Richard played in the 23 game Easter event held in Coventry. The tournament was played to a 5 point challenge, which means if a word is challenged and is correct, it scores an additional 5 points. It also means that the boards below might show an illegal word, as the would-be challenger did not want to give away an additional 5 points for a move that they thought was, on balance, probably valid.
Here is his report of those games :
I recently played in the Easter Matchplay Main Event in Coventry. It was a strong well run event with many Grandmaster and Expert players in the field and extensive commentary of the games on the ABSP Tournament You Tube Channel ( ABSP Tournament Scrabble UK - YouTube) . I was in division A along with 37 other players with 23 games played over 3 days.
I had a good first day with 4 wins from 6. Game 3 was the first of note against Jack Moran. Jack started well with Zorro for 48 on the opening move and ELATERIN for 62 on move 2 and after a second bonus of CORNUTED was 130 ahead. However I kept in the game with 30+ scores and then bonused with REPLANTS and DELEGATE to level up the game. Jack then played his third bonus of OTHERING which emptied the bag.
Unfortunately I couldn't find the only winning bonus playable from my rack of AELMSSU but it was a tough one that I didn't know -GAUMLESS down from the G of OTHERING. Jack calmly pointed out the bonus I had from his tracking..
After that setback I won games 4-6 -the closest being an 8 point win against Colin Northmore. Pleased with NIDOR for 27 that set up an outplay of TIES to clinch the win.
Day 2 was particularly demanding with 10 games played in the day! Not only that but 9 of my 10 opponents were higher rated and the other one just a point below. I had to therefore play at my best to navigate the day. The first of these was a loss. Started with KATSINA on move 1 but consecutive bonuses of TARSEAL and NIPTERS plus YFERE for 45 and JONES for 45 ended my hopes.
In game 2 it was a similar story against the top ranked player Harshan Lamabaduriya. His third bonus of TUNBELLY ensured a comfortable win.
Game 3 was better though as I scored well in the game with INSHORE for 78, JERID 53 and KAOLINES for 79(+5 challenge). Opponent bonused back with POLEMIST for 70 but I held on for a 439-416 win.
My second win came in game 5 against John Ashmore. Opened with KAURY and got 5 extra points for the challenge. After my bonus of INFANTE was met by his of ROUGHIE I then found MIRLY for 47 which won another 5 points for the challenge. Pleased that I was confident of the two fives as they contributed to my eventual win and likely decided the game.
Game 6 was also a good win. Against John Matthews I opened with EVERSION for 83 and then found ECDYSIAL for 70 for a comfortable win.
In Game 7 I faced a tough game against Elie Dangoor. I started well playing ZANIEST for 96 and then challenging off his UNTABLED. Unfortunately for me he got back in the game with TAVERING for 72 and QUA for 49 but I felt I should still win the game if I prevented him bonusing. My low scoring block backfired though with his excellent non bonus find of OPCODE for 42 scoring on the TWS and opening new lanes I had to defend against. Under time pressure I faltered playing another attempted blocking play and not realising he then had a nice overlapping play of MEALY giving him a 9 point win.
That loss and subsequent losses in games 8 and 9 meant I badly needed a win to get my confidence going again. The final game was against another Expert Rik Kennedy. After his second bonus of INCREATE I was still a tempo ahead and threatened out bonuses on two rows. He blocked both and scored well with PILAWS but after BRAID for 34 I scraped an 8 point win. This left me with 8 wins from 16.
The final day started with a loss in a one sided game with opponent getting three early bonuses. Game 2 was a good game against James Burley with two bonuses each. I was just behind. ZINC for about 50 looked the obvious play but then spotted NIZAMS was better getting the Z on the DLS in the triple lane. This scored 80 so gave me a healthy lead. CORSIVE for 30 helped close the board down and defended to win 482-428.Followed this by winning game 3. Found RIANCIES through a floating C to win 469-423.
Unfortunately was unable to capitalise in an entertaining Game 4 against veteran David Shenkin. (Board 3). After we both changed twice David's bonus of RECITAL was met by my CZARINAS. After his second bonus of INDOORS I came back with ERUPTING only to be met by his third bonus straight after of DOLOMITE, a nice spot by him with the blank as an M. However, I kept the game close and after my third bonus of LAUNCHED led 404-350. David then played his fourth bonus of DIVERTER. The game was close to the end so I challenged on the 5% chance it wasn't good. That mistake giving him an extra 5 points for the challenge would come back to haunt me!.
After my WAE for 38 and his THAN for 16 it was 457-442 to David. My final rack was an unpromising EEEGIOM and I saw David had SOVIET plus an E remaining. Looked like I had to block the high scovring SOVIET spot hooking JOB so played EGO. David then hooked PIN to play SOVIET for 27. After my ME for 31 and his REG outplay it ended 494-490 to David. Had I not challenged I'd have won by a point!
The next 2 games went well with two wins -in the penultimate game against Ruth McInerney I was pleased with successive plays of EUCLASE, YEARLONG and then TAKHI. Two of these words were challenged but were fine. The final game was a tough game against Chris Vicary. He confidently played VENDOSE on move 2 which I had doubts over but took too long to challenge! -it turned out to be a phony and this proved crucial late on as he won by 433-410.
Overall however, I really enjoyed the tournament and was happy with the way I played and my time management. I finished on 12 wins from 23 giving me a placing of 18th out of 36.and I rose by 2 ratings points with a good tournament rating of 165.
My regret was that a better result of at least 14 wins was achievable here and would have ensured a top 8 finish. It was just a shame I made several errors that cost me some wins but I will learn from the experience gained of playing so many high level players during the event.
Word highlights were, Me - BROMISES, HINDGUT, INAURATE, KATSINA, KAOLINES, ECDYSIAL, DISENROL, RIANCIES, EUCLASE, YEARLONG, NIZAMS, MIRLY, KAURY, TAKHI
Opponents - CORNUTED, TUNBELLY, POLEMIST, TENNIST, RIBLIKE, OPCODE, SERPIGO, DOLOMITE, GUERITE, RELUMINE
Well played Richard- some tough games over the weekend - and lots of unusual words too!