Over the weekend of the 10th and 11th of August, there were 2 one day Scrabble tournaments in Oxford. The weekend was one of the hottest of the year, but the air-conditioned room made for a refreshing atmosphere. Players came from Edinburgh, Kent, Southampton, Staffordshire as well as more local Oxford and Berkshire players.
The first tournament consisted of three divisions of 16, with seven games to be played.
Helen played in Division A, Richard and Graham in B, and Pat in Division C.
Pat probably wished the tournament could have ended after 3 games, not 7, as she won her first 3 games, including one by 223 points – Pat scored 514 ! Pat then lost the remaining 4 games, finishing with 3 wins and a 10th place finish.
In Division A, Helen probably wished the tournament could have started AFTER the first game. She was drawn against the top rated player, and lost by 197 points – ouch! Her luck didn’t change much during the tournament, and her two wins came against the two players who finished below her at the end of the tournament. One of which she beat by 4 points, this followed a game which she lost by 6 ! Some very close games indeed!
In B, Richard and Graham matched each other game for game both with 4 wins from 5 games. Richard then had to play a local Oxford player, who had a much lower rating than his 40 years Scrabble experience would suggest. The ratings were wrong and Richard had three bonus words laid against him in the first 3 moves! Not easy coming back from that.
Graham won his game, so played the Oxford player to decide the winner of the division. The game started with 2 bonuses each – Graham managed a third later in the game, and held on to win by 38 points, and won the division – well done Graham.
Day 2 had a different tournament schedule, groups of 8 players each playing each other. Pat, Helen, Richard and Graham were joined by Fiona and Megel.
Fiona and Pat competed in Division D and both won 3 games. This was a good performance by Pat as she was bottom rated in the Division. Fiona scored over 400 in 4 of her games, which included beating Pat in the last game of the tournament.
Division B was the only division with 10 players. It also contained the other 4 East Berks players. Fixtures were calculated after every round, and frequently there was at least one matchup of East Berks Players. Helen won 2 games out of 7 with a highest score of 449. Richard won 3 games including 2 with scores over 480!
Megel won 5 games during the day, with his lowest score being 389 against Graham. Graham lost his first game then went on a 5 game winning streak, beating a player who was unbeaten over the two days. In the last round, a King-of-the Hill round, Graham had to play the same player again, and lost but still finished second. Megel won his last game, which was enough to secure a ratings prize. Well done Graham and Megel.
Here are few of the more unusual words East Berks players played or were played against them and a couple of the finished boards :
TUTANIAS, FOSCARNET, PIEZO, CROZIERS, HOPDOG, SERPULID, TETRAPLA, SELENIUM, SUNDAES.
Note well : this final board contains the word GOY, which since 2021 has been invalid.
