My First International Scrabble Tournament

The 1998 1st Asia Pacific Scrabble Championship conducted on September 17-20, 1998 at the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was my first international stint after securing one of the slots in the qualifying tournament held in the Philippines.

My round by round account were as follows:

Round 1 vs. Patrick Carter (New Zealand)

Round 1- Final Board vs. Patrick Carter (New Zealand)

Patrick had two bingos, RUNAGaTE (68) and LARGEST (71) while I had only one bingo, tONITES (81). He capitalized the use of the last S in the endgame that proved to be the turning point of this game.

Loss: 373-397

Stats:
Bingo/s: 1
Goodies: ?SQZ










Round 2 vs. Suresh Chinnaiyah (Sri Lanka)

Round 2 - Final Board vs. Suresh Chinnaiyah (Sri Lanka)

Suresh, one of the five Scrabble players from Sri Lanka showed merciless scoring rampage with his three bingos, TRICHOME (104) in the triple, MOUTErED (62) and BILTOnGS (66). I was able to reduce the big margin with my ZAG (68), ALNAGES (72) and TAKY (63) from a setup play of NEW to hook the K to NUR, missing the best scoring KYAT.

Loss: 377-466
Bingo/s: 1
Goodies: SZ









Round 3 vs. Quek Sim Ho (Singapore)

Round 3 - Final Board vs. Quek Sim Ho (Singapore)

Finally, I have won a game, but it was not easy as Quek tried to come closer in the endgame. Good thing I found GELATO and caught him with unplayed tiles of PVD. We had two bingos apiece, AUTODYNE (66) and OPERAnD (71) for me, while Quek had AIRBaSE (80) and INERTIA (69).

Win: 439-423
Bingo/s: 2
Goodies: Z?SQ









Round 4 vs. Alex Tan (Malaysia) at Board 15

Round 3 - Final Board vs. Alex Tan (Malaysia)

Alex Tan hits an early BARONET (69), then it was a nip and tuck affair till I put down the only bingo, ASSIGNED (62) on a tight board for the victory.

Won: 384-336

Bingo/s: 1

Goodies: Q?SS

Round 5 vs. T.C. Tan (Malaysia) at Board 17

Round 4 - Final Board vs. T.C. Tan (Malaysia)

We traded bingos apiece at the start, ENDOWER (76) for him and STERILE (78) for me. However, I played two more bingos later, GEMINATe (83) and NITRATE (74), including a Z-scoring play of ZONA (49) to seal the win, my third straight.

Win: 432-353
Bingo/s: 3
Goodies: S?ZSS











Round 6 vs. Lakshan Wanniarchchi (Sri Lanka) at Board 12

Round 6 - Final Board vs. Lakshan Wanniarchchi (Sri Lanka)

This was my second setback from another Sri Lankan at the hands of Lakshan. My tABLOID (70) was answered by his cOTTAGED (80). He maintained his lead till the end. I also exceeded the time limit and was deducted with 20 points.

Loss: 302-375
BIngo/s: 1
Goodies: ?SSJS











Round 7 vs. Nadeem Omar (Pakistan) at Board 16

Round 7 - Final Board vs. Nadeem Omar (Pakistan)

HETEROs (103) hooking T to FIX gave me the upper hand in the pre-endgame to win this game. Earlier, we had one bingo apiece, WASTRIE (88) for me countered by his SLANTED (74).

Won: 431-338
Bingo/s: 2
Goodies: ZJS?S











Round 8 vs. Mike Sigley (New Zealand) at Board 11

Round 8 - Final Board vs. Mike Sigley (New Zealand)

I started with TREATED (70) and Mike laid down a parallel bingo, PURTIER (68). When he played SOL/FAVELLS*, I used this opening to play another bingo, TRITONE (65). Halfway through the game, I used my two blanks to score, MatZO (74).

Won: 490-354

Bingo/s: 2

Goodies: X??ZS

Round 9 vs.Butch Maniego (Philippines) at Board 7

Round 9 - Final Board vs. Butch Maniego (Philippines)

Butch's early mistake of UNEASED* was rewarded with DEfEATS (66) on his fifth turn. I pulled ahead when I hit OURARIS (65). His opening of VIAE gave me a nice DEOnTIC (90) bingo!

Won: 435-312

Bingo/s: 2

Goodies: SX?ZJ

Round 10 vs. Robert Jackman (Australia) at Board 5

Round 10 - Final Board vs. Robert Jackman

His lead started with my GRAVITY (28) that gave him the Q-scoring move of QUAIR/QI (76) followed by BAsINET (67) and never looked back. I had only one bingo, STOrEMAN (63). 

Loss: 347-398
BIngo/s: 1

Goodies: SSZS?

Round 11 vs. Pui Cheng Wui (Malaysia) at Board 8

Round 11 - Final Board vs. Pui Cheng Wui (Malaysia)

Pui tried AUXINITE* but it was challenged off. His first bingo went down with EUcAINE (66), two turns later. I spotted FINAGLED (84) and was comfortably ahead then he struck back with RESTRIKE (89) in the triple. I was slightly leading when I played NUTRIAs. In the endgame, my play of RES was a big blunder as he used it to play out with TIRL, ouch!

Loss: 392-420
Bingo/s: 2
Goodies: JZ?SS








Round 12 vs. Mohammad Ali Ismail (Malaysia) at Board 9

Round 12 - Final Board vs. Mohammad Ali Ismail (Malaysia)

A big spread win for me in this game having drawn two blanks in separate occasion, laid down MOLDINGs (94) and TZIgANES (101).

Won: 554-220
Bingo/s: 2
Goodies: ??XSSZJ











Round 13 vs. Harshan Lamabadasuriya (Sri Lanka)

Round 13 - Final Board vs. Harshan Lamabadasuriya (Sri Lanka)

Harshan had a perfect wins in the first day, but I was not discouraged. My first rack of VVMRAST compelled me to exchange VVM. He played OUTNESS (66). Having drawn good tiles, I immediately laid down CENTAURS (61), although it was a weak scoring move, I was delighted to have drawn the blank for my next turn. But then, Harhsan hit another bingo ADULTERY (74), to which I responded with OVErTIRE (64). After his YOM, I put down my third consecutive bingo, IRONIZES (124)! He took the lead when he spotted a nice FOUETTES (66). My power tiles helped me sustain the lead, BENJ (42), XI (36). Harshan tried to set up his H with SIN in the triple but I had the blank to preempt it.

Won: 479-437
Bingo/s: 3
Goodies: S?ZJX?





Round 14 vs. Suresh Chinnaiyah (Sri Lanka) at Board 5

Round 14 - Final board vs. Suresh Chinnaiyah (Sri Lanka)

Our second encounter in this tournament, Suresh seized an early lead with his two bingos, COUrIER (74) and a nine-letter-word DEAERATES (72) from DE. In the pre-endgame, he set up his G playing LOBE. I had only few options to block that spot, so I decided to play HEM to set up my own Z. Sure enough, my ZESTS/HEME (77) went in, as well as his own OLOGIeS/GLOBE (74).

Loss: 339-468
Bingo/s: 0
Goodies: XZSSJ








Round 15 vs. Nashad Najmudeen (Sri Lanka) at Board 7

Round 15 - Final board vs. Nashad Najmudeen (Sri Lanka)

A good start for me playing HECTARE (82). Nashad could not be denied with his OUtfALL (57) and ERODENT (66) a few moves later. His YIPES (44) gave him the edge in the endgame, while I was stuck with vowels.

Loss: 352-382
Bingo/s: 1
Goodies: QSXS










Round 16 vs. Tony Sim (Singapore) at Round 10

Round 16 - Final Board vs. Tony Sim

Tony commited an early mistake with WAURS/EEKS* but  it was compensated with his RESCUEd (92) and PIGNOLIA (62). My EARiNGS (77) was played in the pre-endgame only to reduce the margin, as he hooked it with letter B, playing BELL.

Loss: 363-447
Bingo/s: 1
Goodies: ?SZ









Round 17 vs. Tony Malonzo (Philippines) at Round 12

Round 17 - Final Board vs. Tony Malonzo (Philippines)

One bingo each, DARNING (65) for Tony and REtINAE (72) for me, as played in the middle game. My winning move was CURVEs (47) hitting the triple to survive this game.

Won: 380-377

Bingo/s: 1
Goodies: JQ?Z?










Round 18 vs. Tony Sim (Singapore) at Round 10

Round 18 - Final Board vs. Tony Sim

Just like in our first outing, Tony Sim started with two bingos, MOULTING (62) and VEXATION (88). Then kept the two blanks in his last move!

Loss: 314-420

Bingo/s: 0

Goodies: QSJSS












And so, I finished with 9 wins and 9 losses (+254 pts. spread) good for 25th place out of 58 Scrabble enthusiasts from the Asia Pacific Region.

The top two players, Bob Jackman (Aus) and Gerry Carter (Tha) contested the best-of-five final.

Full results and the final, in my next blog post. Stay tuned...

1998 1st Asia Pacific Scrabble Tournament News

(Appeared in Leisure page of THE STAR, Malaysian newspaper)

September 11, 1998

Local Scrabble goes international
by Wong Siang Hume

While the world's attention will be on the 16th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur for about two weeks starting with the opening ceremony tonight, Scrabble make its international debut in the country in the form of the first Asia Pacific Scrabble Tournament (ASPAT) from Sept. 16 to 20 at Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur.

Organized by Mattel in collaboration with the Malaysian Scrabble Association and Parkroyal KL, the tournament has attracted participation of the game's supremos from 11 nations.

Selamat datang to Aussies Robert Jackman (national champion 1993, 1996) and John Holgate (eight-time national champion who also played in four world championships, a record).

Haerernai ("welcome" in the Maori tongue) to Kendall Boyd (New Zealand Masters champion 1998, sixth in the world championship 1997) and Mike Sigley (twice New Zealand champion, and trice New Zealand Masters champion).

A warm welcome to Rashid Khan of Pakistan (national champion 1997 who played in the world championship 1997), Ronald Credo of the Philippines (national champion on 1996), Naween Fernando of Sri Lanka (four-time Gulf champion, rated world No. 19), Suresh Chinnaiyah (Gulf champion 1997), Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn (winner of 1996 Thailand Internatonal Championship), Singaporeans Tony Sim (1991, 1993 and 1995 representative to the world championship) and Michael Tang (1998 Singapore Open champion), and all players at ASPAT.

And a special syabas to Ken Nakai of Japan who at 67 is the oldest competitor.

How will Malaysia fare at ASPAT? A clean sweep is presumptuous, but I should say our chances are between fair and excellent. Here is a dossier of the Malaysian representatives.

Pui Cheng Wui: Arguably the best Malaysian player who won the last three local tournaments (the first and sceond Central Capacitors Scrabble tournaments, and the Zamri Majid Open). Top ranked in the country, the metallurgist is a player of unmatched vocabulary who emerged 32 (out of 80) in the last world championship in Washington DC.

Ganesh Asirvatham: At 19, our youngest representative. Won the Bentong Open 1996 and the YMCA Open this year. The top qualifier for ASPAT, Ganesh's game combines speed and a faultless eye for esoteric bingos.

Raja Fuadin Abdullah: National champion 1993 and 1997; represented Malaysia at the world championships in 1993 and 1997. Winner of Singapore Mattel Championship 1996. A solid Scrabbler who has played against the best in the world.

Kong Chick Heng: Won the second De La Salle Language Institute Invitaional, the first Datuk Fadzil Che Wan Challenge Trophy 1997, the third Parkroyal Masters 1997, and the inaugural Penang Open this year. ASPAT will be his first international outing.

Tengku Asri Abdullah: One of the most experienced champions in the country, having played in Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. Winner of many tournaments including the first Mbf Countdown card 1977 and the 1998 Hong Kah/St John's meet in Singapore. At the Diliman rounds in the Philippines last year, he scalped some of the world's best.

Alex Tan: Runner-up in the 1997 Diliman Rounds in the Philippines, losing narrowly to American Sam Kantimathi in a thrilling five-setter. He followed this up with his only title at the St. John's Institution Invitational in the same year. His game has mellowed from devil-may-care to staid and careful play.

Tan Teong Chuan: A veteran who represented Malaysia in the 1995 world championship, emerging 31 out of 64 world players. The player with the most local titles (including the Parkroyal Masters, YMCA Open, St John's Invitational and St John's Open) whose comeback to the competitive Scrabble has been smooth and easy.

Ong Yeam Chim: Although he has yet to win, Ong's fourth position in the Terengganu Parkroyal Open 1997 and seventh position in the ASPAT qualifying rounds show that he has improved tremendously.

Mohd Ali Ismail: Another veteran whose return to Scrabble has been marked by great success. He was the Malaysia's first rep at the inaugural world championships in 1991 held in the United States. He won the inaugural De La Salle Institute Invitational in 1995. In 1997, he was seventh in the national championship.

John Lam: This Mathematics teacher from penang won the Penang Closed in 1997. In the Penang Open this year, he finished fifth. ASPAT will be his first international experience.

Mohd Idrus Ismail: Won the national title three years ago, and was once second-ranked in Malaysia behind Raja Fuadin.

Azmil Abdul Aziz: A young player who plays good Scrabble. He won a junior title last year and slowly climbing up the ladder.

Leonard Wong: Winner of the 1994 Parkroyal Scrabble Masters and runner-up to Toy Sim in 1996 in the same tournament. He was a losing finalist to Raja Fuadin Abdullah at the Singapore Mattel Championship in 1996, third in the Hong Kah/St John's in last year's SCRC championship in Singapore.

ASPAT will be played on a modified Swiss-paired format of 18 games to decide the two finalists. Pairings for the first round will be random, but thereafter will be based on the rankings after each round (the first to play the second, the third to meet the fourth and so on).

For the first 13 rounds there will be no repeat, meaning that no player shall have to play the same player more than once. From rounds 14 to 18, the King Of The Hill format will be used where repeats (meeting the same opponent) may take place.

The tournament starts on Sept. 16 with registration, opening and cocktails. Six games will be played on Sept. 17, six on Sept. 18, and another six on Sept. 19. The two finalists (top two in the final rankings) will then play best of the five games on Sept. 20. Presentation of prizes is at 6pm.

ASPAT is co-sponsored by Parkroyal KL and Nestle Kit Kat. Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd najib Tun Razak is scheduled to open the tournament.

The public is welcome to watch the games; there will be closed circuit TV during the final playoff. Here's the full list of foreign competitors.

Australia: Robert Jackman, John Holgate, Sal Costanza, Zina Costanza, Barbara Berlin

India: Mohan Chunkath

Indonesia: Ricky Purnomo

New Zealand: Peter Sinton, Kendall Boyd, Mike SIgley, Nigel Richards, Howard Warner, Patrick carter

Pakistan: Rashid Khan, Wahid Iqbal, Anwar Siddiqui, Mushtaqq Inaye3tullah, Nadeem Omar

Philippines: Mario Miranda, Odette Rio, Ronald Credo, Virgilio Morales, Butch Maniego, Maida Manaog, Oscar Rivera, Ador Ruiz, Gerardo Leopoldo Onate, Antonio Malonzo

Sri Lanka: Naween Fernando, Suresh Chinnaiyah, Harshan Lamabadasuriya, Nashad Najmudeen, Lakshan Wanniarchchi

Thailand: Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn, Manop Phiphatboonserm, amnuay Ploysangngam, Arun Methaset, Gerard Carter

Japan: Ken Nakai

Singapore: Thong Liew Kee, Michael Tang Tun Kin, Cheah Siu Hean, Quek Sim Ho, Tony Sim, Joe Mohd Abdullah