Until now.
On the 9th of July, K.Sundraraj (father of my Scrabble mentor) organised the Subang Scrabble Challenge for the second year running. It was a great tournament as the number of participants doubled the amount from the previous Subang Scrabble Challenge. In the Open Division, more Scrabble whizzes pitted their wits against each other. Even Australian Scrabble players, the Richards family, came to support the event. The event also witness the return of former World Youth runner-up Sean Chung, as well as the usual Scrabble masters like veterans Pui Cheng Wui, Tan Jin Chor, Jocelyn Lor and rising youngsters Khoo Beng Way, Ramaraj and William Kang.
After 15 grueling games, yours truly emerged the winner of the tournament winning 11 out of the 15 with +585 spread, one game ahead of 2nd place Khoo Beng Way and 3rd place Pui Cheng Wui. Truth be told, I had absolutely no idea how I managed to claw my way back from 7th place after round 9 to lead the table.
But, more of that later. For now, here are the games i played.
Game 1. Kang Eng Lee vs CCW [ Win 513-323]
Bingoes played - SIDERAL, UNICORN, REAMIER
Bingoes against - AWAItERS
Current status - 1/0 Bingoes - 3/3 S's - 3/3 Blanks - 0/0
My only mistake for this game is not playing REREMAI instead of REAMIER which would have scored more.
Game 2. CCW vs Martin Teo [Win 455-304]
Bingoes played - MEANIES, LEPROSE
Bingoes against - TReNTALS
Current status - 2/0 Bingoes - 2/5 S's - 3/6 Blanks - 1/1
PUCInG is not a word, could have done CUING, CAY and AR which scores more. Martin missed the hook for IZAR (making IZARD) and therefore lost the chance of closing the spread with his last-minute bingo rack CDDELRU. #1.Can you spot the bingo? (There are 3..and all fit)
Game 3. CCW vs Khoo Beng Way [Lost 306-497]
Bingoes played -
Bingoes against - INVOICES, EVAsION, FORMATE
Current status - 2/1 Bingoes - 0/5 S's - 2/8 Blanks - 0/1
RERANK, my starting play is a non-word. Had I not played it (I had AEEKNRR, my original plan was ERK keeping AENR, a high bingo-probable rack leave), I would not have been hit with the successive INVOICES and EVAsION and the game might have went differently. I missed two bingoes here with the rack AEHLOPT, opting instead to play HOP. [Bingoes were TAPHOLE and PLETHORA hooking the first R of RERANK]
Game 4. CCW vs Pui Cheng Wui [Lost 421-447]
Bingoes played - HELiPAD, SOLATED, LITERATO
Bingoes against - STEEPING, ARAbIZE
Current status - 2/2 Bingoes - 3/8 S's - 2/10 Blanks - 1/2
A game full of mistakes. I missed two easy bingoes with my beginning rack of AEIIMP? (IMPErIA and lIPEMIA) and chickened out of PLAsHED on the next move. I think the game might have been in my favour if I had played something at the top right corner, preventing his 49 point VEXT move. But, this was a hard game to see.
Game 5. Jocelyn Lor vs CCW [Lost 325-468]
Bingoes played - WARIEST
Bingoes against - BANTING, MARBLEs
Current status - 2/3 Bingoes - 1/9 S's - 3/13 Blanks - 0/2
Another game full of mistake. Phoneyed twice which resulted in me losing the chance to bingo.
Bingoes missed - BODGIEST, DISSEAT, SAIDEST, STAIDEST
After this game, I had very little confidence of making it into the top 3, knowing that I only could afford to lost only one more game.
Game 6. Tengku Asri vs CCW [Won 509-369]
Bingoes played - PETIOLES, AGISTED, DESYAtIN
Bingoes against - TINNERS
Current status - 3/3 Bingoes - 3/12 S's - 3/16 Blanks - 1/3
A convincing victory but yet again, I missed a first-turn bingo of CURARINE. I played DESYAtIN instead of opting for cYANIDES because I've always wanted to play DESYATIN in a tournament game. Missed good plays like KITTUL, DUETTI and CURLI
Game 7. Sean Chung vs CCW [Win 410-366]
Bingoes played - vEINULET, VOLUmES
Bingoes against - ACTINITE(phoney! X.X)
Current status - 4/3 Bingoes - 2/14 S's - 1/17 Blanks - 2/5
Missed a first turn bingo AGAIN with the tiles EEILTU?, phoneying with pETULINE which was challenged off. Missed dILUTEE, UNBORNE which was the best play. It was a lost game but Sean's mistake of phoneying SAUS to block my open bingo line allowed me to clinch the point with a last-minute bingo. Incidentally, his rack of AINOSSU had SANIOUS and SAUSION which was the doom of me. Thankfully, he did not spot the bingos and instead phoneyed, giving me the winning bingo.
Game 8. Cedric Stewart Lewis vs CCW [Win 481-474]
Bingoes played - REHEATS, ARRIvING, SMALLEST
Bingoes against - REVOTING, NEOBLAST, DIVINITY, SIrENIAN
Current status - 5/3 Bingoes - 3/17 S's - 2/19 Blanks - 1/6
Very close game, with Cedric playing very unique bingoes, playing NEOBLAST and DIVINITY consecutively. Missed QUIPSTER when I played QUOP but oh well, at least, i bingoed after that.
That was the end of Day 1. With 5 wins, i was at 7th place and my next game was against Tan Jin Chor. To those that do not know, Tan Jin Chor is actually the actor of the Malaysia sitcom Kopitiam back in 1997. My record against him is fairly even, I think we have played about 8 games in tournaments and each have a share in losses and triumphs over one another. Still, he is not a player to be taken lightly. At the end of Day 1, William Kang holds pole position with 7 wins, only losing his first game to Sean Chung. Trailing closely are Khoo Beng Way, Tan Jin Chor and Ramaraj, all on 6 wins.
And we move on to the next day.
Game 9. Tan Jin Chor vs CCW [Lose 335-450]
Bingoes played -
Bingoes against - TAENIAs, LOWEREd, PELOIDS
Current status - 5/4 Bingoes - 0/17 S's - 1/20 Blanks - 0/6
A very bad game with terrible tiles. Fun fact, 90% of my moves are best moves after I analyzed my game with Quackle, a Scrabble simulation program. Jin Chor missed a 100 point bingo when he played PELOIDS, missing SOLIPED, LI, OP, WE, RED at C13. I have lost 4 games now. The only way of breaking into the top three is by winning all of my next 6 games. Shall we proceed?
Game 10. CCW vs Karen Richards [Win 479-420]
Bingoes played - BRISKENS, DECAYERS, aWARDER
Bingoes against - LEOTARD, DEvIATED
Current status - 6/4 Bingoes - 3/20 S's - 4/24 Blanks - 1/7
Quite an okay game in my opinion. Learnt BRISKENS from Cheah when he played the move against Ramaraj during the 2008 Penang ICT. Wasn't sure it took an S though. Was very lucky to hold the last D for hooking DJINS, without which I would have not bingoed at the final moment to win the game.
Game 11. CCW vs Sean Chung [Win 407-310]
Bingoes played - ThRONING, INSNARER
Bingoes against -
Current status - 7/4 Bingoes - 2/22 S's - 2/26 Blanks - 1/8
Sean phoneyed twice in the beginning with EMF(was valid in the old dictionary) and UMBU(probably confused with UMBO and OMBU). I missed 3 bingoes before ThRONING; CITRININ, TRINING and TINNIER. Chickened out of the latter two. Not a good game for Sean.
Game 12. William Kang vs CCW [Win 460-375]
Bingoes played - VOTARIES, RESTORE, oVERLIES
Bingoes against - CENTRaL, MESOLITE
Current status - 8/4 Bingoes - 3/25 S's - 3/29 Blanks - 1/9
A very bad game played by yours truly. First off, I phoneyed ADAY (mixed it up with ADAW). Then, i missed a double-double with AEIOSTV through the R. Can you guess it? #2 Missed TETRAPLA and RATTERS before settling with a low-scoring RESTORE. William phoneyed IMPLANED which I challenged off, thankfully.
Game 13. Alastair Richards vs CCW
Bingoes played - AVENIRS, SCANTEST
Bingoes against - CALOrIE
Current status - 9/4 Bingoes - 2/27 S's - 3/32 Blanks - 1/10
My first nine-timer in a tournament. Another badly played game. Phoneyed LUPE(must have mixed it up with tonnes of words) and EPUIRAS(Its EPEIRAS the anagram for this is UPRAISE and SPURIAE). Thankfully, i have better tiles after that. During the end game, Alastair could have won had he not played BA, leaving DE. Had he played AG, setting himself up for a 36 point DEB, i would have lost the game. On a happier note, 4 wins in a row! Can i go on?
Game 14. Alex Tan Ken Seng vs CCW
Bingoes played - POWnDING, DEITIES
Bingoes against - OUTGOES
Current status - 10/4 Bingoes - 2/29 S's - 1/34 Blanks - 2/12
My games with Alex have always been one-sided. None of the games were actually fair. If I had good tiles, I win. If not, I lose. Well, except for that game in Johor where I really should have challenged ABYED. This game, I missed my last-move bingo with the tiles AAENPR? #3 There's three and again all could fit. Alex phoneyed his last move bingo of CEEINOS(#4 whats the bingo?) at AMENES which is no good.
So, I've won 5 games in a row and i'm currently second. WTF?? Second-place?? I could hardly believe myself as I looked at the Round 15 pairings. I had managed to claw my way from 11th place after round 9 to be right behind the leader. And who is the leader? Well, after 3 rounds of playing each other, Pui Cheng Wui won 2 out of it against Khoo Beng Way to be at the top. And thus, the battle for the first prize was on. Pui Cheng Wui with 10 wins and 729 spread and me with 10 wins and 466 spread. Whoever wins will be crowned 2011 Subang Champion. Whoever loses will have to be content with third place. Very much deja vu for me as this was the case during my 2010 CNY tournament.
Game 15. Pui Cheng Wui vs CCW [Win 506-387]
Bingoes played - DEAERATe, AUDITED, STONIER
Bingoes against - YEASTING, SOFTENER
Current status - 11/4 Bingoes - 3/32 S's - 4/38 Blanks - 1/13
A very unhappy game for Pui Cheng Wui. Both of us missed nine-timers with our racks. I missed mine through the Y of YEASTING and instead played the double-double DEAERATe. I could have played BAYADEER or BAYADERE. Pui's niner was a very simple miss. Choosing instead to play SOFTENER, he had REFASTEN through the A of AUDITED which I played, the A at a very dangerous spot. I was lucky to have all the S's in the game albeit having to balance vowel-heavy racks for 3 turns.
And so, with the win, I was champion of the 2011 Subang Scrabble Challenge. RM400 and a nice trophy was in the bag.
Here's the results.
I will be heading to Penang for the MSA Nationals. Hopefully, I am able to improve my performance. For now, I am content with my winnings.
CCW
#1. CUDDLER, CURDLED, CRUDDLE
#2. VIATORES
#3 PARPANE, PREANAL, HANAPER
#4 SENECIO
No comments:
Post a Comment