(Andrew Fisher from Australia shared his WSC 2007 experience.)
Mumbai part one
Safely back from Mumbai, where I earned 16th place thanks to my respectable spread (top of the players on 14 wins out of 24). Another win would have been nice, putting me into the top ten, but given that unlike London 2005 I was hardly among the top tables it's probably a fair outcome. There were also many extremely good players below me on this occasion, including Panupol about 50th after losing the last six games, Logan well below expectations etc. Joanne Craig was also an outrageously low 80-odd (lurking among the non-native English speakers) and could easily have been a lot higher.
The Hotel Supreme gives good website. The reality (in my case) is that the room was grubby and primitive, with an ancient Frigidaire in the corner unusable due to the lack of a plug socket anywhere near it; a shower in the form of a spout (I didn’t discover until day 2 that you had to turn the water heater on) which gave onto the floor adjacent to the toilet, the water draining away or drying naturally in the heat; a barracks-style bed which was not made throughout my stay, nor was my bin emptied or anything whatsoever cleaned; a deafening air-conditioner, peeling paint, etc. The view from my toilet-cum-shower was of a building site, and I found it extraordinary that people worked until at least 11 at night and seemed to sleep and live there. There was no mechanisation, and from my observations it would take three people to hammer a nail into a piece of wood (one to hold it, one wielding the hammer and a supervisor). The lobby has a circular aquarium on the point of collapse containing several large fish. The hotel also has a restaurant named Seven Seas which is gloomy and unappealing – on the first night there Howard Warner spilled a glass of lassi over the table, which the waiters decided to leave to soak and sink in – on the following morning there was a sticky stain on the floor under the table which was evidently the remains. Curious that other rooms were cleaned from time to time while mine remained untouched, but at least I was given the favour of a morning paper placed outside my room on most occasions (most others did not have this boon). However, before too long I was accustomed to the conditions in light of the poverty visible on the streets – it was not unusual to see people sleeping on the roadside, and there are clearly not enough resources to make ends meet among the population. And you get used to it, especially when you don’t spend much waking time there. I certainly don’t resent the miserable conditions (by western standards) and it was a case of adapting to Mumbai life. Bizarrely (in a case of making jobs for people) there were door-wallahs opening up entrances throughout the hotel, plus a lift-wallah, various other flunkeys here and there, and several eyes boring into you should you set foot in the restaurant.
I had been taking malaria tablets, but the only mosquitos I saw throughout my stay were in the taxi on the way from the airport. I shared with Howard, having by chance met most of the NZ team after emerging from the plane. These were fat and lazy insects, easily crushable by hand (giving up globs of copious blood). The traffic seemed appalling, with vehicles flying here there and everywhere at all conceivable angles in front of and around the taxi, gaps frantically being gone for, multiple near misses, and all with the blithe unconcern of the grinning driver. This turned out to be normal on the streets of Mumbai (there was even a debate in the papers about the merits of using seatbelts, and motorbike helmets are clearly not compulsory either).
An incredible, busy and overpopulated city.
On the first day we didn't feel up to much, and just bummed around taking advantage of the hotel's extensive facilities. Next morning I went shopping in the company of Chris May and Vannitha for a statue of Ganesh that I had been instructed to bring back (if ever I told anybody else about this, the reliable humorous response was; What, the scrabble player?!?;). We also bought a few CD's including the intriguing “Greatest ghazals of all time;. That afternoon we repaired to the Taj President where a few consultation games were had; I teamed up with David Boys, and we had two highly enjoyable wins over assorted other players (Hovelmeier and Berofsky, then a UK/Australia team I think). We worked very well together, with his excellent strategic skills complementing my slightly better Collins knowledge, attracting three incorrect challenges in game one (EMBACES, CHEVRET; neither a bingo – and something else, although the new six DAWNEY went unchallenged). Chris May was checking us out on Maven and reckoned we played virtually perfectly but for an 11-point equity loss on one move. Wilma also caught up with us and took me to see her room, which was sumptuous.
On the eve of the tournament a gang of us met up and took the boat out from the Gateway of India (avoiding the oversized balloon-vendors et al) to Elephanta Island to check out the amazing sixth-century cave sculptures. The party included several US, Canadian and Australian players, who were also studying wordlists in transit and testing us with obscure long words. After inspecting the graceful statues in the caves, a respite from the intense heat and the marauding monkeys, Jason KB surprised us all by running uphill to examine some cannons that the rest of the group had spurned, then running all the way back to catch up with us just as we boarded the boat to return.
There was anxiety in the Australian team as to whether Naween would make it to India, having struggled to get his visa issued in time. He managed to pull a few strings in Colombo and made it just in time for the reception which took place that evening. As we trooped in, a gaudily-clad trumpeter blew a raucous welcome, two voluptuous doorway attendants daubed a good-luck tika on everybody's forehead, and trays of champagne and nibbles were circulated. Had a few chats with some of the UK team among others, and it was good to see some old friends. Play started on Friday morning, and I was due to face Ed Martin; not the easiest draw. Details to follow.
Mumbai WSC Day 1
My suitcase has been sitting on the floor for a few days, but as I was clearing it away today I caught a blast of the intense mothball odour that is so redolent of the Hotel Supreme bedrooms; all the cupboards reeked of it, and there were even two mintlike balls sitting in the sink (presumably to discourage insects from scaling the plumbing from the inside; luckily this seemed to work).
I scored 445.58 compared to 397.54 and drew 23 blanks. But the games were, for the most part, rather one-sided, with fourteen out of 24 being decided by more than a century (of these fourteen, I won four by over two hundred, won six by over one hundred, and lost four by over one hundred). I had seven scores over 500 and conceded three; I also won five-point penalties on thirteen challenges and conceded one (LALDY, which Geoff T played; I was convinced only LALDIE was good).
Bingos for (51) and against (43):
SINKIER, REGROWTH, ELATERID/REPAINTS, METRIFY
AIRGAPS, AGISTING/OVERLOAD, OUTEATEN, LAWNIER
None/THORIAS, LENITES
ALLUDES/CREOLISE, DISBAND
AZURINE, BRIQUET, GEOPONIC/RISOTTO
STICKERS/DAINTIES, PIRATING, DEALINGS
RESENDS, NITERIE, BOSQUET/none
APERIENT, ECOTAGE/NARKIER, NONHEME, DISROOTS, DUALIST
ENDEMIAL, DEMISING, PAGANISE, STOOKIE/DRACENA, NOCTULE
TRILOBED, SCLATED, ANTHOID, UNPAVED, RETSINA/none
DERATION/BANDIEST, GENITURE, QUARTZES
TRIGONAL/CATLING, EXORABLE, GREENEST, UNPAIRED
UNELATED, TAUIWIS, REFLYING/ANORETIC
SHALLIS, INFAUNAL, MORSURES/none
VOMICAS, HASTENED, INTRADA/ONEIRIC
PENTOSE, MATILDA/DIOCESE
SNARRING, DIPNOAN/SPANGLE, EBRIATE
SEEDIER, ATONERS/REASONED (you get them, you play them!)
SEMIOVAL/GAUZIER, SELLING, VAUDOOS, BURLETTA
EASIEST, COREGENT/OARIEST, SANTERIA
PINKENS, TABORING/SERVANT, REQUIRE
PREWYNS, MUTILATE/AUTOPSIC, OVERDRAW
KAFFIRS/none
SEROONS, ETAERIO/NESTING
My first game (and by far the closest; in fact the only game in which endgame skills were particularly relevant) was against Ed Martin, not an easy draw, but I was happy with my SINKIER opener and a couple more bingos to take a 272-208 lead. Unfortunately he then found METRIFY, hooking JINGLE(R) for 108 and we were in a close tussle. With four in the bag I made a 3-tile play to occupy a likely scoring spot for the unseen X, and was annoyed to draw a final rack of AAAEIOU against his closing DELNS (following Ed's REX play to empty the bag). All was not lost, because I spotted a handy slot-in play of ALULA scoring 16; however, from my scan of the board I couldn't see much for my E other than EAN/NE/KA and on the premise that Ed would also want to play there or prevent me, I went for it straightaway. As soon as I hit the clock I realised there was a fairly easy spot in the top right that I had completely overlooked, and Ed duly colonised this and won the game by 3 despite ALULA. A very aggravating loss that I could have prevented if I had only spent a couple of extra minutes, and I brooded about this on and off for most of the day.
One of our charming Indian hosts was next, Varisht Hingorani, though I was glad to avoid Naween who had also lost by three points. Varisht began with three bingos on the trot and a couple of 30+ plays, but his scoring power dried up and I had the better letters. With one in the bag I opted for a 38-point play involving the nonword PAAN, on the basis that (i) being a familiar Indian word, Varisht might let it go; (ii) I didn’t particularly want any of the tiles from the unseen pool, which consisted of DEEJVXYY, so didn’t mind being challenged off; (iii) it was necessary to draw the attention of Collins to this glaring oversight in the wordlist. This time it stayed, and following his phony DIX which came off, I was able to capitalise and catch him with a hatful of points. Checking through the game, I note that PUSSLIES is good – I considered but was unsure; and that I could have slotted the easy FORLENT in on move seven, making four overlapping plays at the same time. I think I need to spend more time on board vision issues, because it isn't the first time I have overlooked multiple overlaps.
Jason Katz-Brown was next, and we had a tight struggle with very few opportunities. After Jason's phony EBRIATES on move 1 I knew that he held AIRS plus three fresh tiles in this position:
Andrew AKMORSY 54
Jason AIRS+++ 19
KAYS looked like a great move, setting up the (O)KAYS hook which I was likely to be able to use. However, the bleeping swine had drawn OT?, so THORIAS/OKAYS was good enough for him. Forty in arrears towards the end, I changed all of GJLNNRW only to see him find LENITES for an easy win. I also succumbed to Amit Chakrabarti in game 4, with little to report after his second bingo closed the board.
The lunch in the Taj President was sumptuous, plentiful and delicious. I subsequently faced Frederick Collins, and had a straightforward game after he was forced to change twice within the first three moves, also playing two phoneys which I removed. However, I missed a bingo from EEENNU? after his opening FILMS (1).
Game six against Llewellin Jegels could so easily have been lost after he managed three simple bingos early on. Holding BCIPRST with a deficit of 63, I was glad to see him dump two vowels which allowed my BOP play for 27, then STICKERS for 112 which earned me a brace of blanks. Two 40-point plays later and I was in the driving seat.
Gareth Williams was up next, and I definitely had the better tiles, the icing on the cake when already holding a 100-point lead being a draw of BOSQT to an EU leave, giving BOSQUET for 104. But it was a different story in the final game of the day, facing the tough Komol and having at least two I's on each of my first five racks, and a dearth of S's which he used to good effect. I drew the blank right at the death for a consolation ECOTAGE. Four wins was somewhat disappointing, but clearly I didn't play particularly well today with a couple of missed bingos and the endgame stuffup.
Having been to the Food Inn on the previous night with a largish gang of players, I think this was the night we sampled it again. The chicken tikka masala was truly excellent. Mostly the Americans and Canadians were playing anagrams on one table, while the Australians and others were simply chatting and eating on the other. Nice to hear from David Webb that he thought very highly indeed of Multi-Part Puzzle, and Terry enjoyed it as well.
I'll get round to day two before long.
(1) ENNUYEE (failed to think about sevens long enough)
Mumbai WSC Day Two
Day two of the World Championship started with a match against Helen Gipson. A quiet start when I selected OD from DDEILOO (apparently DILDOE is preferred), with ENDEMIAL on move three being matched by her DRACENA. Fortunately I had drawn a blank after dumping the Q, and countered with DEMISING, a useful BWAZI and then PAGANISE immediately followed by STOOKIE, which drew a challenge. She didn't have the firepower to compete, succumbing by over 100. I had another fortunate game against Dean Saldanha; he began strongly with OOMIAK and then TOZE after my BLIP/OI/OP, but I commenced a scoring rampage with four bingos on the trot; TRILOBED, SCLATED, ANTHOID and UNPAVED and having dumped AO from my next rack of AAINOST (nowhere for ATONIAS), it was kind of funny to draw the blank for RETSINA. As with the previous game I played almost impeccably apart from the loss of a few points in the endgame, and secured a mighty 573-301 win which unjustly condemned Dean to a spell among the lower tables.
Geoff Thevenot was next, and while he didn’t unleash anything of the brilliance of his later TIREWOMAN, his tiles (including an unexpected QUARTZES for 102) were good enough to overcome my uninspiring sequence of picks. Another tough game followed with Odette Rio, and her early blank bingos gave her an insurmountable lead.
After the habitually excellent lunch selection I had a good afternoon, kicking off with a win over Mark Schellenberg in which a leave of STW matured with the prima facie unappealing AIIU to TAUIWIS, giving me a 60-point lead which became 150 after he changed and I drew REFLYING. Then Steve Polatnick, in which my play of SHALLIS was rewarded with a rack of ANNRZ?? – no bingos available (I thought of RENDZINA, which turns out to be the only 7 or 8), but happily I had a 69-point IZARs play which didn’t look like a blank-retention dump, then INFAUNAL, immediately followed by the lucky MORSURES using the S of IZARS, whereafter the game was won.
The tournament's fifteenth game saw me paired with Patrick Litunya, who ended up a somewhat surprising sixth. From the intriguing NOOOSV? I plumped for ONO 8F, but should have considered making the blank an X. Anyway, Patrick thought for a while without swivelling the board, and then chose to play the (phony) NOONIER atop the play from his point of view, making OO, ON and NO. However, from my point of view which had the correct orientation, his play was effectively REINOON. I called Wilma over for a TD decision to confirm that I could challenge off REINOON, and she agreed that I could; I was hoping that Patrick would attempt the same play on move 2 the right way round, but unfortunately after my VOMICAS he went for ONO himself (picking an unmerited ONEIRIC as a followup). Another phony on his part gave me a large advantage which I underlined with a pair of easy bingos. Last of the day was with David Boys, and there was a series of interesting decisions, firstly on move 2:
Andrew GGMNTUZ 16
David 55
David has just supplied a marvellous FRITZ possibility, and there is also an appealing MZUNGU on offer, but this time I decide on MUGG at F10 to keep my options open. David chooses VOTING 12A for 28, and my new rack is EENPTXZ. Should I colonise the A column with VEXT, leaving the Z-spot open, or should I go for ZEX/FRITZ and a pleasant ENPT leave? VEXT makes up a lot in the sim, but Z-plays are preferred and I couldn't resist the 76 points on offer (perhaps ZEP would have been slightly better, leaving the VEXT chance for next time). An S gives me PENTOSE, and after his OLEO I draw the tiles for PHACOID:
Andrew ACDHIOP 201
David 148
It's a fairly silly decision on my part, but with a niceish lead I feel I can afford a phony on the premise that David might give me a spot for the bingo next time (there was also a chance it would stay on). So it's APODIC/EA for 44, which David has little hesitation in challenging off. Alas his play puts me in trouble instead of giving further opportunities; DIOCESE in the same spot. A little later we are level, and David has had the S for hooking XI at 12L but fortunately I am able to slot in MATILDA. At this point David has an interesting decision holding ABINRU?:
David ABINRU? 338
Andrew 378
There are hundreds of eights using this rack, but it seems that none of them are playable on this board. David spent some time making sure, and then came up with a strong play, BURQA which opens opportunities in an unexpected area:
Andrew BDORSTU 378
David 355
At this point the unseen pool wasn't great, and I am glad to see three N's but I could spot several possibilities including VANILLIN, VITAMINE and INNATIVE (there are even possible unlikely nine-timers such as VIRAEMIA). It seems likely that David holds the blank so it seems sensible to play two tiles (leaving one in the bag, so that I could have an extra play). Quackle simulations show the bizarre DOE/DEL at M13 to be best, something I would never have thought of, but I decide to impede as many plays as possible with the two-tile BOI at 4D. Fortunately David does not have a bingo and is reduced to VIMEN at 1D, while REDUBS is sufficient to give me a narrow win (in fact SERDAB would have been a little better). An enjoyable tactical struggle with a fine player.
A good day, and my six wins put me in good standing for an assault on the top tables on the final day. In the evening we had an outing to the famous Delhi Darbar, where I had a splendid mutton and lentil curry despite being incommoded by the lack of buttons on my shirt (they had ripped off as I rechecked the table number for my game against Odette, as I scythed past the door with its protruding handles which caught in the material) there were a couple of photographs of my bared chest taken at the Darbar which may turn up on Facebook at some point.
Back to the WSC...Day 3
Back to the World Scrabble Championship, I started day 3 with a tough matchup against Panupol, who made things no easier by opening with SPANGLE, though I soon caught up after XI and SNARRING. Apart from a retrospectively incomprehensible choice of MANDI for 23 at one point instead of dumping my J for over 30, I played adequately, but he always had a lead and I was unable to erode it.
Then Lanre Oyekunle, the quietly effective South African champion, where a blocked board fell in my favour (no joy with racks of EILNOST, EINOSTU, DEINSST or ACENOST, but finally Lanre was forced to open up when I held AENORST). Not very tricky racks for me (apart from deciding what to dump), but I was assisted by a couple of phonies from my opponent.
This put me twelfth overall, and I was elevated to table 1 where apparently Nigel Richards had already vanquished everybody above me. I actually played pretty well on a full sim, with RETCH on move 2 being about eight points better than CHURR (I considered but wasn't quite sure), and TINAJA instead of a more conservative JAI representing the main debits. But after seven moves apiece I was somehow 184-406 in arrears. I needed Nigel to have difficult tiles but this didn't happen. A surprising decision from him at the death, when he saw BRULYIES (one tile was a blank) but opted for YIP because he didn't want to empty the bag, thus allowing me to play a consolation SEMIOVAL before his closing BURLETTA.
Last game before lunch was against Ralph Lobo, and though he had goodish tiles including two straightforward bingos, his phony S-hook to YOLD gave me the edge. Was quite pleased to find BOUDIN from BDIIOOU which helped me out of a hole.
Game 21 paired me with Emmanuel Umujose of Nigeria, a nice, gentle guy who approached the table humming a tune. A great start including PINKENS and TABORING on turns 2 and 3, but somehow he kept on plugging back with good scores as my tiles deteriorated. I actually played pretty badly on a review of this game, missing a few choice moves from CELOOSX including SCOLEX, OXO, VOX, ISOLEX and others, and then a few poor endgame selections. But I was happy with my play in this position after his SERVANT:
Andrew AAGRRTU 297
Emmanuel 280
I found TARAIRE/ZONULAR for 23. However, in the end his doubled blanks did for me.
Game 22 was my horror match with Sam Kantimathi. Jason had confided beforehand that; you should win, and indeed I started well with PREWYNS to open and then a couple more good scores giving a 120-point advantage after move 3. The fatal choice was PLONGE/TE placing the P in fifth position of a nine-timer; a moment's cogitation, and his reflex utterance of "Hold" was followed by a swift; uh, OK; as he realised he held AUTOPSIC for 158. I could come back with MUTILATE, but then drew a rack featuring three I's, and though I made the right choice in LIG, I picked yet another I while Sam had easy SOX and FA plays. Then the killer blow from his unlikely OVERDRAW for 98, though I did find a pleasing play here (albeit completely hopeless):
Andrew IIKNOOS 338
Sam 478
This one was NKOSI/EAN for 45. Sam, frankly, is an annoying opponent with his massive headphones, oversized scorepad, unnecessary selection of about sixty coloured pens, huge jug of fruit juice and other accoutrements clogging the table. He routinely calls "Hold" after every move and seems to be very keen to ensure his opponent doesn't step out of line on the rules front. This loss was a kick in the guts to my slim chance of a top ten place, and might have condemned me (given two further losses) to something like a 50th place finish. So I was not pleased to have my 120-point lead snatched away and stomped on.
I was drawn against Evan Berofsky for game 23, and drew ACGHJRS to start. JAG is so clearly best but for some reason I picked HAJ, though incurred no major equity losses prior to the endgame, except on one move when I scored with my S rather than massaging the rack for ten fewer points. My KAFFIRS bingo was met with ZERKS for 84, and it remained close at the end I was concerned about the missing blank, but with a strange selection unseen opted to empty the bag and virtually eliminate bingos. Naturally the blank was there in the bag, so Evan had no comeback.
Last game, and this time I was paired with John O'Laughlin. I commented that we were shooting for a place in the teens, so not the most exciting finale for either of us. Holding AAABNRS I was hoping for D or N (C would also have done but I didn't think of BARACANS at the time); however, John began with FY. It was actually a pretty interesting game. John clearly had potential and made some attacking openings, but fortunately I was able to slot ETAERIO in the pre-endgame which was enough to win when John ran out of vowels. But the major flaw in this game was my miss from AEEGMOT using a partially-hidden initial O which would have yielded OOGAMETE! I thought of SOMEGATE but not the other eight. That made it three completely missed bingos in the event with SONOVOX (from NOOOSV?) and ENNUYEE (from EEENNU?), plus the meekly refused PUSSLIES. That's OK but could do better.
The WESPA AGM was that evening and was a seriously dull affair. A couple of people from the floor tended to stand up and pontificate at every agenda point, even if the topic wasn't entirely relevant to what they wanted to say. When the accounts were reviewed, somebody stood up and complained that my balance sheet was $1 out of balance. I gave a fairly curt reply agreeing that it was slightly out of balance, and then somebody else got to his feet and delivered a supplementary rant about this trivial point. I was unimpressed. The committee vote has turned into something of a farce, it has now emerged, with some willing nominees not being put up for election. But there were a couple of interesting decisions and comments, including an invitation to a World Players; event in Dallas next year.
That evening we had fun in the bar of the Taj President, with a couple of the younger members indulging in excessive amounts of beer (some for the first time, I think) and Suanne Ong being baptised with it as well. A few of us made our way, after several more drinks (memorable times dodging the fireworks for Diwali), to a restaurant called Indigo which disappointingly turned out to be western food only. Dielle was definitely the worse for wear and collapsed on the table without touching her pasta dish. A late night, but of course none of us cared and were looking forward to the final.
WSC final and Gloriana concert
Before the final began, Philip Nelkon explained that they were filming a short documentary about the WSC and because of timing issues, had to prefilm the winner receiving his trophy and giant cheque. I think Ganesh was first - Philip announced him as the winner for the benefit of the cameras, and he leapt onto the stage jubilantly (getting a shock from the explosive release of some streamers and glitter). He then had to come on again as the runner up, and in true comedy style trudged up with shoulders slumped and a rueful expression. Then it was Nigel's turn, and unsurprisingly his demeanour was identically deadpan in both versions of reality. Ganesh was talking beforehand about having an extended sabbatical from scrabble because he feels it is consuming too much of his life, which is unbalanced as a result (but at the time of writing he has just won the Causeway Challenge premier division for the fourth time, so it was probably BS).
Sat mostly with David Eldar and Herve Bohbot as we watched the final, the games of which have passed into scrabble lore (some odd plays on both sides, but generally a strong showing). David was the top Australian despite having to sit his final school exams at odd times of day and night during the tournament, matching the times at which the papers were released back home in Victoria. I think we have earned the sixth place for 2009 if the old formula still applies, based on David 11th, Edward 13th, me 16th, Naween inside the top third, and Chris and Bob high enough to keep us on track. The evenings are a little blurry now but I suspect that evening a large party of us made it to Fine Dine close to the beachfront for some more splendid curries - Herve turned up just as we were about to leave, so enjoyed an ice cream with us outside before we split up. Then the flight back from Mumbai to Melbourne in the morning, having avoided any health issues throughout the week (unlike some fellow competitors).
We had an excellent concert yesterday at St Marks, featuring the Britten which went extremely well on the whole (although some ignorant concertgoer coughed indiscreetly at the same moment as the first note). The heat and humidity were oppressive (about 30 degrees) but the audience loved it. Next up is the closing concert of the Ballarat Goldfields festival in January, for the Martin mass for double choir and the Durufle Requiem.
Andrew
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