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).