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1999 World Scrabble Championship - Compilation of Game Summary, Analyses, Interesting Plays, Reports and My First WSC Experience
By: Ronald Credo
1999 WSC was my first World Scrabble Tournament experience after getting one of the slots from our National Scrabble Tournament in the Philippines finishing Runner-up to Gil Quiballo, our 1999 National Champion. The third player was Odette Rio who have much broader Tournament Scrabble experience among the three of us. 1999 WSC was held in Melbourne, Australia sometime in the first week of November. The format was a 24-rounds King-of-the-Hill over the period of three days with 8 rounds each day and the top 2 finishers to play the Best-of-Five Finals. The Word Adjudication used was the The Redwood Scrabble: International Edition Word List or SOWPODS (combination of TWL98 and OSW3 at that time) consisting of 2-9 letter words. In case of 10 letter words and above, the Chambers Dictionary '93 and Merriams Webster Dictionary 10th Edition will be used in adjudication. The Free Challenge Rule was in effect, so there was no penalty for unsuccessful challenge. I have compiled stories, games and analysis for this particular tournament referring to various references which I kept for a long time. Better share it now before the the hard disk gets corrupted. I have included not only my 24 games but also games from other players and will be adding more in case players would like to share their games too. You may comment below just in case. In this tournament, I happened to play Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (Thailand), Joel Wapnick (Canada), David Boys (Canada), Mark Nyman (UK), Brett Smitheram (UK), Nigel Richards (New Zealand) and other tough opponents. And so, I am presenting thise compilation to feel the intensity around the boards among 98 Scrabble Players around the globe. Let's go!
Round 01 - Jim Nanavati (Canada) vs Joel Sherman (USA) at Board 1
Seated at Table One Round 1 were Jim Nanavati (CAN) and Joel Sherman (USA). Jim at the very last minute filled in for Zev Kaufman . Zev sadly is suffering from a severely pinched nerve and couldn't travel the long distance.
Sherman defeated Nanavati 497-320. At the end of this round, Sherman was in 9th place with 1-0, +171 win-loss-spread record.
Final Score: Joel S.-497, Jim N.-320 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 01 - Adam Logan (Canada) vs. Russell Byers (England)
Adam Logan scored the highest word, GRAVEST for 101 points in Round 1. Logan won the high scoring game, 513-459.
Round 01 - Dylan Early (South Africa) vs. Bob Jackman (Australia)
Bob wrote:
The expectation of a relatively easy game in the first round disappeared as I found that Michael Carter was one of the six no shows. Instead, I was redrawn to reply against Dylan Early, the reigning South African champion playing in his first WSC. This would be no easy game. And indeed it wasn't. Some relief was afforded when Dylan changed on his first move, but all I could manage was TRUG for 10. Dylan then averaged nearly 35 for his first 8 moves without bingo-ing, while I could only average around 20. At one point I extended DIRECT to DIRECTION, finishing just short of the pink square which was blocked by a V. I held back an S for nice score next move, but Dylan pounced on it like a Kruger lion and collected 42 points for DIVS. A bit later I got within 40 of him with BASTIDE, but he replied immediately with the impressive dISTYLES, and that was the the end of any chance I had. This I labelled as an unwinnable horror game. I was down 130 points in spread, so it and it was definitely not the sort of start I and hoped for.
Round 01 - Brett Smitheram (UK) vs. Laurentiu Sandu (Romania)
Brett wrote:
The draw for the first round: The Fisher-Cappelletto (probably
horrendously misspelt) match was met with dispersed cheers and clapping. The
Smitheram-Sandu (Romania) with groans from some of the UK team. It looked like
it was going to be a good tournament ;)
First rack of first game: EEEGIIV. Looked awful at first sight,
but spotting VEGIE restored my confidence. Bonuses of CHATONs, OBVIATE and
STOLLEN from me vs. LESIONED$ and GRADINE from Mr. Sandu lead a victory of 180+
for the UK.
Round 01 - Naween Fernando (Sri Lanka) vs. Brendan McDonnell (Ireland)
Naween wrote:
Game 1 – was against Brendan McDonnell from Ireland, a virtual unknown quantity to me. I heard from a couple of others that I could whip his ---. I was feeling quite comfortable when he asked me before the game to inform him if he was doing anything wrong during the game. My worst fears became a reality when I ended up losing 384-428 to his first move bonus of VIcIOUS & endgame ABREAST despite my double–double of dICTIEST.
Round 01 - Howard Warner (New Zealand) vs. Ronald Credo (Philippines) at Board 31
My first pairing was Howard Warner whom I met in the 1998 Asia Pacific Scrabble Tournament at the Kuala Lumpur before, and have played some practice games which I lost. But this time was different, both of us traded bingos RETAMAs (78) for him and KEItLOA (79) for me. My first taste of lead came when I played RUNLETS and managed to hold on to my precarious lead until his JUDS (32) for him to come closer, 372-366. But my TAXOR (32) seals the win for me.
Round 02 - Lester Schonbrun (USA) vs. John Luebkemann (USA) at Board 1
Schonbrun and Luebkemann destroyed their respective opponent in Round 1 with big spread, thereby putting them at Table 1 in Round 2 based on the King-of-the-Hill format. Schonbrun pulverized Caitlin-Eugen Caba of Romania, 532-287 with a spread of +245 while Luebkemann hacked Alec Webb of England, 436-225 with a spread of +211.
Schonbrun won 423-394 against Luebkemann putting him at 4th spot with 2-0, +274 score card at the end of this round.
Final Score: Lester S.-423, John L.-394 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 02 - Ricardo Gonzalez (Saudi Arabia) vs. Bob Jackman (Australia) at Board 44
Bob wrote:
I was paired against Ricardo Gonzalez Saudi Arabia, necessarily an equally bad loser of Game 1. My second move of WEX for 58 enabled me to establish an early lead which I did not lose from that point on. He played DAHOON, but when I replied with UNGAUgED (68) containing my first blank of the tourney, I was 100 points ahead. We had one bingo each after that, but he needed more, hence enabling me to record a 120 point win.
Round 02 - Roland Filio (Bahrain) vs. Naween Fernando (Sri Lanka) at Board 33
Naween wrote:
Game 2 – vs Roland my long time Scrabble Compatriot & mentor. Was in amid-game dilemma when he had to take back TENIUOUS*. I knew he was gonna figure it out next move & chose to give up on HANGNAIL elsewhere & block his spot as he had a poor leave minus the S on the board. Despite a bingo of SALADING, Roland’s high scoring and a late GAITERS stole the game away from me.
Round 02 - Ronald Credo (Philippines) vs. Pakorn N. (Thailand) at Board 24
I started with OWLIER and this was immediately extended by Pakorn with GROWLIER in the triple. My second move was a four-timer, RATLINES and he responded with ROOTAGE. Two more bingos for me, RETAILED and PLEASErS, another four-timer, followed by HAUNTInG on my 6th turn, and I was already ahead by more than 150 pts. at that point. More scoring plays ensued that included my ZAIRE, NOSY, COBIA, FIB. Pakorn had nothing he could do about my fortune, and even went overtime. I was happy to be on the 5th spot with 2-0, +265 record at the end of this round.
Final Score: Ronald C.-592, Pakorn N.-339 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 03 - Phil Appleby (England) vs. Robert Felt (USA) at Board 12
Phil wrote:
A rematch with Bob Felt, after our Melbourne Cup Masters clash. I slip up on my opening move, playing DAKER for 24 instead of REDOX for 42, but generally play a solid game. But there's not a lot I can do about Bob's excellent start - STEAMING (94), UPTOwNER (80) and JApINGLY$ (68). I pull back to level with OUTDRIVE for 63, OUTDRIVEN/NINE for 54 and UNWRITES for 65. The critical moment comes on move 8. There's a floating E, and I'm sitting with ACCORST for ECTOSARC; but Bob does very well to spot FOTHERED# around the E for 82. My late MANTRAPS only reduces the deficit.
Final Score: Phil A. - 441, Robert F. - 495
During the game, Robert found a better scoring move for Phil on the last rack (AANPRST). Can you spot it?
Round 03 - Bob Jackman (Australia) vs. Roland Filio (Bahrain) at Board 26
Bob wrote:
Game 3 saw me start for the first time. It was against Roland Filio who had given me a sound thrashing in Singapore. As history would have it, this is exactly what he did here, but it was more due to good play, than good luck. Early in the game he knew to pluralise my HEXING, and so reach the triple square with SATRAP for 45 points. He later played VEGANIsM for 76, and SONERiS for 85, the latter I was sure would come off. But his sound word knowledge, 2 blanks and 4 esses proved too much, and I went down by 160 in my second horror game out of 3 played.
Round 03 - Naween Fernando (Sri Lanka) vs. Joan Rosenthal (Australia) at Board 40
Naween wrote:
Game 3 – and I was getting desperate & along comes Joan Rosenthal. We both start off with bonuses but a mid game bonus for her & consistent scoring coupled with my phony DIMY* lost me.
Final Score: Naween F. - 361, Joan R. - 432 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 04 - Paul Epstein (USA) vs. Naween Fernando (Sri Lanka) at Board 45
Naween wrote:
Game 4 – This was my worst start in any tournament ever & I was hoping for a break. So I happily start of with TEABOWl against Paul Epstein & blunder the next move with CLOGsOME* onto the E. Paul kept the board tightly blocked up & I was fortunate to have some good picks through the game. Despite a late bingo of NUISANCE from Paul, I managed to pull off my first win thanx to FITON* - I didn’t really deserve to win that game.
Final Score: Paul E. - 372, Naween F. - 440 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 05 - Naween Fernando (Sri Lanka) vs. Alec Webb (England)
Naween wrote:
Another tight game against Englishman Alec Webb. Moving into the end-game I was trailing by about 30 and needed a bonus to win. Hanging on to AEGIOQU. I play off the G opening 2 Triple Columns– hoping to draw either the one of the 2 T’s or R (AEQUORIN). I pick a T for EQUATION and pull off another close & “fortunate to win” game.
Final Score:Naween F.-393, Alec W.-338 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 05 - Ronald Credo (Philippines) vs. Mark Nyman (England)
My first test with 1993 World Scrabble Champion, Mark Nyman came in this round. I exchanged all of my 7 vowelless tiles TDKRPMN, on my first turn. Mark opened with HAJ (8g) 26 pts. I had a lucky pick up and plonked down PARANOI(A) (h1) 83 pts. But Mark responded back with (P)ALLIEsT in the triple. Our scores were in nip and fashion until we reached this position:
me: AIILOSS
Mark: (unknown)
Unseen: ?BEEHNLRTV
Mark's Last Play: FUCUS/ FRANKS
my score: 345
Mark's score: 314
Mark's last play of FUCUS created more bingo opportunities. I have analyzed that the best bingo spots for Mark were the S and E in the 15th row, compared to the floating C and Y in the 13th row. I initially thought of playing OI (a14) for 14 pts leaving one tile in the bag and hope to draw good tile. But changed my mind and go all out with A(S)SOILS (15a) 24 pts. I led by 55 points. While the blank still unseen, and if Mark had it and bingoes out, that would be it.
I was lucky to draw ?RN from the bag, revealing that Mark had a final rack of BEEHLTV. He played (B)E(R)TH (c9) 36 and I finished with rANI (7c) 16, winning the game, 403-350. Mark told me after the game that if he only had the rack ?EEHLVT, then (C)HEVaLET would have been his final move.
Analysis:
Going back to the board position and using the Quackle simulation after 30,000+ iterations, it turned out that ASSOILS was on the 3rd spot with 81% chance of winning compared to (K)ILO (f11) and I(N)S (9i). Although KILO blocks most of the bingo spots, I am still not convinced with it because of the sHERBET, sEVENTH, sHELTER, sVELTER hooking s to KILO and other possibilities like RENTaBL(E), TENEBRa(E), TREELiN(E), VENERaT(E), etc. in 15h.
Round 06 - Nigel Richards (NZL) vs. Ronald Credo (Philippines) at Board 1
Having won my five games, I was in the second spot behind Nigel Richards as per the current standing below:
Rk Player Country W Spread
1 Nigel Richards New Zealand 5 +676
2 Ronald Credo Philippines 5 +440
3 Helen Gipson England 5 +228
4 David Boys Canada 4 +443
5 Joel Wapnick Canada 4 +427
6 Lisa Odom U.S.A. 4 +357
7 Saheed Jimoh Nigeria 4 +316
8 Mark Nyman England 4 +280
9 Lester Schonbrun U.S.A. 4 +263
10 Randy Hersom U.S.A. 4 +248
I noticed that they were annotating our game, recording our racks and moves. This added nervousness on my part. Nigel began the game with OWRIER. I played TRAMPLE (missing the best bingo, TRAMPLER or PROMETAL). Nigel responded with UNSOOTE. I have drawn the blank and played the 4-timer, BOLSTeRS. On his 5th turn, he played CoINCIDE to regain the lead, 237-194. Things were looking good for me after I played QUA (32), 303-278 my lead. Soon after, Nigel played HAPAX/ AQUA (54) followed by a nice YBLENT (36), I was outscored and lost the game.
Final Score: Nigel R.-455, Ronald C.-385 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 06 - Phil Appleby (England) vs. Michael Gongolo (Kenya)
In his report of the World Championship, Phil Appleby mentioned a "pleasing endgame" which was published separately on the uk-scrabble mailing list.
Phil wrote:
I'm now on 4-1, and going nicely. But I get back into bad habits against Michael, having a move disallowed early on (DERVE*, getting confused with PERVE). Later, holding DELORRW, I miss LOWRIDER$ around an I, but play a very pleasing endgame...
Phil was in serious difficulty when this position arose:
Phil: AEELRST
Unseen: ABCDEGINNOT
Score:
Phil: 309 Michael: 359
I considered plays such as ELTS or LETS at 4a for 39, emptying the bag and leaving me 11 points adrift, but I couldn't envisage winning the game from that position. Given the remaining tiles, it seemed highly likely that Michael would be able to play out in two - and even if he couldn't, it was likely that his lead would be decisive.
It seemed to me that the only chance of winning was to play a bonus, and the only spot was a 9-letter word onto the -ED at h5. And off course, Michael would undoubtedly block it next move.
Then I spotted a second possibility. If I played E at i3, then picked up another E, I'd have TEASELER at 2g, whilst an I would give me EARLIEST at 2h. With 11 tiles unseen, this was an 18% chance. I hadn't specifically considered the possibilities at 5a - as it happens, there are also two possibdle bonuses after I've played RE: SCARLETED and SLATTERED.
So RE it was, and I turned my new tile - an E; one of the few occasions when I've been delighted to pick up the very tile I've just played. Holding ABINNOT, after some thought, Michael played OBTAINED at 5b. I duly went put with TEASELER, winning the game 396-373.
Round 07 - Mark Nyman (England) vs. Joel Wapnick (Canada) at Board 2
Both Nyman and Wapnick had a 5-1 Win-Loss Record before this round.
Final Score: Mark N.-434, Joel W.-304 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 07 - Randy Hersom (USA) vs. Trevor Hovelmeier (South Africa) at Board 4
Hersom won against Trevor Hovelmeier (ZA), 424-385 to be on the 5th spot with 7-1, +384 record.
Final Score: Randy H.-424, Trevor H.-385 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 8 - Nigel Richards (New Zealand) vs. Mark Nyman (England)
Trevor Halsall as a spectator wrote:
I finished work at 5.15pm in the
city, and caught a tram down to the venue. Players were about to start the last
game of the day - proceedings had been held up earlier on.
The tables have been arranged
such that onlookers can view the top six or so games being played. It's
possible to see the players' racks, and also feel the pressure they are under.
I watched most of the Nigel
Richards vs Mark Nyman game. Nigel managed four bingos, all eights. Mark was
the first to use all tiles, playing AEELNRW onto a T [1]. Nigel followed by
wrapping ACEEMOT around an N [2]. He then played AEILST? around W [3] (the W
was the second letter - there are two solutions - but only one was able to fit
the board (making four other twos)).
Mark missed playing FFNSTUU onto
a spare Y [4] (he mentioned later that he had considered it).
Nigel had picked the second
blank, playing EMIGRATe. Later in the game he played QADI, placing the Q
between the TWS's. Mark had already exhausted the game's Us, and was compelled
to play his only S in QATS for 39.
Nigel's final rack was DIINOSS.
The small crowd of spectators were not expecting anything here - but of course
we weren't looking at the U [5]. This seemed quite reasonable considering that
just above the U was the word GAJO. Nevertheless, down came the eight, making
three other twos, leaving Mark with pretty much a full rack. Margin was about
190.
ANSWERS:
1. TREELAWN
2. MECONATE
3. SWEATILy (SWALIEsT would not fit)
4. UNSTUFFY (this however would have opened the TWS for Nigel's RAGTIMe, the M tripled both ways)
5. SINUSOID (If Mark had not played GAJO, I think DISJOINS would have fit (the only other potential eight)
Final Score: Nigel R. - 521, Mark N. - 391 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 1 Report by Paul Golder
4 November 1999
World Championships - Melbourne
The first day's news:
Melbourne, Australia: The southern hemisphere's top player, New Zealander Nigel Richards, leads the pack on spread (difference between points scored and points against) from two former world champions, 1995 winner David Boys from Canada and current champion Joel Sherman (USA).
Richards was the only player to win his first six games but lost to Boys thanks to early plays of GRACIOUS and SABOTEUR. During this game the bag had to be replaced as a tile had fallen from the bottom of it.
Bob Lipton (USA) made the highest individual score of the day, winning 605-345 against Australia's Bob Jackman. Lipton's bonus plays were TOTALING, EXACTION, ELVANITE and MOUSIER, and also played EQUID for 74 and HOW for 53.
Selwyn Lobo from the United Arab Emirates has made the highest word score to date, playing PRESIDER for 158 against 1991 World Finalist Brian Cappalletto, on the way to a 557-404 victory in round 3.
The UK's best hope, Countdown producer and 1993 World Champion Mark Nyman, is in a group of nine players one win behind.
The fastest player so far is Ganesh Asirvatham from Malaysia who used just 8 minutes in his second game to beat Oman's Linda Pray 482-295. His first bonus play, appropriately enough, was SPEEDOS. 16 more games are to be played over Friday and Saturday with the top two going into the best-of-five final on Sunday.
Top ten positions after 8 rounds:
Rk Player Country W Spread
1 Nigel Richards New Zealand 7 +897
2 David Boys Canada 7 +619
3 Randy Hersom U.S.A. 7 +384 4 Joel Sherman U.S.A. 7 +236 5 Lester Schonbrun U.S.A. 6 +494 6 Jakkrit Klaphajone Thailand 6 +387
7 Mark Nyman England 6 +366
8 Ronald Credo Philippines 6 +344
9 Adam Logan Canada 6 +329
10 Arvind Abraham U.A.E. 6 +267
Background: The 5th World Championships are being held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia between 4 and 7 November 1999.
The event is the largest World Championships to date, with over 100 competitors from 40 countries taking part.
Favourites include 1993 world champion Mark Nyman, from Leeds, UK, a producer on UK TV programme "Countdown"; current world champion Joel Sherman, from New York, and New Zealander Nigel Richards, winner of several recent tournaments in the southern hemisphere.
This is the first time that the WSC has been held outside the UK or USA and previous winners have always been from those two countries or Canada.
A prize fund of US$35,000 is available, with the winner picking up a cheque for US$15,000.
First time invitees to the tournament include players from Cameroon, Gibraltar, India, Poland, Switzerland and Zambia.
Round 09 - Ronald Credo (Philippines) vs. Mark Nyman (England) at Board 4
At the start of Day 2, a rematch with 1993 WSC Champion, Mark Nyman. We were at Table 4, having the same 6-2 win-loss record with some 300+ spreads at that time.
I got the first bingo, SALUTED on my 4th turn hooking D to IOTA, but Mark countered with RETIRING opening up the two-TWS squares. After I scored with YEX (59) in the triple, Mark laid down another nice bingo, OEIL(L)ADE to lead slightly, 182-183. A good pick-up of AEEONR? gave me a chance to play a nine timer with the open R in the 4th position at the top row.
I already put down the word OvE(R)NEAR for 113 points, but unsure about it, and played elsewhere. It turned out that the word was valid as I consulted Redwood Word List after the game. What a missed opportunity!
As we approached the pre-endgame, I was leading 334-293 when Mark found another bingo, SABUL(I)NE (74). I had no other choice but to use my blank to play QaDI (56) from the rack of DIVOS?Q with unseen EEEHIRWS, and as expected, his HEWERS/ EH (53) proved to be the best counterplay to win the game.
Final Score: Mark N. - 419, Ronald C. - 405
Analysis:
Even after AVOS 12j to block HEWER/ EH from a rack of EEHIRSW could not help, as Quackle has a nice reply of EHS (n2) blocking the QaDI spot and at the same time setting up WIRE out play at 1L for 40 points or WIRE at 13L for 23 points. Still a win for Mark.
Round 10 - Nigel Richards (New Zealand) vs. Lester Schonbrun (USA) at Board 2
At Table 2, Nigel Richards with 7-2, +869 faced Lester Schonbrun with 7-2, +534.
Final Score: Nigel R. - 585 , Lester S. - 259 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 10 - Adam Logan (Can) vs. Mark Nyman (England) at Board 3
Adam Logan defeated Mark Nyman, 463-317. Adam had 12:58 remaining on clock while Nyman was 0:02 overtime.
Final Score: Adam L.-463, Mark N.-317 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 10 - Randy Hersom (USA) vs. Phil Appleby (England) at Board 4
Phil registered the highest score in a single turn with the word, FROT(H)INg (1h) for 167 points!
Phil Appleby wrote: Randy has had a terrific first day, with a 7-1 record, but is coming off a loss against Joel Sherman. He starts well, with two early bingos, REMBLAI and SORDINI. He soon establishes a lead of 124 points. That's when I get very lucky. Following SALUTERS for 77, I immediately pick FROTIN?, with a floating H at l1. A few seconds later, after FROTHINg for 167, my 124-point deficit has been transformed into a 92-point lead. Randy fights back, but UNCAGiNG for 80 secures a high-scoring win. W: 544-450.
Round 10 - Bob Jackman (Australia) vs. Amnuay Ploysangngam (Thailand)
Bob Jackman (Australia) has just extended PRIZED to SURPRIZED, to the triple word score for 66. His surprized opponent was Amnuay Ploysangngam (Thailand), who challenged unsuccessfully.
Bob wrote:
Playing Amnuay from Thailand in Game 10, I needed to
recover. A win was due following the unbroken alternating sequence, but alas,
it was not to happen. When I extended my opening play of PRIZED to make
SURPRIZED for 63, I was 50 ahead and travelling well. Out of nowhere, Amnuay
played AERATING for 62, immediately followed by cHALKING for 84 to turn my 50
point lead into a 60 point deficit. I later tried SPATED* in desperation, but
this just served to increase his winning margin. His second last play of CrUCIBLE
brought him up to the 500 mark, and a deserving victory.
Final Score: Bob J.-371, Amnuay P.-526 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - Joel Sherman (USA) vs. Nigel Richards (New Zealand) at Board 1
On the top board, Joel Sherman with 9-1, +422 Win-Loss-Spread Record paired to the current second placer, Nigel Richards with 8-2 Win-Loss and a whopping +1197 spread, at the start of this round.
Nigel played the nine timer REME(D)ING for 158 points. Joel got down DARTLES a few moves later, then his three consecutive bingos namely, bEGUINE, GHARRIES and AGnOSTIC gave him the clear advantage until the endgame.
Final Score: Joel S.- 491, Nigel- 441 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - David Boys (Canada) vs. Adam Logan (Canada) at Board 2
At Table 2, David Boys pipped Adam Logan by 5 points in this round.
Final Score: David B. - 443, Adam L. - 438 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - David Wiegand (USA) vs. Michael Gongolo (Kenya) at Board 4
At Table 4, Michael Gongolo 7-3, +439 and David Wiegand 7-3, +569 about to start their game.
Final Score: David W. - 443, Michael G. - 364 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - Joel Wapnick (Canada) vs. Mark Nyman (England) at Board 5
Joel Wapnick 7-3, +427 and Mark Nyman 7-3, +234 with their records before start of this round.
Final Score: Joel W. - 423, Mark N. - 333 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - James Cherry (Canada) vs. Jakkrit Klaphajone (Thailand) at Board 6
Meeting between James Cherry 7-3, +231 and Jakkrit K. 7-3, +419 with their corresponding Win-Loss-Spread Record at the start of this round.
Final Score: James C. - 331, Jakkrit K. - 432 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 - Taewan Sutthasin (Thailand) vs. Bob Jackman (Australia)
Always review the scores each move whenever there is time. Sometimes, miscounting occurs in a game, so better be careful.
Bob wrote:
Game 11 against Taewan Sutthasin of Thailand was my most
controversial game, in that it was my only game of the tournament in which the
director had to be involved. I drew a blank and a bunch of vowels in the first pickup
so opted not to change. Unfortuately the vowels kept coming, such that my first
four moves were OO, AA, IDI (onto OM) and EE. UTU failed to gain a guernsey.
When I finally got the bingo STENTOR for 78 down on move 7 I was a mere 15
ahead. The game continued in a nip and tuck fashion, until I played out with
TAR for 12 to take what I though was a 1 point victory. Then the big surprise
came. Taewan wanted a recount. I hadn't realized that the rules had been
altered to allow recounts, so the request was acceded to with director Wilma
Vialle overseeing the recount. I had overscored my second play of AA by two
points, so once all my moves were recounted, I was now losing by 1 point. Wilma
correctly directed Taewan to recount all his moves, so I watched him do this.
Every time his additions were proved correct, the game slipped further from my
grasp. With one move to recount I was still a point in arrears. But as fate
would have it, the very last of Taewan's had been overscored by 1 point, making
the final result a draw. The irony was that I could have played out for 13 with
TZAR had I looked further, but thinking that I had won the game by 1, and not realizing
recounts were allowed, I just played out what I first saw.
Final Score: Taewan S.- 335, Bob J. - 335 (Drawn) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 13 - Odette Rio (Philippines) vs. Jim Geary (USA)
Jim Geary wrote:
First game after lunch I got a
rematch against Odette Rio of the Philippines, who had beat me with ease at the
warmup tourney three days prior. Once again, she dropped 3 bingos on me early
in the game (TOROIDS, DELISTED, & HUMPIEST) while I was blessed with these
racks: DEFINSW (got down DEWANIS for 44), AADFOTW, CDFLNOQ, CMNQRRX, CLMNQRU,
CEGILMT. I'm quickly history. Next time I play her, I'd like to see her have
maybe at least one bad rack of her own. I try to create counterplay, even
getting a phony safely down, but lose 322-446.
Final Score: Odette R. - 446, Jim G. -322 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 13 - Robert Felt (USA) vs. Russell Byers (England)
Bob wrote:
I had two endgame sequences from hell. I had a nice forty point lead against Russell Byers, with a closed board and only 16 tiles in the bag. He dumps the J setting up a 60 point X, effectively leaving only an H hook off a C as a bingo line. He draws the H for TARNISH. I have AIIOSUV on my rack and the unseen tiles are CEGIOOWYZ. The T in TARNISH has just set up WOOTZ# for 74 while the CH allows WIZ$/ICH/ZO# or COZ/OCH#/ZO# for at least 62. Absolutely nothing to do but take my 42 for VISA and hope to draw the W, Z or some miracle out in one. Needless to say this doesn't happen.
Final Score: Robert F. 386, Russel B. - 404 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 14 - Joel Sherman (USA) vs. Joel Wapnick (Canada) at Board 1
Wapnick had three bingos, OuTFABLE (63), QUINOAS (88) and RETAKING (80), also got the power tiles that saw him scoring ZAX (38) and JUGAl (56). While Sherman laid down DOILTEST (72) and the last turn of DEARIES (91), hooking the S.
Wapnick had beaten Sherman, 456-357 to climb the top spot with a record of 11-3 +679. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 15 - Brian Cappelletto (USA) vs Odette Rio (Philippines) at Board 7
Brian defeated Odette Rio, 428-399 improving his record to 10-5, +532 upped to 11th spot.
Round 16 - Suresh Chinnaiyah (Sri Lanka) vs. Joe Edley (USA)
Suresh pulverized Joe with barrage of scoring plays like ZEALOT (50), APOTHeM (99), WENS (75) hooking the S, IONIsED (78), SUQ (48), DECOYER (82), JAK (44) and FAVORITE (78). The only bingo of Joe was ISOLINE hooking the L.
Final Score: Suresh- 643, Joe E.-307 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 2 Report by Paul Golder
5 November 1999
World Championships - Melbourne
The second days news:
The second day of the World Scrabble Championship has ended with a new
leader. John Luebkemann, a 35 year old actuary from the USA, who
won all eight of his games on day two to rise from an overnight position of
50th to first place. Canadian Joel Wapnick, World runner up in
1995, is in 2nd place just three points behind, with 1993 World Champion and
1998 UK Champion Mark Nyman in 3rd. Another player who rose
up the field on Friday is 20 year old theology student Brett
Smitheram from Exeter, UK, winning 7 of his 8 games.
Suresh Chinnaiyah, from Colombo, Sri Lanka
and at 18 the youngest of the 98 competitors, set thehighest
score and spread(winning margin) of the tournament so far in his
643-307 of American opponent Joe Edley. Suresh started with plays of ZEALOT
for 50 and ZINEB for 37, and followed this with APOTHEM (99), WENS (75),
IONISED (78), SUQ (46), DECOYER (82), JAK (44) and FAVORITE (78).
Phil Appleby, a technical writer from
Hampshire, UK, set ahigh word scorein round 10
withFROTHINGplayed across two triple
word scores for 167. Other high scoring words played during the day’s games
include GAZOGENE from Paul Cleary, DUVETYNS from John Holgate and OVICIDES
from Jim Nanavati.
Saturday sees eight more games being played with the top two players
meeting in a best of five final on Sunday. Current positions ranked by wins
out of 16 and spread (sum of points scored less points against) are as
follows:
Round 17 - Bob Jackman (Australia) vs. Taewan Sutthasin (Thailand)
Let's find out what transpired in their second meeting.
Bob wrote:
As it happened, the first game of Day 2 saw me paired
against the recount merchant, Taewan Sutthasin of Thailand. This was not
surprising given that we had drawn against each other before. Revenge was
certainly sweet as I swept him aside with MEDIATeS for 83, SERKALI for 79 and
OVERLAiN for 74(all of which he challenged). Meanwhile after SEDATIVE (66) he
tried ESTRIOLE* and CREOLITE*, both of which I successfully challenged off.
Both times he insisted on a re-challenge. The final scores were 482 to 305 my
way.
Final Score: Bob J. - 482, Taewan S. - 305 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 17 - John Holgate (Australia) vs. Jakkrit K. (Thailand)
A rematch between them happened. This time, John prevailed over Jakkrit, 412-327.
Worth noting about this game was John's 9-letter find from the rack of BELGIIR off a floating DI. What was the word played?
Round 18 - Jim Geary (USA) vs. Rodney Judd (Pakistan)
Jim wrote:
My second game of the day was against Rodney Judd of Pakistan. On my first rack, I pick up AEITWX, and think it's time for me to catch a break, give me an S. Blank. Ding. I play WAXIEsT (microscopically better defensively than TAXWISE) for 98 points. Finally, I'm gonna be the guy dishing it out I think. A couple of short plays later, he lays down RAPINES, and my 98-point lead has vanished into thin air. Soon thereafter, I get the second blank and play BAiLORS to go back up by 80. Now completely rolling, I pick out of the bag the bingo rack AEIILMR. The S is open in WAXIEST so I'm faced with slotting the triple-triple with the first letter of my word at g1. I choose to sacrifice two points and play MILIARES* instead of the anagram RAMILIES because an M in 7th position seems much safer than an R. Problem is MILIARES* isn't a word! D'oh! He plays NONELITE on another part of the board (n1 ) (he would've left the R untouched and played there anyway), I put down the correct RAMILIES, and he throws down TOWERING through it! I pull the Q, while he plays YEAH at n1 for 70, hooking the N-O-N-E of NONELITE. I manage to get down a late DILATERS for 80 but it doesn't matter.
Round 19 - Nigel Richards (New Zealand) vs. Adam Logan (Canada) at Board 3
A 10-letter word has been played in this game coming from Nigel's THION(I)NE, then Adam responded with FLIGH(T). A few turns later, Nigel played USE forming UG, SH and ETHIONINE. Then Adam laid down a 3-letter word, BAM forming BUG, ASH and METHIONINE scoring 78 points. What a play!
Final Score: Nigel-435, Adam-488
Definitions:
1. THIONINE $ (n) crystalline derivative of thiazine used as a violet dye to stain microscope specimens
2. ETHIONINE $ (n) type of amino acid
3. METHIONINE (n) an essential sulphur-bearing amino acid
Excerpt from Stefan Fatsis' "Word Freak":
"I don't quite know how I knew the words; maybe memory from organic chemistry or from some popular book on the subject (Godel, Eschel, Bach?)," Adam tells Stefan Fatsis in an email after the tournament. "and I think I'd heard those books mentioned before in a Scrabble context. I saw the possibilities as soon as he played THIONINE, and, believe me, when he played USE, I was very glad to see that I'd just picked the M!" -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 19 - Joel Wapnick (Canada) vs. Joel Sherman (USA)
Using letters EEIS, GLOM was extended by Joel Sherman to E(GLOM)ISE hitting two TWS for 99 points! However, Wapnick still defeated GI Joel.
Round 19 - Gil Quiballo (Philippines) vs. John Luebkemann (USA)
The man who called himself "US Speed Demon", John Luebkemann loses to Virgilio Quiballo, 329-428. Time used by John was 15.5 minutes, whereas Gil used up only 7.5 minutes. So, we have a new Speed Demon now.
Round 20 - Brian Cappelletto (USA) vs. Joel Wapnick (Canada) at Board 1
Brian had ARGOTIc and FAINTERS while Joel countered with ANTEcEdE and four-letter overlap, ALIASES. The score after the last play of JUBE by Brian stood at 345-343 his lead, going to this board position. Joel held the rack of DGIILNR and spotted a nice play:
Round 20 - Mark Nyman (England) vs. Adam Logan (Canada) at Board 2
ZOARIA was at 3i. Tiles unseen by Mark were LABBISTO. There were two bingo lanes. Mark spotted the possibility of BILBOAS under a floating U and o1 BILOBATE to an E at o8. He elected to block BILOBATE with n2 JAVA.
Adam Logan has just attempted to play out with LABBIST against Mark Nyman, which would give him the game. It has been ruled phony.
Round 20 - John Holgate (Australia) vs. Gil Quiballo (Philippines)
John wrote:
In my game against Virgilio Quiballo from the Philipines I had ELATION on my rack. In a swindling mood I played LEVATION*. It came off and Virgilio laid down S(C)ORNED allowing my five-tile overlap with TOENAIL for 87 and eventually a 132 point win. I asked later why he had not played down from the TWS for more points - "I didn't want to open up the board", he replied.
Round 21 - Andrew Fisher (England) vs. Adam Logan (Canada)
Andrew Fischer wrote:
Here's a position from my second game against Adam Logan in the WSC. I was a good tempo behind as we approached the endgame, and felt that I had to take chances to have any hope of winning.
Logan's Last Play: DELLS
Fischer Rack: QVBOUSY
Unseen Tiles: AADEEINNNORRSTT (8 tiles in the bag)
Fischer's Current Score: 327
Logan's Current Score: 356
Fischer continued his analysis:
The choice I
came up with was BOUSY/SCAW for 35, putting me 7 points ahead. Despite the
counter-intuitive rack leave of QV while playing away the last U, I preferred
this to QI at 6b for 31 and other plays like BOY g1 - there were good prospects
of QI/QI for a winning 64, or QAT in a couple of places. Anything else would
allow Adam to control the endgame. As it turned out, I picked AAOST and Adam
blocked the b6 square with TI for 4 points. I had the luxury of waiting to play
QAT, and scored with ZAP instead to leave one in the bag, following up with
QAT/DITA at e1 - I ultimately won by just 9 points.
I just
wonder if BOUSY really was the winningest play in the circumstances - or did I
just get lucky.
Round 21 - Odette Rio (Philippines) vs. Phil Appleby (England)
Phil wrote:
Odette and I had had a high-scoring game in Singapore, and this turns out to be similar. Odette starts the game with JUMPS at 8d for 48. I make a mental note to keep an eye out for OUTJUMPS.
I lose a move early on with pITFACES* - greedy; there were other simpler bonus plays for 15-20 points less. But the bingos start to flow: FANCIEsT and GOLIASED for me, InEARTHS and SOLANINE for Odette. On my very last rack, I finally find myself looking at OUT, with the opportunity for OUTJUMPS still there.
Phil leads by meager 25 points and it's Odette's turn with the rack of AAELNST and unseen EFGINORTU, going to this pre-endgame board position:
Phil's Rack while waiting for Odette's turn: GINORTU
Unseen from Phil's point of view: AAEEFLNST
Score: Phil 401, Odette 376
But more significantly, I can see TOURING at 11i for 69, surely a winning play. As in the game with Suresh, I get a rude awakening when Odette plays BANALEST# at m7 for 72. With a 47-point deficit and Odette holding EF, OUTJUMPS is no use to me now. Fortunately, I don't need it. Not 100% sure of OUTGRINS$, I go out with TUTORING at j8. W: 467-443.
Round 21 - John Holgate (Australia) vs. Mark Nyman (England)
John wrote:
I faced 1993 World Champ Mark Nyman feeling a victory here could give me an impetus I needed to tackle Wapnick et al. I drew an early blank but my rack was vowel-heavy so dumped with LIEU. Mark played ANOLYTES through the L. I spent 5 minutes looking for the double-double [ ACDIST? plus N]* then settled for CITADELS. Mark soon found PARADES and held a 50-point lead. I drew the second blank but with only on N available I scored a mere 59 for (S)NEERING unable to reach the TWS and a vital extra 18 points. Then in the nail-biting endgame I hastily played GEAR for 19 instead of 28 for FATE (when in doubt go for points!) which (on later analysis) would have given me victory by 1 point.
Mark played a smart move MPRET (for 30) giving him two out plays for his T-I-I and a 12-point win. My FATE was almost sealed.
Round 22 - Mark Nyman (England) vs. Nigel Richards (New Zealand)
The current score after Mark's last play of IO (b6) was 372-419. Nigel was ahead by 47 points holding CDNTTU? rack (see the board below). The eight unseen tiles were ADEIIRSX. The bingo threats were located along 14th row, d-file and c-file with the likes of AIRSIDE, DIARIES, DIARISE, RADIXES, etc. What did Nigel play?
The actual moves were:
NR: CDNTTU? - D(O)UC (l12) +20 -> 439
MN: ADEIIRS - DIARIES (14b) +72 -> 444
MN: (?NNTX) +11 -> 455
NR: (?NNTX) -11 -> 428
Mark Nyman won, 455-428
ANALYSIS:
Analyzing closely from the board position, there were three bingo lanes available at c-file, d-file and 14-row. Assuming that Mark had ADEIIRS, the better way of blocking at least two lanes was to play a 5-letter word along the 14th row like DUNCh, DUNCe, CUTiN, CUTTy, CUNDy, DUTCh, etc.
Take a look at Quackle's simulation after 50,000+ iterations, chances of winning for Nigel showed 67%-74% in case of blocking the 14th row using 5-letter-word, while his actual play of DOUC had 59% chance.
If Mark had the combination ADEIRSX, then RADIXES/ OOR loses for Nigel.
Furthermore, if you think that you have blocked possible Mark's out play with NUTTeD (14c), you are mistaken in view of DRAISI(N)E, or DAIRIES/ ODA and RADIXES/ ODA.
Round 22 - Brian Cappelletto (USA) vs John Holgate (Australia)
John wrote:
Brian Cappelletto was my opponent in Round 22. Three wins could still get me into the final. However, Brian played an early bonus with TRISTEZA. I replied with REVISOR/TRISTEZAS exposing a DWS instead off the safer play off CUTE. He responded with 72 for REVISORY and YUNX. Ouch. I drew a P for PREVISORY* but Brian played TAWPIE/ PREVISORY* for 52. Amazed that he also had a P, I failed to challenge!. My Round Two TETANOUS* had come back to haunt me. Cappelletto found the brilliant DATELINED through a separate A and I then played RIALTOS. I replied with CONTROLE for 72 but still lost by 113. Now my fate was sealed.
Round 23 - Joel Wapnick (Canada) vs. David Boys (Canada) at Board 1
The annotated game between Wapnick and David, were as follows:
1 JW AODJLNR 8G JOR 20 20
DB UCUCEEN 7H KUE 17 17
2 JW ADLN-HRS 6J HARL 28 48
DB CENU-FIE 5H FICE 30 47
3 JW DNS-AONN 9F DONNA 29 77
DB UEN-EATE 4D TENUE 18 65
4 JW NS-ILRY? 3H NItRYLS 76 153
DB AE-GPIXA 10J XI 50 115
5 JW HQVIDEA 11G HIVED 40 193
DB PEAAG-NA 12A APANAGE 77 192
6 JW QA-AFOOL 5A ALOOF 28 221
DB LGIEIUI 13A LIEU 20 212
7 JW QA-POZRS 13G POZ 38 259
DB GII-TDEB A4 BAITED 36 248
8 JW QARS-MRV exch QMRV
DB IG-IEOST H1 GONEF 27 275
9 JW ARS-GOOY F2 YON 14 273
DB IIEST-RI A12 ALIT 12 287
10 JW ARSGO-DS B10 SAPID 26 299
DB IESRI-AE B2 RIEL 12 299
11 JW RSGO-REW L1 WRY 13 312
DB AIES-QTW 1A QAT 41 340
12 JW RSGOE-MM 1J MOWERS 33 345
In this board position, David Boys held the rack of AEEISTW. What was his play?
David's Score: 340
Joel's Score: 345
Unseen tiles: ?BCGMNTUV (2 tiles in the bag)
The final moves:
12DB WIES-ATE N1 RESEWS 32 372
13 JW GM-UCTV? H13 OM 4 349 (setting up the TWS square)
DB ATI-NB 14D NIB 14 386
14 JW GUCTV? 15H sCUT 27 376
DB TA 6E TA 10 396
15 JW VG -6 370
DB +6 402
David Boys defeated Joel Wapnick, 402-370 to be on the 3rd spot with record of 16-7, +659, while Wapnick still in the top spot with record of 17-6, +953 followed closely by Mark Nyman with record of 17-6, +842.
Round 23 - Brett Smitheram (UK) vs. Ronald Credo (Philippines) at Board 22
Brett got down his first bingo, LAAGERS (77) on his 6th turn, while I REGISTER (70) mine on the 7th turn. He got his UNTItLED in the triple lane, immediately. I was holding AHMOTSZ after that and missed the bingo (1?) along the 14th row, instead settled for MOZ (40). But then, Brett scored with JEEP (52), and I countered with JOSH (42). When he opened up with BOTTLE (28), my nice pick-up gave me OSTIATE (83) to lead by 36 points. Then, he played WAQF (40) and our score going to the board position below was 407-411 in his favor.
Below was the current board position and ?AAEONN came in and found the best move (2?)
1. AHMOTSZ would have given me 100 points along the 14th row.
MATZOHS/ MO
2. ?AAENNO rack for the win.
ANNOtAtE for 74 points catching him with DEGRY, Final Score: 491-401
Round 24 - Jeff Grant (New Zealand) vs. Ronald Credo (Philippines)
My last round pairing was many times New Zealand National Champion, many times New Zealand Masters Champion, WSC Veteran since 1991, he's none other than Jeff Grant. After his initial play of IRON (8f), I exchanged 5 tiles from the rack of AEIIOSW. Then, he laid down OVERRATE (g4). No other choice for me but to reply with EGGED (h11). on his 4th turn, he played another bingo, GLUTAEI (j3). My first bingo, MOINEAUS (1h) went in from the floating M on the top row, plugging in closer 155-177. Later, from the rack of ?LNRTTU, I found TURTLiNG (13a) and led 255-241. After our succeeding moves, our scores stood at 360-373 going to this board position:
Jeff's last play: YIN (l10)
Jeff's Score: 373
Ronald's Score: 360
Unseen based on my tracking sheet: BDEIILNORS
Tiles left in the bag: 2
I couldn't understand why there were two tiles in the bag but based on unseen, there should be three tiles left. So when I did my recounting of tile distribution, I noticed that they were seven T's. I have no idea about this weird situation. I remember we did not review the tile distribution before starting the game.
Anyway, should I play a bingo now, SHEuCHS (n6) hooking S on TABIS blocking the bingo threat along column-O, there might be a possibility for Jeff to play a bingo along row-15 like DISENROL, DISROBED, DIELDRIN for his victory. So, I decided to just dump one tile and played HO (4d) creating another opening and left one tile in the bag. Just in case Jeff would bingo next turn, I was hoping to play a "grand slam" with the blank in return.
And as expected, Jeff laid down a bingo, DONARIES (15h) for 82 points as I drew B from the bag. And Jeff took the last tile in the bag. Since no time for me to verify why there was another extra letter A, I focused on my rack ?BCEHSS. Jeff was leading 455-370, I needed a bingo to catch him. What was my winning move?
1999 WSC was my first World Scrabble Tournament experience after getting one of the slots from our National Scrabble Tournament in the Philippines finishing Runner-up to Gil Quiballo, our 1999 National Champion. The third player was Odette Rio who have much broader Tournament Scrabble experience among the three of us. 1999 WSC was held in Melbourne, Australia sometime in the first week of November. The format was a 24-rounds King-of-the-Hill over the period of three days with 8 rounds each day and the top 2 finishers to play the Best-of-Five Finals. The Word Adjudication used was the The Redwood Scrabble: International Edition Word List or SOWPODS (combination of TWL98 and OSW3 at that time) consisting of 2-9 letter words. In case of 10 letter words and above, the Chambers Dictionary '93 and Merriams Webster Dictionary 10th Edition will be used in adjudication. The Free Challenge Rule was in effect, so there was no penalty for unsuccessful challenge. I have compiled stories, games and analysis for this particular tournament referring to various references which I kept for a long time. Better share it now before the the hard disk gets corrupted. I have included not only my 24 games but also games from other players and will be adding more in case players would like to share their games too. You may comment below just in case. In this tournament, I happened to play Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (Thailand), Joel Wapnick (Canada), David Boys (Canada), Mark Nyman (UK), Brett Smitheram (UK), Nigel Richards (New Zealand) and other tough opponents. And so, I am presenting thise compilation to feel the intensity around the boards among 98 Scrabble Players around the globe. Let's go!
Rk Player Country W Spread
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