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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 22 September 2023

Hits: 379

A big thank you to everyone who helped at the Bracknell Wellness Day today (Wanda, Deborah, Hepzi, Joy, Amanda) .

Lots going on, yoga, tai chi, silent discos, Scottish Dancing, glass painting.

Here are a couple of photos we took including the 'star' of the day, assistance dog Ned - who said 'hello' to everyone there!

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 24 August 2023

Hits: 356

Four members from East Berks took part in a a three-division one day event in Oxford.

Pat played in Division C, and finished mid-table. The division included 6 new tournament players, and many of them were very good indeed. Also in that division, former club member Ann Connolly won the rating prize.

Helen played in Division B – where there was a wide geographical range of players (from the Isle of Wight to Stafford).  Helen was second or third in her division throughout the whole tournament, and managed to win her last game, and gain top spot when it mattered ! Well done Helen. Also in that division, former club member Ann Connolly won the rating prize.

In Division A, Graham got off to a bad start losing his first two games, but after winning 4 consecutive games, he was vying for third place with Richard. Richard had a truly amazing game partway through the day. His opponent started with FOUR bonuses, but Richard had FOUR bonuses himself during the game and came out the victor 523-505. A copy of this board is provided below.

The final round saw Richard and Graham playing each other, and a late bonus from Richard (VINTNERS) secured a win which gave him third place.  Graham’s loss was still enough to secure a rating prize.

So we had 4 club members taking part and three went home with a monetary prize. Well done ! Roll on next year !

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 21 July 2023

Hits: 393

Best improver for this part of the year is Gillian, ahead of Hepzi and Graham.

High-scoring words:

·       131       ASTEROID                   Graham

·       116       BITTERS                      Helen

·       109       RETAINS                      Maire

·       106       NOURISH                     Gillian

·       104       METRICS                     Graham

·       96        GUILTED                      Maire

·       95        DECIMAL                     Graham

·       94        TRIBADES                    Graham

·       92        BOXIEST                      Graham

·       91        SHACKLE                     Joy

·       90        BLESSED                     Helen

·       86        BANTERS                     Maire

·       86        TRAINED                      Maire

·       85        WASPIER                     Maire

·       84        MASKERS                    Michael

·       82        RECRUIT                      Fiona

·       81        SOONEST                    Gillian

·       81        TARRIES                      Maire

·       81        WINKERS                     Maire

·       80        RECOVERS                  Charles

·       77        STRINGS                     Keith

·       77        USHERED                    Charles

·       76        DONEGAL                    Richard

·       76        QUIZ                            Gillian

Other words: MINSTER 75 Maire, SHIVERS 75 Maire, TASTIER 75 Maire, TOASTER 74 Charles, SAUNTER 74 Maire, PARENTS 74 Keith, ANTENNA 73 Gillian, GOATEES 73 Fiona, NETTERS 73 Maire, RETINAS 73 Keith, SCARLET 73 Charles, FORMATS 72 Gillian, SLUICING 72 Charles, ORATION 71 Charles, RINSERS 71 Maire, GENTLER 70 Charles, SPRINTS 70 Maire, TRADERS 70 Maire, DRAINER 69 Maire, EQUATED 68 Keith, DERAILS 67 Maire, DESIRES 67 Maire, RINDIER 66 Keith, BEASTIES 65 Maire, FOGGIEST 65 Gillian, LEANEST 64 Maire, UNITERS 64 Maire, HIDELESS 63 Fiona, RETRAIN 63 Maire, SWEATER 63 Maire, ONSTAGE 61 Gillian, URBANISE 61 Maureen, FEZ / ZIT 60 Charles, NOTATES 60 Charles, NONSENSE 59 Keith (about the lowest score you can get with an 8-letter bonus!)

Many bonuses or high-scoring moves by one player in a game:

·       DETAINED 74 VERDANT 74 DEVOUTLY 80 AWAITING 66 KNITTERS 76   Graham

·       MENTIONS 70 DUPLETS 79 SANDING 74 ARRIVER 74 QUINTAS 76                    Graham

·       ASTROID 69 VARIOLES 83 UNIDEAED 72 LENITING 60                                   Richard

·       ORIENTS 72 LINEAGE 91 TONSURE 61 REREADS 87                                     Helen

·       PEELERS 78 VARIATE 70 STEARIC 79 NOMADIC 78                                       Richard

·       SPITTER 66 TINGLES 73 EARSHOT 85 CAZ 75                                                Helen

·       BISTROS 87 HEALTHY 85 ROSINATE 84                                                         Graham

·       CARTONS 66 CRUSTIER 72 ADDITION 63                                                       Charles

·       GHOSTER 78 MOTTIES 77 RETSINAS                                                             Wanda

·       ORNATER 66 STEAMIE 99 DISCASE 79                                                           Wanda

·       POMADING 64 OAKY 71 TROADES 79                                                             Helen

·       SHOWERY (not a bonus) 64 GLITTERY 89 BLEARING 74                                 Helen

·       TANLING 73 REPTILIA 85 NORITES 72                                                            Richard

·       TRIAXON 92 SNIRTLE 78 ENCLOSED 61                                                         Helen

·       ENTERING 63 VARIOUS 77                                                                              Jen

Other things:

·       New personal best:        Gillian 448

·       9-letter words:               ESTRANGED 61 Graham, GRAINIEST 33 Keith

·       An unusual word:          CADENZA 36 Charles

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 25 May 2023

Hits: 484

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!