29th Brand Crossword Game King's Cup 2014

29th Brand Crossword Game King's Cup 2014

Contents:

• King's Cup 2014 Details
• Complete Results
• Finals Game 1
• Finals Game 2

King's Cup 2014 Details:
Venue: Central Plaza Ladprao Shopping Complex

Dates: Jul. 10-13, 2014

No. of Players: 69

Dictionary: CSW12
Challenge Rule: Free Challenge

Winner: Nigel Richards
Runner-Up: Panupol Sujjayakorn

Top Prize: $ 10,000.00

Format: The tournament begins with a 29-round preliminary (round 1-25 based on Swiss pairing system, the round 26-29 based on King-of-the-Hill pairing system), whose two finalists to play final with special rules: They have to play two games. If one of them win both games, then that player is the winner. But if they tie with a win and a loss each, a third game will be played. The winner, in this case, is the one who scores the most points when the scores from all three games are combined. (Note: Throughout the tournament, the spread capping enforced to a maximum of -/+ 350 points spread in a game. Also the Gibson rule is in effect in case there is a player who has won enough games to guarantee 1st place or a seat in the finals no matter how many games he or she loses thereafter.)
Flyer: For more details, check this link: http://www.wespa.org/tournaments/kingscup2014.pdf

Complete Results:
(Standing after 29 rounds Preliminaries)

Rank	Name	Home	W-L	Spread
1	Nigel Richards	New Zealand	24.0-5.0	2348
2	Panupol Sujjayakorn	Thailand	20.0-9.0	1508
3	Ming Hui Hubert Wee	Singapore	20.0-9.0	898
4	Jakkrit Klaphajone	Thailand	19.5-9.5	913
5	Komol Panyasophonlert	Thailand	19.0-10.0	1252
6	Worasit Suksansumran	Thailand	19.0-10.0	413
7	Gerald Carter	England	18.0-11.0	1135
8	Weera Saengsit	Thailand	18.0-11.0	904
9	Preedee Khongthanarat	Thailand	18.0-11.0	635
10	Marut Siriwangso	Thailand	17.0-12.0	1000
11	Ricky Purnomo	Indonesia	17.0-12.0	851
12	Bob Jackman	Australia	17.0-12.0	682
13	Goutham Jayaraman	India	17.0-12.0	480
14	Michael Tang	Singapore	17.0-12.0	390
15	Akkarapol Khwansak	Thailand	17.0-12.0	155
16	Wanchana Jirapitikul	Thailand	17.0-12.0	35
17	Chollapat Itthi-aree	Thailand	16.0-13.0	911
18	Martin Teo	Malaysia	16.0-13.0	786
19	Siu Hean Cheah	Singapore	16.0-13.0	762
20	Taewan Sutthasin	Thailand	16.0-13.0	593
21	Odette Carmina Rio	Philippines	16.0-13.0	515
22	Sitthichoke Boonsiriphan	Thailand	16.0-13.0	374
23	Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn	Thailand	16.0-13.0	199
24	Sinatarn Pattanasuwa	Thailand	16.0-13.0	-61
25	Thitipol Barameemuang	Thailand	16.0-13.0	-128
26	Marlon Prudencio	Philippines	15.0-14.0	639
27	Kien Hung Yeo	Malaysia	15.0-14.0	429
28	Thacha Koowirat	Thailand	15.0-14.0	404
29	Karen Richards	Australia	15.0-14.0	388
30	Pesol Kosalakood	Thailand	15.0-14.0	331
31	Manop Phiphatboonserm	Thailand	15.0-14.0	182
32	Charae Worapotpisut	Thailand	15.0-14.0	144
33	Somphong Phosai	Thailand	15.0-14.0	133
34	Rodney Talbot	Australia	15.0-14.0	-58
35	Daniel Srichawla	Thailand	15.0-14.0	-347
36	Ron Baginski	Australia	14.0-14.0	-532
37	Tony Sim	Singapore	14.0-15.0	343
38	Jin Chor Tan	Malaysia	14.0-15.0	247
39	Apirat Choomai	Thailand	14.0-15.0	166
40	Puttapong Moonsarn	Thailand	14.0-15.0	129
41	Sanjoy Gupta	India	14.0-15.0	-91
42	Thanatchaporn Thiankarojanakul	Thailand	14.0-15.0	-219
43	Ken Smith	United States	14.0-15.0	-279
44	Peter Kougi	Australia	14.0-15.0	-302
45	Dorai Raja	Singapore	14.0-15.0	-433
46	Thavatchai Thivavarnvongs	Thailand	14.0-15.0	-590
47	Sanmi Odelana	Nigeria	13.0-15.0	485
48	Suthiraphan Assarat	Thailand	13.0-16.0	-85
49	Warodom Geamsakul	Thailand	13.0-16.0	-135
50	Dianne Ward	Australia	13.0-16.0	-137
51	Rocky Sharma	Australia	13.0-16.0	-299
52	Jessie Lim	Singapore	13.0-16.0	-337
53	Paul Richards	Australia	13.0-16.0	-484
54	Peter Shaw	Australia	13.0-16.0	-714
55	Bundit Chomkularb	Thailand	13.0-16.0	-1067
56	Paul Cartman	England	13.0-16.0	-1170
57	Amnuay Ploysangngam	Thailand	12.5-16.5	-591
58	Graham Buckingham	England	12.0-17.0	-437
59	Marites Carreon	Philippines	12.0-17.0	-539
60	Thanaporn Thiankarojanakul	Thailand	12.0-17.0	-631
61	Catherine Tong	Singapore	12.0-17.0	-635
62	John Barker	Australia	12.0-17.0	-1071
63	Olga Visser	Australia	12.0-17.0	-1312
64	Arun Methaset	Thailand	11.0-18.0	-196
65	Kedarnath Awati	India	11.0-18.0	-1303
66	Orrakanya Pichairattanapong	Thailand	10.0-19.0	-495
67	Dinna Lim	Singapore	10.0-19.0	-701
68	Christine Cartman	England	9.0-20.0	-1640
69	Maneeda Tanasanvimol	Thailand	6.0-23.0	-1840

Finals

(Panupol Sujjayakorn vs. Nigel Richards at King's Cup 2014 Finals)

Game 1:

Play through by clicking Forward button or any part of the board.

(King's Cup 2014 Game 1 Final Board Position: Panupol vs. Nigel)

Game 2

Nigel started the game with a bingo and Panupol countered with a bingo, then Nigel replied with another bingo. A few moves later, Panupol laid down two consecutive bingos, then it was a close fought battle until Nigel made a clever play of BAC setting up JAKE/BACK, that left the spectators and Scrabble enthusiasts in awe! And another brilliant ENATE mad logic move that only Nigel does it best. You can try and see if you found that move in a championship level...

Play through by clicking Forward button or any part of the board.

(King's Cup 2014 Game 2 Final Board Position-Nigel vs. Panupol)

Here are the remarks of some Scrabble players on Nigel's second game victory:

Segun Durojaye: "In fact 2 massive moves ....ENATE was as eccentric as BAC, yet, they were the defining moments....mad genius. Nigel has broken all known laws of the game."

Allan Simmons: "BAC is clever but not mad genius. ENATE has the 'toying with the opponent's mind' element that Nigel likes to do occasionally. I think the logic is that if Panupol already has the Z and blank Nigel loses but if he only has one of them and Nigel picks the other, the ENATE play gives him a chance of winning."

Michael Quao: "ENATE only seems great because Panupol did not have the Z!"

Ricky Purnomo: "... apparently even without the blank and Z, Nigel has a chance at winning with natural bingos through Q like ENQUIRED, QUERCINE etc. What is being questioned by some players are whether Nigel actually worked out that ENATE would give him more chance at winning or at least 50% win. I can look back and analyze the reason for the move, but there is a big chasm for me between understanding it against actually seeing the possibility and having the guts to play it."

Craig Beevers: "... presumably the logic is that he considers himself an underdog and needs to gamble. This move makes the Z an even more important tile, if he draws it he probably wins because there are so many hotspots and he's wiped out lots of useful floaters for the blank. If he doesn't pick the Z but picks the blank he has a not too bad a chance of getting a Q bonus as he has QUIE? + 3 (from AAACDEENRRSZ unseen). Blocking the Q requires a lot of sacrificing of score."

Sanmi Odelama: When I asked him directly, his simple answer was and I quote "That's the way I play".

Awarding:

(His Excellency, Mr. Ampol Senanarong, Privy Councillor, presenting the King's Cup to Crossword Game Champion Nigel Richards)

 All Photos Courtesy of John Chew