The Biggest Chance That Slipped Away ..

This post is evidently a few weeks late .. I just couldn't find the time to sit down and think things through on how to fit my two tournaments in one post .. ah well .. here it is ..

To start off , i apologize for the lack of ( or rather none ) photos in this post .. i'm the kinda guy who prefers reading than to the customary load of photos that keep getting in the way during my narration .. perhaps in the next few tournaments , i will get pictures of interesting games and post it in ..

Now , the first tournament of the year in which i had participated was the MSA CNY Scrabble Challenge 2010 . Fresh from SPM and just started college , this was my first major tournament since May 2009 . You could call this the re-debut of myself and Ramaraj as we aim to end this tournament on a high . My aim was to reach the top 10 Malaysian rankings ( was 20th that time ) and try to get money for Bangkok . ON WITH THE GAMES !!

Game 1

Aaron Chong - L - 362-565

Aaron started off with the bingo OVARIAl for 76 points and piled pressure on me with SEMITONE ( 95 ) , TENTWISE ( 86 ) and VERMIL ( 51 ) . Despite my GLEAMEd ( 71 ) and EGOTIZES ( 88 ) , i couldn't match his tempo and lost terribly . A very demoralising game , given that it was my first tournament game in about 6 months . However , this game showed me that i still had a long time before i could maintain my tempo in scoring .

Game 2

Hema - W - 403-340

I had been taught to be wary even if this was an unknown player . Missing ADOPTER and READOPT in my first move , i immediately find myself in a tight situation with near bingo-racks like AEIRTUW , EIKNRTU . Thankfully , i was able to score and an endgame HEALINGS ( 78 ) won me the game .

Game 3

Marcus Loke -W- 517-387

The previous win gave me the spirit i need to start my flow . Facing with a representative of Malaysia's 2008 and 2009 World Youth Scrabble Championship team , i was yet again very cautious . Eventually , my HAZED ( 40 ) , DESIRING ( 83 ) , LIENABLE ( 87 ) , FAMILY ( 51 ) and RERaNKs [ phoney XD ] ( 74 ) was enough to completely overcome his WILDEST ( 81 ) , UNGLOVED ( 42 ) and HEINOUS ( 77 ) .

Game 4

Alex Tan -W- 421-313

Unfortunately for him , he had no bingos . Fortunately for me , i had HORNINGS ( 89 ) and FERRINGS ( 86 ) . Fortunately for him , the two blanks didn't hit him very hard . Unfortunately for me , the two blanks came too late for me to bingo again . This was one of those meetings against him in which i had most of the good tiles and was able to beat him evenly .

Game 5

Tengku Asri -W- 495-445

A very close game . His three bingo spree of OUTsAIL ( 60 ) , ARISTAE ( 64 ) and REVENGES ( 70 ) along with a phoney which i overlooked ZEBEK ( 60 ) [ the real one was ZEBECK , XEBEC or ZEBEC ] was very pressuring , though my 4 bingo spree of NESTLED ( 73 ) , OUTLiVE ( 74 ) , NEUTRINO ( 62 ) and FERNIEST ( 72 ) managed to even up . At the end game , he played a phoney AGAPI [ real word AGAPAI and AGAPE ] allowing me to challenge it off and played my last three moves of an average 30 points each to wrap up the game .

Game 6

Henry Yeo Kien Hung -L- 416-369

I had never won him before and yet again lost to his superior playing and word knowledge . His RIMeSTER ( 80 ) and REALGARs ( 80 ) as well as the hooking of the previous bingo , TRIMeSTER gave him the win easily . I couldn't even lay a bingo despite my very constant scoring of an average 35 per move at the start . I needed more training to beat this Scrabble Master currently holding the title " CARDBOX SIFU " . XD

Game 7

Ramaraj Sundraraj -L- 433-460

The one person who had taught me the game and who has given me sound advice throughout the years . His word phoney CHAUF led him to IoDIZES ( 95 ) and he wrapped up the game with LEADERS ( 85 ) and AX ( 61 ) while my consolation of ANESTRI ( 83 ) only reduced my losing spread .

Game 8

Pui Cheng Wui -W- 453-284

A shocking win . I think Pui's tiles were very bad that he couldn't even reach 300 . My ROTTiNG ( 69 ) and SHEAThe ( 86 ) was enough to give me a win . This game was merely straightforward and that constant scoring is enough to win certain games .

Game 9

William Kang -W- 460-444

A near perfect game . My EMANATED ( 72 ) and OUTDANCE ( 77 ) coupling with SPOOF ( 42 ) , DOGGY ( 42 ) and JAR ( 53 ) won against his QAID ( 48 ) , OUTLANDS ( 63 ) , VARIX ( 46 ) , POLIEST [ PHONEY !! ] ( 91 ) and TESTIER ( 72 ) . He had nice tiles but my tiles were just a tad nicer . Though , of course , if i had challenged his phoney ( real word was PISTOLE and PIOLETS ) , it would have been an easy win for me .

Game 10

Aaron Chong -W- 460-428

Finally , i beat him though only by 32 points . By this time , my luck was slowly increasing to the point that i was starting to be very constant in my scoring . My WALiEST ( 78 ) , RETAINED ( 68 ) and SEILInG ( 73 ) was enough to beat his beautiful KASHERING ( 109 ) and IDEATING ( 83 ) .

Game 11

Ramaraj Sundraraj -W- 512-388

To those who do not know the format , starting from Game 10 , its King Of the Hill with repeats . Being at the top of the table now , i had to continue my winning streak to clinch podium finish . My BANjOES ( 74 ) , STORING ( 74 ) , RETAILS ( 70 ) and VARIETAL ( 92 ) was enough to brush aside his IODUREt ( 68 ) and PLATERS ( 78 ) giving me my second win against him in all tournaments , having played him about 8 times .

Game 12

Alex Tan -W- 477-384

Hellbent on continuing my winning streak , i changed off a first rack of heavy tiles to bingo GARMENTs , DEBTORS ( 74 ) , RAtIONED ( 77 ) and AUNTIES ( 68 ) along with a cheapo BLYPE ( 52 ) to his ROUTHIER ( 87 ) and CLIMAX ( 45 ) , effectively giving me a fifth straight win and my second 4 bingo game in a row . After the match , i was to play Aaron and was still top of the field . At my brother's category , he had to win his last 4 games to clinch 1st place and he had already won 2 of it . On the other hand , i had to win 2 out of my last 3 games to ensure podium finish .

Game 13

Aaron Chong -W- 447-398

My sixth win a row , giving me a new record for the longest winning streak in my career . His YARROWS ( 52 ) and PIANISTE ( 74 ) was not enough to match my SKITtLE ( 76 ) and TrIGONAL ( 79 ) . This made me even the score against him to 2-2 ; he had beaten me two years ago in the same tournament . The current standings after this game was ,

1. Chang Ching Wei

2. Alex Tan ( beaten Ram with a superb MEATLOAF bingo )

3. Aaron Chong

4. William Kang

I had to slug it out with Alex twice as i was a game ahead of the field . Should i win one of my last two games with Alex , i would have clinched my first ever Master's title .

Game 14

Alex Tan -L- 364-497

It was evident that the strain was too much for me to bear . My first turn OTARINE [ how cheap of me ] ( 66 ) and REKINDLE ( 84 ) was nowhere near his SLIDERS ( 72 ) and VISITEEs ( 149 ) . Perhaps the game would have changed if i did not play the phoney INIUM , leading him to place his niner , VISITEEs wrapping the game up . With IIMNTUU , my safest bet was to play TUI or change . However , lack of thinking made me play risky moves , resulting in my lose . It became evident after that game that i had to win the final game against Alex or risk dropping to third . William was to play Aaron again after beating him .

Game 15

Alex Tan -L- 356-384

Certainly not my game . Both of us had one bingo ; he had FLAUNTS ( 72 ) while i had BAGuIOS ( 91 ) . Half way through i played the phoney IMPY , costing me the game ( real word IMPI ) . If i had thought longer i would have seen IVY , a highly effective move just 2 spots away , depriving him a spot to play his Z , and preventing his FlAUNTS bingo . Unfortunately , i was already at the brink of exhaustion and played with a hasty feature that was to be my unbecoming . At the end , despite thinking for over 10 minutes , i could not find a move to turn the game to my favour and i lost to the ultimately better player .

Thus , the golden chance of clinching first place slipped away . Perhaps , to quote Alex in a certain way , I had used up all my luck in the previous games . In fact , to quote Newton's Third Law , " For every action , there is an equal and opposite reaction . " Having beaten Alex twice before the final two games , it was finally my turn to be beaten . I got third place with Alex as the champion and William clinching second after beating Aaron again .

1. Alex Tan

2. William Kang

3. Chang Ching Wei - 10 wins - average score of 435-409 , 34 bingos and 21/30 blanks .

The following week was the ASTAR Scrabble Tournament organised by UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA . Another tournament in which i was one game above the rest and finally succumbing to painful defeats to end up in 10th place .

Game 1

Muhammad Amin Omar -W- 559-204

In the first round the top players were handed new players and despite my massive score , it wasn't even comparable to Ramaraj who completely obliterated his opponent with a gargantuan score of 839 .

Game 2

Cedric Stewart Lewis -W- 440-433

Game 3

Albert Martono -W- 504-301

Game 4

Chaiwat Wuthinitikor -W- 513-320

In this game , i had a nine letter REVEALING which i later extended to REVEALINGS making it my second nine letter word played in all tournaments ; the first was COWARDIcE against Iyer in Malacca .

Game 5

Thacha Koowirat -W- 570-313

Game 6

Ramaraj -L- 395-468

Why must it always be him to end my spree ??

Game 7

Toh Wei Bin -L- 387-463

Couldn't play properly in this game . Was starting to feel the coldness that had taken its toll on the other players before Game 5 . He was the eventual champion so i was grateful to at least play him once .

Game 8

Christien -W- 485-343

Game 9

Chaiwat Wuthinitikor -L- 331-507

Note to myself : Destroy Newton's Third Law once i'm done with Physics .

Game 10

Thacha Koowirat -L- 319-541

Additional note - COMPLETELY obliterate Newton's Third Law AFTER THE TOURNAMENT .

he had a nice word of cOWBAnE though .

Game 11

Christien -W- 499-334

Game 12

Cedric Stewart Lewis -L- 405-422

I think Newton's laughing at me in his grave . XD

In the end , i'm at least grateful that i won RM160 for 10th place . My next tournament might be Johor MSA mini . Let's hope i can go ..

After the rating changes , i am currently the 11th Malaysian . However , it would soon change as Beng Way makes his comeback to the scene , making me go to 12 th place .. However , there is still the whole year in front of me , let's make it happen ..

CCW