Thursday, February 05, 1998

13th Brand's Kings Cup Crossword 1998

 Joel Sherman of the U.S.A. who won this year's King's Cup is reporting:

From the desk of G.I. Joelgernaut:

"I'm nearly finished recovering from my jet-lag and my cold, so I'll type in the final position table printout that Ravee Joradol gave me."

"Every year a couple of new names rise to prominence in Bangkok, and this year was no exception. Manop Phiphatboonserm has been playing several years, but was rated in the 1700's coming into this tourney. Apparently he has improved significantly of late as he defeated several other strong players in late round games to remain in contention to reach the final match until round 29 when I was able to beat him handily. This win moved me into 3rd place and left me with one last chance to gain a spot in the final."

"The tourney was arranged with 30 preliminary rounds after which the top 2 would play a best of 3 game final match, but with a twist: if one player won the first two games it was over, but if first two were split, the winner of the match would be whoever had the higher margin for the three games combined, so the winner of 2 of 3 games might not actually win the match. The remaining players who did not qualify for the final played a 31st round to determine final standings. Scoring was done soccer style rather than chess style -- that is, a win was worth 2 points, tie 1 pt., loss 0, instead of 1, .5, and 0."

"With one preliminary round remaining, Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn at 44 pts., who had clinched his position in the final after rd. 27, was to play another new young star, Eakapun Erbprasartsuk at 41; while I sat 3rd with 40 pts. and was matched against 4th place Ong-Arj Jaruwan at 38 pts. for the 5th time in the tourney! Ong-Arj also played Larry a couple of times. Ong-Arj had won the first three of our matchups, and I had taken the 4th late in the event to move ahead of him in the standings. This time I had all the tiles and swamped him with a 500+ game, while on board one, I caught a break when Charnwit revenged his earlier loss to Eakapun and prevented Eakapun from staying ahead of me, allowing me to reach 2nd place just in the nick of time and setting up the final match between Charnwit and myself. In the final match, I basically had no brainer tiles, and won easily two games to none."

"In the prelim rounds, Charnwit finished 1st with 46 points on a 23-7 record and spread over 1400 if I recall correctly, while I took 2nd with 42 points on a 21-9 record with a spread just over 1000. The rest of the records are clearly delineated on the printout Ravee gave me. In addition to some names you will already recognize and Manop and Eakapun, the following are players to watch out for in coming years: Marut Siriwangso, Wisit Rattanachairith, Wanchana Khunsungnoen, Games Sakdiyagorn, Roongroj Harinworrarop, Natthakrit Keskaroonkul, Santi Cherdchaithamrong, and Purinth Vuttichairerk."

"Transliterations from Thai to Roman alphabets are inconsistent at best, and I did not actually meet all the players in the open division, but I think it is clear from some of the names below (note finishers #12 & 30; 22, 53 & 33; 43 & 64) that our favorite crossword game is just as much a family affair in Thailand as it his here."

Positions after Round 31

Rank Name                       Ctry    Points    Spread
 1   Joel Sherman               USA
 2   Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn THA   
 3   Manop Phiphatboonserm      THA     42        1164
 4   Eakapun Erbprasartsuk      THA     41        1343
 5   Jakkrit Klaphajone         THA     40        1179
 6   Marut Siriwangso           THA     40         800
 7   Ong-Arj Jaruwan            THA     38        1046
 8   Amnuay Ploysangngam        THA     38         688
 9   Wisit Rattanachairith      THA     38         632
10   Sam Kantimathi             USA     38         562
11   Thavachai Thivavarnvong    THA     37        1386
12   Wanchana  Khunsungnoen     THA     36        1236
13   Games Sakdiyagorn          THA     36         763
14   Ekalux Deeroongroj         THA     36         377
15   Robert Linn                USA     36         347
16   Roongroj Harinworrarop     THA     36         280
17   Natthakrit Keskaroonkul    THA     36       -  82
18   Santi Chardchaithamrong    THA     35       + 595
19   Purinth Vuttichairerk      THA     35         450
20   Gerry Carter               UK      34         979
21   Apithai Hemachudha         THA     34         405
22   Apirat Choomai             THA     34         387
23   Rakkiat Rattanamanee       THA     34         353
24   Larry Sherman              USA     34       -  55
25   Brother Arun Methaseth     THA     33       +  84
26   Pakorn Nemitrmansuk        THA     33          62
27   Thien Termpaisit           THA     33          54
28   Thadthong Deedamrongchai   THA     33       - 209
29   Sumith Suriyaroj           THA     32       + 830
30   Arthit Khunsungnoen        THA     32         824
31   Narong Kriengprarinyakij   THA     32         639
32   Gerardo Onate              PHI     32         321
33   Apichart Chumai            THA     32          25
34   Charae Worapojpisuth       THA     32          23
35   Surachai Boonchamnarn      THA     32       - 675
36   Prinya Noppakao            THA     31       + 537
37   Wissavich Jitrtavornkul    THA     31         375
38   Kittikorn Issariyakamol    THA     31         334
39   Tepparit Vichayasiri       THA     30         506
40   Delio Dimaano              THA     30         192
41   Sittisak Chaisooksun       THA     30       -  79
42   Thaneth Suppapitthayatorn  THA     30       - 120
43   Weeranee Tanasarnwimol     THA     30       - 199
44   Wattana Thipvarakarnkoon   THA     30       - 452
45   Jade Boonyawongviroj       THA     30       - 687
46   Visan Vongthanasunthorn    THA     29       + 485
47   Worapong S. (same as 51?)  THA     29          26
48   Jakkrit Thiptanasup        THA     29       - 140
49   Wasuwat Chandaeng          THA     29       - 803
50   Antonio Malonzo            PHI     28       + 147
51   Woranuch SanguansereewanichTHA     28       - 374
52   Surachaste Boonyasatian    THA     28       - 519
53   Tanawat Choomai            THA     28       - 666
54   Prachya Pitapho            THA     28       - 733
55   Maytha Sathirarat          THA     27       - 767
56   Wichitsak Phensiri         THA     26       - 285
57   Kamnuan Risukumarn         THA     26       - 397
58   Boonwat Sirirattanapun     THA     26       - 557
59   Chatchawin Petchlert       THA     26       - 651
60   Srisamorn Cheowteerakul    THA     25       -  74
61   Katika Saisenee            THA     24       +! 28
62   Kittipong Promchan         THA     24       - 553
63   Yingyong Waitayamonkol     THA     24       - 644
64   Maneeda Thanasarnwimol     THA     23       -  70
65   Navee Anguspootpan         THA     23       - 144
66   Yuttana Puranun            THA     23       -1443
67   Sugrit Buddhirakkul        THA     21       - 138
68   Boon-oom Mongkolnit        THA     21       -2502
69   Boontham Pomwong           THA     20       -1424
70   Piyada Na Lumpoon          THA     20       -1555
"We started with 87 in the open division, so I guess a few of the lesser performers dropped out before the end, as only 70 were listed on the final printout. Srisamorn (60th) is a woman who looks to be mid- to late 40's, and there were at least two much younger women also playing in the Open Division whose names I didn't get because they were not wearing their ID tags when I was watching them, but none of the ladies ever seemed to be playing at a table in the top half of the pairings. That's all for now, travelog later, still need more sleep."

G.I. Joelgwearetheworld


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