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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!
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Over the Easter weekend there were 2 back-to-back tournaments held in the Holiday Inn, Coventry.
The main event was a 23 game tournament starting on Saturday afternoon. Helen and Graham only played in the 11 game Warmup event starting on Good Friday.
The tournament was run as round-robin groups of 12. Based on initial rating, Graham was 11th out of 12 in division A that included several players of World Class standard and he won 4 games finishing 8th. His best game was one he lost with a score of 480 !
Helen played in B and, based on her initial rating the 2nd best in the Division. This Division was very tight ratings-wise as there were only 12 points of rating between top and bottom - anyone could win any game! After a couple of early losses Helen won all but one of her remaining games, including a narrow 3 point win, and managed to win her division. Her top score was a whopping 563 points! Well done Helen!
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Best improver for this part of the year is Maureen Barlow, ahead of Maire Bennett and Charles Parker. Welcome to Gillian Cranston, Amanda Lowe, Kate Lester, and Jen Brennan.
High-scoring words, lots for this quarter:
· 114 FADEINS Wanda
· 110 LAZIEST Helen
· 108 SHOWIER Pat
· 103 ZAIRE Graham
· 100 AMPUTEE Hepzi
· 100 BARMIER Helen
· 98 ANXIOUS Graham
· 98 REEQUIPS Joy
· 97 GENTIAN Helen
· 97 KERATIN Helen
· 96 DENTINE Graham
· 93 FRUSHES Graham
· 92 SILLIER Charles
· 91 OVERAGE Charles
· 87 SLATHERS Maire
· 87 WORRIES Joy
· 85 SHOWING Joy
· 83 BLUESIER Pat
· 83 IMAGINED Keith
· 82 BLEATER Maire
· 81 ATOMIES Keith
· 80 FORESTS Keith
· 79 DIPPERS Maire
· 79 SMELTING Maire
· 79 WELDERS Maire
· 78 MONETISE Charles
· 77 BEASTIE Maire
· 76 BIDDERS Maire
· 75 INSIDER Maire
· 74 RADIANS Graham
· 73 GAITERS Charles
· 73 HOSTILE Maire
· 73 LANCERS Maire
· 71 TOASTERS Maire
· 70 HINTERS Maire
· 70 RECOUNTS Maire
· 70 SAVAGES Maire
· 69 INDOORS Maire
· 69 POULTRY Maire
· 69 REDACTOR Charles
· 68 ASSISTED Charles
· 67 ENDURES Maire
· 67 FUNNIER Maire
· 67 MEANIES Maire
· 66 SAILERS Maire
· 66 STAGIEST Kate
· 65 STAINERS Maire
· 64 GOONIES Gillian
· 63 GEARINGS Maire
· 60 STAINERS Maire
· 59 ASSUAGES Charles
· 59 SPHINX Maire
· 42 FRIGGING Gillian
Many bonuses or high-scoring moves by one player in a game:
· AUTHORS 72 ONERIEST 62 ATTIRING 58 ONSIDES 64 ENQUIRED 70 Graham
· DABSTERS 72 FINKS 51 ADAPTING 71 FIX 55 LIONETS 71 Helen
· CLEAVING 79 WEIGHTED 98 CURLIEST 68 STERANES 74 Wanda
· ENATION 66 DERACINE 66 TRINDLE 84 AURORAE 67 Richard
· HALTING 74 IDEATES 79 BORANES 74 LEAKY 51 RAJ 52 Wanda
· ASUNDER 81 MALTIER 80 NACRITE 73 EX 54 Helen
· NAIFEST 76 ALSOONE 74 TROELIE 70 ENTRAPS 93 Helen
· QADI 52 AROUSES 75 EXTERNAL 98 DARIOLE 74 Helen
· TRAINER 65 BLOWIER 82 DOLINES 77 TIERCET 70 Wanda
· ZOUK 58 CREATURE 78 GAUJE 63 RESIANT 68 Helen
· AEROSOLS 62 ZEATINS 70 SCALIER 71 Richard
· DEPOSITS 61 SEARING 73 SKIRRING 76 Wanda
· EQUATES DORISES 70 COALING 68 Richard
· FIDGETER 76 CABINETS 86 SPRAYERS 63 Charles
· MORALIST 83 INDICTS 72 INTERNAL 72 Helen
· OIKETONE 74 ETALONS 76 DIAPENTE 83 Richard
· SMARTED 74 VEINIER 67 LAAGERS 64 Richard
· RECORDED 70 FAINTEST 72 Keith
· TARRIES 75 TAINTED 71 Hepzi
· Also:
· New personal best: Pat Llanwarne 516
· 11-letter (!) word: INJUNCTIONS – played by Kate, made from UNCTION … JUNCTION … JUNCTIONS … INJUNCTIONS
· 9-letter word: DEFAULTER 79 Charles
· A game between Helen & Wanda contained the following 50+ point moves: (Helen) SINUATES 59 RAIMENT 86 OURIEST 73, (Wanda) RAPLOCH 75 ZOOEAL 50 GROOMED 79 IFFIEST 79 JIVING 75
Name |
Old rating |
New rating |
Rating change |
P |
W |
D |
L |
Average |
Highest score |
Highest ever |
Maureen Barlow |
116 |
131 |
15 |
35 |
24 |
0 |
11 |
354.8 |
476 |
528 |
Maire Bennett |
77 |
89 |
12 |
32 |
8 |
0 |
24 |
299.2 |
390 |
448 |
Charles Parker |
104 |
111 |
7 |
34 |
13 |
0 |
21 |
335.0 |
409 |
509 |
Fiona Titcombe |
125 |
129 |
4 |
17 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
386.0 |
475 |
535 |
Wanda de Poitiers |
157 |
161 |
4 |
41 |
28 |
0 |
13 |
415.0 |
576 |
592 |
Richard Spencer |
172 |
176 |
4 |
29 |
24 |
0 |
5 |
435.7 |
571 |
625 |
Helen Harding |
172 |
174 |
2 |
41 |
35 |
0 |
6 |
428.8 |
543 |
597 |
Michael Spencer |
97 |
98 |
1 |
30 |
9 |
0 |
21 |
318.6 |
405 |
502 |
Pat Llanwarne |
139 |
140 |
1 |
20 |
12 |
0 |
8 |
357.9 |
516 |
516 |
Keith Radbourn |
89 |
89 |
0 |
34 |
8 |
0 |
26 |
278.6 |
382 |
418 |
Joy Wade |
128 |
123 |
-5 |
27 |
13 |
0 |
14 |
353.7 |
421 |
484 |
Graham Harding |
173 |
165 |
-8 |
45 |
33 |
0 |
12 |
408.0 |
573 |
661 |
Martin Stephens |
119 |
110 |
-9 |
21 |
8 |
0 |
13 |
328.6 |
415 |
477 |
Hepzi Rodrigues |
148 |
133 |
-15 |
29 |
13 |
0 |
16 |
368.8 |
499 |
554 |
Insufficient games – a previous quarter’s results, or 13 games in a quarter, needed to qualify |
||||||||||
Sharon Hewitt |
99 |
131 |
32 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
350.9 |
445 |
548 |
Mary Twomey |
99 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
430 |
Ann Shaw |
59 |
56 |
-3 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
213.3 |
239 |
317 |
Deborah Porter |
120 |
98 |
-22 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
294.0 |
295 |
542 |
Kate Lester |
|
101 |
|
6 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
303.2 |
363 |
363 |
Jen Brennan |
|
98 |
|
8 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
322.9 |
436 |
436 |
Gillian Cranston |
|
94 |
|
15 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
351.7 |
427 |
427 |
Amanda Lowe |
|
87 |
|
26 |
5 |
0 |
21 |
290.8 |
373 |
373 |
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Congratulations to the 3 divisional winners of the Winter League - Richard Division A, Fiona Division B, and Martin Division C.
(Sharon had a better average than Fiona in Division B, but hadn't played the minimum number of games (17).
Played Won Lost Draw Win-Bon AvgBon Total AVERAGE Division A
Division B
Division C
During the season (up to the end of February, subject to bad weather etc), every player will have fixtures rearranged, broadly a range of different players each week. You may play some people more than once. A WIN is worth 10 points, a DRAW 5 points. Sadly nothing for a LOSS.
If you beat a player one Division above you, you get a 10 point bonus (WIN-BON). If you have beat a player 2 divisions above you get a 20 point bonus.
If anyone, winner or loser, in any division, exceeds their average score they will accrue a 5 point bonus. (AVG-BON). It doesn’t matter if you can’t play every week, as the total scores are averaged by the number of games played to see who won the league.
Promotion / relegation for those that play more 17+ games.
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Over the weekend of the 27-29 January, 6 East Berks Players travelled to Shanklin, Isle of Wight to take part in two 10-game Scrabble tournaments.
There were 44 players taking part from mainly Southern England, but there were players from further afield including Staffordshire and the Isle of Man.
Players were split into 4 all-play-all divisions, with promotion and relegation for the top and bottom two prior to the second tournament.
For the first tournament Richard and Graham played in A, Wanda and Helen played in B. Maureen played in C and Pat in D. The fixture computer had a sense of humour as one point Richard was playing Graham when Wanda was playing Helen. We thank Steve Perry for taking this photo with all 4 players deep in thought!
At the end of the first tournament, prizes were awarded for the top 3 in each division. Helen, despite a poor start, arranged to win 6 games and secure a small monetary prize for third place. Maureen unfortunately had a poor set of results and was relegated joining Pat in Division D for the second set of 10 games.
The movement of players meant everyone had a few different opponents for the second tournament. This didn’t make the games any easier though! Everyone struggled initially, but Helen and Richard put together a winning streak of games late on to bolster their respective positions. Helen just fell short of finishing 3rd again in Division B, but Richard overcame strong opposition to finish third in Division A.
Here is Richard receiving his prize from Steve Perry.
All in a good weekend, great food, fine views across the sea… just the Scrabble could have been better for one or two of us.
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