During the weekend of May 20/21, Fiona played in the A division of the Scottish Open. Here is her report and a couple of her boards :
I headed up to Edinburgh over the weekend of the 20 and 21st of May to play in the Scottish Open - fourteen games played over two days. I'd entered the Open division to hopefully get some games with (much better) friends who were playing. As the second lowest player in the division (some 20 rating points below the third lowest player) I had no real expectations - I hoped I'd win a couple of games, but was prepared for that not to be the case!
My first game went quite well - I didn't win but felt I played well, and kept my opponent, the event organiser, Simon Gillam, in touch for most of the game only losing by 15 points, so felt reasonably happy, especially as the tile bag had been favouring my opponent. My second game was against the top player in the division, Wale Ilori, and this time the tiles definitely favoured me and I took a comfortable lead. Three bonuses - EASTING, WASHIER and BITCOIN secured me my first win - one I definitely wasn't expecting! My next game was against the number 3 ranked player, Chris Cummins. Chris and I have a lot of mutual friends so we'd had a good chat before we started playing. The start of the game was back and forth with me trying an invalid bonus (a South African word - boeties - the scrabble valid version is apparently TOEBIES!) and Chris changing his unfriendly tile draw. The rest of the game went well, and I played DITSIEST (I wasn't sure of the S spelling but it was good!) PLANCHED and MOORAGES for my second unexpected win of the day! On a bit of a high, my next draw was James Burley, a friend of mine. He annihilated me with a defeat spread of 320 points! I was back down to earth with a bump! I lost my next two games against Amy Byrne and Peter Hill, but both were fun, close games. My next game was Marion Keatings. It was a very close game throughout, with me managing to edge away at the end thanks to remembering that ABA took a C end hook giving me a nice play over the TWS. The last game of the day was against Peter Hill - another close game, but this time he prevailed! I was very happy to finish the day on three wins!
My first game on Sunday was with another friend, Stu Harkness, who'd driven me to the venue and often gives me scrabble tips (he had taught me ABAC which had won me the game against Marion). I was quite pleased with my bonus play of GOURMETS, but I think his reply of WINGNUTS through the TWS was the nicest bonus I saw over the weekend. I was thoroughly outplayed for the rest of the game, and he got a convincing win with a spread of 252. My next game was against Terry Smart, the only player in the division with a lower starting rating than me - I felt pressure to try and beat him, and bonuses of ROOTLETS and TANKERS secured me the win. My next opponent was James Squires, who I knew of as one of the youngest countdown contestants, having appeared on the show when he was only 8 years old! My single bonus of CORRIES wasn't going to be enough and he beat me fairly easily. Another defeat followed at the hands of Colin Nicol, who was very friendly and pleased to have a new name to add to his opponent spreadsheet! My next game was a rematch with Terry, and I managed two bonuses, STORIES and RELINES to get another win. My next game was Colin Northmore, another very good player. We were well matched throughout the game with him bonusing with PINDARI and me replying with ASSONATE. The game was extremely close, and for the first time in competitive scrabble my tracking had worked for me and I could manage the end game. It was somewhat nervewracking as I couldn't remember if dil was valid (it isn't!) and if it had been, he could have won! As it was his play of LI with his final tile gave me a 3 point win. It was definitely the most exciting game for me of the weekend. My final game was a rematch with Peter, and once again he prevailed, with a lovely bonus of DEPECHE.
Overall I was very happy with my 6 wins which by far exceeded my expectations, and delighted to win the ratings prize! All the people I played and chatted to were exceptionally friendly and welcoming - I'd definitely recommend a trip to an Edinburgh tournament if you get a chance!
Well done Fiona!
