Fiona was the only East Berks player due to play in the 16 game Final Fling, and she was also a reserve for the main, gruelling, 27 game main event ("The UK Open").

On the morning of the UK Open, a space became unexpected available, so Fiona played in both tournaments. Her report of the two events is here :

I attended the main event (Division B) and Final Fling (Open Division) of the UK Open Tournament.

The main event was held over 3 days, and had 27 games.   I started well, winning 5 of 9 on day 1, but had a terrible day on day 2, only winning 3 of 10 games.  Day 3, everything went my way and I won 7 of the 8 games (one was so close that we had a recount - the result being I won by 4 more points than originally thought!), finishing on a respectable 15 out of 27 games, which, as someone starting towards the bottom of the division, I was delighted with!  I also managed to achieve an average score of over 400 per game (helped by the 9 timer - see below!).  I got one of the ratings prizes (awarded to players who have played above their rating) which was a nice bonus! 

The two day Final Fling did not go well for me, only winning 5 of the 16 games, although two of those wins were against much higher rated players - I think perhaps they become a little complacent when they see a low rating, but always nice to take a scalp or two :) 

Bonuses aplenty, with the highlight being my first tournament 9 timer - cABBA(G)ES for 167 points!  Most of the other bonuses were fairly common words, but I was pleased with SOSATIE (a South African meat dish), HENTAIS (one of the new CSW24 words), STOREYED which I wasn't sure of, and INFANCY and RIBCAGE which used less common letters.  Other words which were challenged by my opponents were PINNATE (a botany leaf thing), MANATEE (a sea-cow) and RENEGUE (probably more commonly spelt RENEGE). I did have a few dud bonuses challenged off too!

Here is Fiona receiving her ratings prize from Tournament Organiser, James Burley,  and the Hotel Manager. (Picture credit : Nicky Huitson).