game six, missing a lovely placement for DROSERA, which would have netted 90+. My other bonus of FISTULAR kept me in it, but ultimately I lost to Craig Beevers, going over time in the process (a rare event for me!) I needed to win my final game to qualify, and managed to do so by 10 points against Ross MacKenzie - the nice NUCLe(I)D(E)S being my only bonus. I was thus through to the NSC semis, to be held in Birmingham in mid-September. My team narrowly missed out on qualification for the NSCT final, despite all three of our members doing well enough to qualify for the NSC semis! A spread differential of a mere 50 points shows how close it was.

My next event was the ABSP Masters - an invitational event for the top 16 players in the country, held in Staffordshire at the end of June. In practice, a few of the top 16 choose not to come for various reasons, so the field usually comprises of a select few from the top 25 or so. My early 2008 performances had taken me to a rating of 203, so I was seeded #1 for this event. Naturally, of course, I proceeded to lose my first three games to Wayne Kelly, Harshan Lambadasuriya and Stewart Holden. I was in good company - the #2 seed, Brett Smitherham, had done likewise. How often will you see the top two seeds propping up the table of any event? I was thus in real danger of failing to improve on my only other appearance in the Masters - a woeful 5-10 -300 odd in 2005. However, I then won my next four games, which included my best find of the day in BErGYLT against Martin Harrison - a Masters debutant who was doing exceedingly well (he would finish 3rd). I lost my final game of the day to Phil Appleby, largely due to missing both of the bonuses in my first rack of EELMRW? and playing the phony APHALI(A)N*. Sunday dawned well - I racked up 500s in both of the first two games against Phil Robertshaw and Brett Smitherham; though the latter caused me a bit of a scare when he came back strongly from an early 200+ deficit. I narrowly beat Paul Gallen, another Masters debutant, by one point in round 11, thanks to a well-spotted FUSt(I)ANS and Paul's phony of
EPITHE(T)A*. However, I then came unstuck against Mikki Nicholson, another Masters debutant doing very well (he finished 2nd). I did at least manage to get a nickel from him by extending ERUV to ERUVIN in the endgame :) Round 13 was definitely unlucky for me; a horrible game against Jared Robinson saw me losing by over 150. I did not help my cause by playing the phony RERAISER*. I managed to get back on track with a comfortable win against Ed Martin (529-333), thanks to a hat-trick of (D)ELEtION, INFaU(N)AL and UNSHA(P)ED. My final game against Craig Beavers saw me triumph by 460-448 - the only time in the game that I was in the lead! I was only able to win due to my final play of HEBONAS for 99, which Craig could not block - he had seven consonants and picked the second blank as the last tile from the bag! My overall record of 9-6 +203 was enough for fourth place, one off the money. Bizarrely, it was sufficient to gain me a ratings point.

Next up was the inaugural Carlisle weekend tournament. My rating of 204 was a new personal best for me; this of course meant that I lost my first two games! My loss of 355-425 against Darryl Francis was the first time in a good while that I'd failed to play at least one bonus in a tournament game. Gareth Williams then proceeded to beat me 547-355, meaning that I was dead last after two games for the second tournament in a row! I then rallied somewhat, winning my next three games - (B)LUNGeRS probably being my best bonus in this mini-streak - before losing the last two of the day. I conceded my second 500+ of the day against Ross MacKenzie - a well spotted CHOENIX on move one being his best word - before Jason Carney extracted a measure of revenge for the BEST R2 match by sneaking a 15 point win. It was most definitely a day to forget... . Sunday went much better - a 6-1 record for the day propelled me to a 9-6 record and £20 for third place, but it wasn't enough to stop my rating plummeting by 4 points to 200. I missed a 9x with AACEET? + H in fifth place - can you spot it? I did manage to play COLETIT(S), DeWPO(I)nT and OOTH(E)CaE in other games, however. My final play of the tournament was the nice clearout of
V(A)UDoUX (the bonus version would not fit!)

More to follow soon, with a bit of luck...

2008 - A Retrospective (Part 1)

The year began very well for me. I started with a 6-0 +577 record at Leicester, averaging 468 in the process. I had mostly pleasant racks throughout, although after two early bonuses against Russell Byers (TRAYNES and CEN(O)BITe) I was plagued with five vowels per rack thereafter. Luckily the board remained reasonably closed, so I was able to eke out a 3pt win. Words of the day included the aforementioned CENOBITE, plus playing eMEERAT(E), RIP(I)ENOS, (G)RACIOsO and PLAyBUS in other games. I failed to see the only seven in EEINSU?, sadly :(

My BEST quest(!) began in what was effectively Round 2 of the Northern Region, since I'd been handed a bye in Round 1. My opponent was Jason Carney. I was able to extend my winning run to 22 games (I had gone 12-0 in the Four Nations in December 2007, followed by the Leicester result) by winning 4-0. It was far from straightforward, though - I had some really clunky racks, and did not see a blank until the final game; which I failed to make full use of! Despite this, I was pleased to average 450 on the day. Early bonuses of (E)PISOMAL as a 4x and RECTORY, both scoring 90+, gave me a lead in game one that proved insurmountable even after Jason's 9x of ETOU(R)dIE.
A first move 4x of BEA(U)FET for 48, followed soon after by EXORDIA for 88, gave me a reasonable lead in game two, but Jason's bonuses of OLEARIA (90) and TYRONeS (76) should have given him the game. However, he played a move that involved forming (HIC)S* - he had the K on his rack, to make matters worse - and the lost turn was enough for me to score with the J and take the win. Game three saw me play the easy bonuses of OTARIES and TEATIME, plus decent scores with the J, Z and Q, allowing me a reasonably comfortable win, despite Jason's double blank bonuses. I missed SEAKALE (grrr) in the final game, but O(V)ERsPIN and MALTASE(S) proved enough to counter Jason's three bonuses of IRONIES, SAUTERN(E) and gROANER. A decent Z score proved crucial between Jason's bonuses.

I started my round three BEST match, against John Hardie, knowing that a clean sweep would equal Mark Nyman's record of 27 consecutive rated game wins. It started with a cracking game - my three bonuses of LOAMIER, FINGERE(R) and STARKES(T) outrunning John's TWiNTER, TA(B)ASHiR and COAEVAL (103); but not by much (489-441). My final move of GAMY (61) was critical. Game two saw me changing first up, then bonusing twice with RESINEd and VINEYAR(D) to give a healthy lead. From then on, I stayed in control - John managed no bonuses, while I always had a decent score to call upon. I got away with PUGHS* at one stage - missing UPGUSHED in the process - but it proved not to matter. Game three was a comfortable 467-268 win to me, although I didn't play my two bonuses of LONGEST and (C)ONSuMED until right at the end. So far, so good. Game four, however, halted my streak at 25 games - John had bonuses of ENDNOTe, (D)eLAYING and RIV(E)TERS, plus healthy scores with X, J, Q and Z. I could only manage ARSENAL and CORNETS. Playing the former instead of A(D)RENALS proved costly, as it handed John 50 for the X. Game five saw me suffer from double-blank blindness again - I thought for well over five minutes before playing the pretty lousy TiPpLES for 67 (admittedly, the board was not very open). My earlier bonus of VI(T)RAINS as a 4x for 94 saw me keep apace with John, who had played CALZONE (92). However, John threw away the endgame by playing a move that involved forming (SPATE)D*, when any out-in-two would have won for him. The let-off saw me take the game by a mere 9pts. Game six was very tense - I had RYO(T)WARI and SEZ for 54 early on, plus a later bonus of AREOLEs. John's bonuses of YE(R)SINiA and ENDITES saw us into another close endgame. Luckily, my out-in-two from a final rack featuring only one vowel scored enough to win, 427-421. I was thus through to the final of the Regional.

The next tourney up was Warrington. I started with a comfortable win against Chris Harrison (592-387), with bonuses of A(U)TOCRAT, AROUSED and REFLATE, plus a score of 106 with OYEZ. However, I then ran into Mikki Nicholson, who started with EPATANT, gRILSES and DORADOs, whilst I had clunky consonant racks. I managed a solitary bonus of DETRACT, and was able to keep the spread down to a reasonable 51 (442-493). Martin Harrison then started with sOREDIA, WAFTURE and BITEA(B)LE in the first five moves of the next game, meaning I was cooked long before the game finished. My solitary bonus of EnTICER was far from optimal, but again I kept the spread to reasonable levels (399-474). This was the first time in the past 21 games that I'd scored under 400.... From then on, I fought back with more clunky racks, including a nice 523-339 win over Paul Thomson, thanks to KITHE (65), SEAWALL, UN(R)OOTED, D(E)RIDERS and PhONYiN(G). I racked up 613 against Robert Richland, thanks to LAm(E)NTED (82), EUGEN(I)CS, TANGLER, TAKINGS and ZOOEY (81). I missed (T)ENACULA in the process... :( A narrow win over Darryl Francis gave me third place, having averaged 481(!) over the course of the day.

More to follow soon, hopefully...

2008 - A Retrospective (summary)

Since I have now finished playing in tournaments for this year, I thought it might be worthwhile to cast a glance back at the events of 2008. A more complete look will follow in several parts; for now though, here is a brief summary, along with some of the more interesting bonuses I played over the course of the year.

A few stats:

- Games played: 156 (W104, T1, L51)
- Average score for: 439
- Average score against: 401
- Number of bonuses: 336
- Best winning streak: 13 (part of the 25 game streak that began in late 2007)
- Worst losing streak: 3 (this occurred three times in the year: at the Masters, end of Nomads/beginning of English Open, and at the Four Nations)
- Best score (self): 613 (vs. Robert Richland at Warrington)
- Best score (opp): 586 (vs. Harshan Lambadasuriya at Masters)
- Highest spread: +330 (in the 613 game above)
- Lowest spread: -228 (vs. Nick Deller at Nomads)

Some of the nicer words I played this year (in puzzle form):

- ACIOOR? + G
- ABLPSU?
- AILMOPS + E
- AIORRWY + T
- AACROTT + U
- ADLOPV? + O
- AAEGPRT + EN
- CDLUNS? + I_E
- BEGLTY?
- AFILNU? + N
- DOPTW?? + I
- CEHOOT? + E
- AAHORT?
- ACESTX?
- AAEFNR?

There are more, but those will appear in a later post :)

Four Nations 2008

In the end, it could scarcely have been any closer. Both England and Scotland finished on 27 wins from a possible 48, so it came down to spread. We edged it...by a mere 15 points! Ireland finished on 26 wins, so this must count as the closest Four Nations event in its short history. We were a bit guilty of thinking only ourselves and Ireland could win prior to the last couple of rounds, but an astonishing performance of 14-2 by Scotland against Wales pulled them well into contention.

The victorious members of our team each received a Collins English Dictionary, plus a souvenir mug. The dictionary is a massive tome - I will certainly have problems finding a shelf strong enough to support it! Transporting it home was no piece of cake either...

Anyway, a few comments about my games. Saturday was something of a disaster - I managed a solitary victory against the four members of the Welsh team, who were the weakest side on paper. The Q seemed to materialise on my rack at the most inappropriate times throughout Saturday, perhaps none more so when I drew CDQVW to join the IN I had kept! Two victories from three against Ross, Neil and Helen at least meant I had a few wins from very little to work with. My play of the day was undoubtedly OuT(PO)WERS as a four-timer for 102 against Ross - my only bonus of the game, as it would turn out.

After spending the extra hour granted by the clocks reverting to GMT in the hotel bar(!), Sunday started with perhaps the strangest game of tournament Scrabble I have ever played. My opponent was Allan Simmons (current BMSC and NSC champion). After his first four turns to my three, the score was 26-11 to him! All of a sudden, the game exploded into life, with the following remarkable sequence:

• Lewis: NIGELLA (74)
• Allan: AGISTER (87)
• Lewis: JEN(N)Y (45)
• Allan: ABATTOI(R) (62)
• Lewis: P(A)rANOID (149)
• Allan: FARADIS(E) (78)
• Lewis: QUIE(T)EN (64)
• Allan: (O)XY (59)
• Lewis: VUMs (60)

Allan finished the game with FRESHET for 91, taking the final scores to 551-522 in my favour. I will try to upload a board diagram at some stage - can't find a way to keep the formatting yet...

The rest of the day flowed in a similar vein for me. I won the first three games against Alex, Rik and Feargal from the Irish team, but then lost to Kevin in the final round - largely due to missing CUNEATE late on :( Kevin finished with an impressive 10-2 record - very well done to him!

My full list of bonuses:

• vs David Williams: SOLANIN, META(N)oIA, TONS(U)RED
• vs Gwynfor Owen: OUTE(A)RNS, CITROUS
• vs Chris Quartermaine: ANImATE
• vs Gareth Williams: (L)OAMiEST, RETRIES
• vs Ross Mackenzie: OuT(PO)WERS
• vs Neil Scott: THENARS, USTIONS
• vs Helen Gipson: DISSEAT, BORACIT(E), (T)RIPHONE (101)
• vs Allan Simmons: NIGELLA, P(A)rANOID
• vs Alex Balogun: CANCaNS, SEDILIA
• vs Rik Kennedy: GARTERS, (N)OnVALID, PE(A)RMAIN, AUREOLE(D)
• vs Feargal Weatherhead: ROPIEST, IDEAT(I)vE, POnDERS
• vs Kevin McMahon: TOREAD(O)R, bINIOUS

Overall, I was disappointed with finishing with a 7-5 record - only two games appeared to be genuinely unwinnable. It appears I only missed three bonuses over the whole weekend, including CUNEATE, which is not too bad.

Before I forget, I would like to thank Ross for organising the whole event, Amy Byrne for TDing with her usual aplomb and efficiency, and Ray and Julie Tate for their unstinting efforts with the computer and the running respectively. The atmosphere was very cordial throughout, but very competitive nevertheless! Many thanks to everyone who was there for making the event both memorable and enjoyable :)

First Post

This is the first post on my blog. I intend to put all kinds of Scrabble-related stuff on here, so stay tuned!

The final of the BEST 2008 knockout tourney will be played this weekend, between Harshan Lambadasuriya and Paul Allan - it should be a cracker. I lost 9-7 to Paul in the semi-final, largely thanks to chickening out of various valid bonuses. Here's a selection of them, in puzzle form:

a) IILTXY?

b) ABDEORS + R [ending with that R]

c) CCEIOPR + A [never heard of this - nice word though!]

d) DEILSTU + L

e) ADEIGLR + L

f) CEGINPS + I [not quite sure how you'd use this in a sentence...]

I did manage to play some nice words too - things like HACIEN(D)A for 106, BEsTRe(W)N for 158, MInIBAR, SOOGEED and the two nines D(OW)NTIMES and INTENSi(fY) in the final game. Sadly, this wasn't enough - I seem to have acquired the annoying habit of pulling dreck from the bag after each bonus I play at the moment...

Hopefully, coverage of the final will be available on the Internet Scrabble Club: www.isc.ro. In 2006 - the previous time the tournament was held - ISC hosted such coverage, which enabled observers to post comments and thoughts as the games were relayed on a tape-delay basis. It is both fascinating viewing and a great way to learn about the game.

Predictions? I think it will go right down to the wire. Paul has struggled a fair bit this year, but has regained confidence and form as the year has progressed. Harshan has turned in some terrific performances this year, including a 12-3 result at the Masters and winning his semi-final 9-3. I would give Harshan the edge, although there is almost nothing in it. Regardless of the result, we should see some topnotch Scrabble.

The following weekend is the Four Nations tournament, held in Glasgow this year. Each of the four home countries sends four players to compete against the other representatives. I will be looking to stage a repeat of my 12-0 performance from last year's event, although this will be a longshot(!) England took the trophy that time by 10 clear wins - let's see if we can do it again!