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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 30 November 2023

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On the 18-19th November, Richard played in the A division of the ABSP Winter Matchplay held in Milton Keynes.  Here is his report :

Well done Richard - some very tough competition in deed.

Here is one of his boards.

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 19 November 2023

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In the first few days in November, Fiona played in 2 scrabble tournaments in Malta - here is her report - thank you Fiona!

The Malta Scrabble club hosts an annual tournament which is attended by players from all over the world.  I thought that some November sun, combined with Scrabble sounded much nicer than rain in Blackwater!   There were a number of tournaments – I attended the one day early bird, and the main three day event.  !  I was joined by a countdown friend, Tom, for the early bird – it was Tom’s first tournament and he’d spent the plane journey learning the 2 letter words!   I played people from England, Scotland, Ireland, Malta, Australia and India, and lots of other countries were represented too  – a truly international event

The warmup day didn’t go particularly well Scrabble-wise, but I played some lovely people and won 2 of my 9 games.   The main tournament was 25 games, and I won 10, but many of the games were very close and I finished with a positive spread which I think is a tournament first for me!  I also got my highest tournament score of 549, and averaged 392 points per game so despite the low win rate I was happy enough with how I’d played.  

Over 34 games there were lots of bonuses!   My favourites were SUIVANTE and DEADEYES, and my highest scoring bonus was ADJOINS for 117 points.  Others included DRACONES, MONIKER, TRITONE, SEAMIEST, ROTARIES, BLEMISH, TALENTED, UNREADY, HOARSER, RURALIST (twice!), TILLERS, SALLIES, TERRIES, MEALIER, MENDINGS, CURRANTS, INSOFAR, ROISTER, RUSTLING, SONNETS, SAURIAN, WEDGIES, UNSTAGED, RELISTS, STUNNERS, LISTENER, DETAILS, STOUTLY, AVIATED, IONISING, EGOTISE, SERRATE, ENTITLES, PEASANT, FAIRIES, OUTLIER, ABIDING

There was a 5 point per word penalty for challenges, so a lot of invalid words stayed on the board.  5 points shouldn’t be too much of a deterrent, but I did have one game where my unsuccessful challenge swung the game to my opponent!

The hotel was lovely, and there was a small sandy beach nearby which was deserted at sunrise.  The sea was the perfect temperature for a swim!  The Malta Scrabble club had arranged a meal out and a tourist day, and those were a lot of fun too.   I’d definitely recommend it if you fancy some winter sunshine!

One of my games – I didn’t challenge IFFS – I should have, it’s invalid!

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 15 November 2023

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These statistics cover the year running from the beginning of October 2022 to the end of September 2023.   Results are overleaf.  Winners were as follows:

Best improver for 2022-2023:     1^st Maureen Barlow

2^nd Maire Bennett

3^rd Keith Radbourn

Quarterly improver prizes:          Q1: Martin Stephens

Q2: Maureen Barlow

Q3: Gillian Cranston

Q4: Deborah Porter

Winter League:                          Division 1: Richard Spencer

Division 2: Fiona Titcombe

Division 3: Martin Stephens

The All-play-All:                         Group A: Graham Harding

Group B: Fiona Titcombe

Group C: Sharon Hewitt

Group D: Charles Parker  

Handicap:                                 Graham Harding

Highest game scores were:

Other players scoring over 500 points in a game were: Peter Tart (highest score: 518) and Pat Llanwarne (516).

The highest single moves were:

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Written by HG

Category: News

Published: 10 October 2023

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Best improver for this part of the year is Deborah, ahead of Pat and Fiona.   Welcome to Jim Macey, who played at the club many years ago.

High-scoring words:

·       112       JOLTERS/SHALLOW    Fiona

·       99        INJURER                      Graham

·       92        FESTIER                      Graham

·       97        SNOOZED                    Graham

·       90        WHARFAGE                 Helen

·       89        PRISONS                     Graham

·       88        QOPH                          Graham

·       87        BUSTIER                      Maire

·       86        RENAILED                    Graham

·       82        CRUSADED                  Helen

·       81        ROISTER                     Maire

·       78        LINKERS                      Maire

·       78        SAIDEST                      Maire

·       76        AUNTIES                      Maire

·       74        TRUDGED                    Maire

·       72        REWARDS                   Keith

·       72        STROBES                    Keith

·       71        REMATES                    Maire

·       70        NASTIER                      Maire

·       70        WRESTLER                  Maire

Other words: WASTERS 68 Maire, RETINAS 65 Maire, LINTERS 63 Maire, RENTERS 64 Maire, TRANCES 64 Maire, RATTLER 63 Maire, FIELDERS 62 Maire, SENORAS 62 Maire, LINTERS 61 Maire NEARSIDE 58 Keith, TRAITOR 58 Keith

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

·       PINNION 70 (invalid!) TRUSTING 63 ACCORDED 74 BARONET 76 REALISTS 70   Graham

·       BAITING 97 OCEANIC SOONEST WHELPING                                                  Graham

·       ENRAGES 90 ATELIERS 69 TENTAGE 77 SHARABLE 80                                 Graham

·       EQUABLY 93 TWINGED 82 BRISANT 93 GREENEST 61                                   Graham

·       ERECTING 74 TENAILLE 70 DIABETIC 70 VEALIEST 76                                   Richard

·       GOATIES 70 SCARRING 74 SEINING 87 FRO 52                                              Helen

·       MOSAICS 109 ENTITLES 66 DEPUTED 66 AWA 50                                          Helen

·       NEARING 74 TRAWLED 83 PAINTED 80 STUDIOS 68                                      Graham

·       SCARRED 77 FINAGLES 80 CONKERS 76 SOREX 52                                      Wanda

·       SPINIER 73 ROUNDER 74 HORNIEST 61 ABETTING 86                                   Fiona

·       TREATING 80 STRAINS 66 CODETTA 73 OLDSTER 73                                    Richard

·       AIRHEAD 66 OUTRACES 63 DEACONS 70                                                       Fiona

·       ENTRANTS 70 UNRIVETS 62 SATIRISE 61                                                      Helen

·       FANFARES 68 TRIDENT 69 STOUTER 67                                                        Helen

·       HUSTLER 78 RUNLETS 73 RIDGIEST 72                                                          Helen

·       REVEALS 75 CAROUSES 70 TARTLETS 77                                                     Wanda

·       SUNNIER 71 HERBIEST 86 ANEURIN 63                                                          Wanda

·       TAJINES 112 NOSHING 98 ASSIGNER 113                                                      Helen

·       TONIEST 75 DERANGE 86 NATTERY 83                                                          Helen

·       TRIOLITE 59 OUTRANCE 74 LARDIEST 66                                                      Richard

·       TWINKLY 83 TAENITE 80 OPERATES 63                                                         Helen

·       VARIETY 83 TENDERS 85 ISOLATE 70                                                Helen

Other things:

·       New personal bests:      Amanda 376, Fiona 551

·       9-letter words:               QUEENLIER 54 Graham DERANGERS 39 Helen