Having arrived back from holidaying in Oman and Sri Lanka on the 23rd of Jan, I decided to make a late entry into the Tournament. Took the early morning flight to Sydney - (had to get up at 3:30 a.m though) and the prospect of playing 10 games on day 1 hadn't really crossed my mind.
Tournament start was spot on time at 9:00 a.m. with 52 competitors - and NSW (Sydney) seemed to be the strongest outfit on paper.
Game 1- Norma Tracey - despite my three bingos to her one - final scores were 392 - 344 in my favour. "FLUVIA" was deemed unacceptable but was pleased to find "PLACATED".
Game 2- Jenny Thompson - I started off wuth IMAGOES to which whe immediately replies with HAUNTED. SOme consistent high scoring and a late bonus of MAELIDS sealed the game for me 493-290.
Game 3- Bob Jackman - Had the tiles flowing my way against a very tough opponent and three bingos to none swung the game my way - 445-307.
Game 4 - Esther Perrins - an early miss of YWROkEN* had me in some trouble (Rod Talbot one the other table commented that it had actually been deleted some time back - ouch!). Esther made a fine play of ESPIAL thru an E onto the triple. However GRADINo and AESTIVAL later on help me to a not so comfortable victory - 414-342.
Game 5 - Steve Sunter - Countered Steve's early bonus of GREYESt with SCARMOGE thru on of the E's. Followed up with ARANEID and won despite a fine outplay by Steve using the Z. 400-345.
Game 6 - Anne Drew - A game marked by some controversy to say the least. A late play of TESTODE* by me goes unchallenged for some reason. I pick QV from the bag to which there is only one place for the Q and yet I am trailing by 12 points. It is Anne's turn and with a rack of COURIE? - she opts for COURsE and TESTODES* which I challenge off. I manage to get my Q down for 11 points - Anne's lead is now 1 point. She makes a play for 20 points and the situation is a hopeless one for me as there is no place for the V to go down. However I calmly play VOFT*/VAW for 19 points - which surprisingly goes unchallenged - again! and after countback I win 402-398. What follows is a barrage of criticism, practical man-handling & being accused of cheating!!! Welcome to Australia.
(Note - the tournament was single challenge i.e free challenges)
Game 7 - Paul Cleary - Paul plays a very high scoring games with beauties such as WUSS/OSHAC and a solitary bingo and manages to win comfortably despite 3 bingos from me. As if playing Paul wasn't tough enough, Anne was making her own comments across the table! My first loss 382-441.
Game 8 - Joan starts off with the pretty APaTITES to which I reply woth OGRESSES thru her S. Was pleased to find NOVeRINT (yes INVENTOR is good as well!) and cap it off with REELING though LEGERING was also available. Joan mentioned that I could have played my C to make CREELING at the end. Still a big win 488-342.
Game 9 - Rod Talbot - At one stage I was leading 309-126, thanks to RECoILED and DOWDIEST - although I had missed the nine timer CREVICED. Rod makes a huge comback with some great finds - GLOBOSE and SAgENES(overlapping 5 tiles) and coupled with a back rack leave towards the end I pull off a not so deserved win 431-398.
Game 10 - John Holgate - got off to a good start with STINGED but John bingos with CUtLETS to narrow the gap. Again I miss a crucial bonus of DIPSTICk thru the D, but lucky to get with VArIATES later on and win 478-328.
Game 11 - Trevor Halsall - Again a reasonable start with FEARLESS and a late bingo of DIVERTS won me the game. Though I believe Mark Watkins might hav a few things to say as the game was annotated. Won 400-331(20 points time penalty for Trevor)
Game 12 - Harry Malcolm - My good friend from Victoria. Was happy to spot SOYBEAN early and apparently blocked Harry's VERONICA but Harry finds ExHUMERS for 84 to come back. However a miss of GERAO* by Harry and my InHERCE put me in front. Was pleased to spot KEAVIE towards the end. Won 428-364
Game 13 - Alistair Kane - Another Victorian! Alistair makes an early EMULATED to which I reply with LImBERED. A move of FASTING/GARE puts me in front and a late bonus of NEROLIS by Alistair is not enough for him. Won 434-394.
Game 14 - Cheryl Michler - My FINANCES is countered by Cheryl's DOdGERS and ENaTION -end game but plays of UMBEL and PARVE help me to a 417-377 win after penalties for time & not writing down words played.
Game 15 - Keiichiro Hirai - After reading KC's (as he call's himself) e-mail almost every week it was nice to finally meet the gentleman from Japan. KC is a really tough competitor and intends to take part in forthcoming international tournaments. KC plays DEFLATED thru LA for 52 points early on only to block my VILLANOUS also thru LA! However I manage VIHUELAS later which is countered by KC's GLORIEs. He also made a classy play of FATSO thru a T and hooking the S as well. A tight endgame followed which swung my way thanks to some very lucy picks. Won 412-383.
Game 16 - Esther Perrins - the game I needed to win to secure the tournament. I challenge Esther's opening move of BIRCHED which is acceptable. A play of BENEDICT thru her B is immediately followed by Esther's SNUGGLED on the D. A hopelessly careless move of cARVIEsT* (yes two blanks!!) by me sees Esther back in the game. However I spot VERAtrIA elsewhere but the lead is marginal. Esther ends up with the Q and I win 441-396. Another annotated game which should prove interesting.
Game 17 - John Holgate - An early miss of BROMATED by me puts me off the track. John comes up with some real Scrabble magic with CLEVEITE thru a V and IDONEITY thru an I. Further blunders of not playing MOFFEtTE to block a triple hotspot and playing INEQUAL* cost me dearly. John wins 478-318. An annotated game which I would not like to read about for sure - but I think John has other plans!!
Game 18 - John Holgate - A return match with John because of the King of the Hill system or as Wilma says - Monarch of the Monolith. Had some fairly straight plays of TRENISE, ISOTONE and DARTInG to John's EVICTING and BrINERS. However another win for me 514-418.
On the whole the tournament ran spot on time on both days and was superbly organised with John Holgate being the main Organiser. As usual Wilma Vialle was spot on with her Directing the Tournament and I was very happy to win the prestigious Sydney International Masters Tournament for the 1st time.
Impressions from Harry Malcolm, Victoria
Congratulations NSW on running another fine Sydney Masters.
Naween, a 21 year old, was awesome in his victory. Granted he has a wide word knowledge, (played SOYBEAN FRENUM and KEAVIE) but he seems to intuit with his timing to take risks, and suddenly you are wasting score in blocking (as best you can) his plays that make two openings. In my case I wrongly played xGERAO (should have been GHERAO) to block his opening play, and watched helplessly as he played INHERCE on the TWS. (N was a blank). With a twinkle in his eye he consoled me, pointing out he could have made DECIPHER down from the D at the other end of his previous play !
Paul Cleary too had "one eye up the chimney" on REDE, later turning it into REDEFINES on a TWS to get the winning break. Anne Drew taught me ARROGATE the hard way in and UNTINGED was a clever one from John Spaan. Trevor Halsall played 4 bonuses in 6 moves on me in a 532-386 win, impressing with AMORINO. Bob Jackman produced HILLOAED off a H (with a blank for the E), and Jean McGiffen played HOOPLAS to secure a tit for tat win during King of the Hill. Chris May also turned the tables with a 5 point last gasp 5 point win, cleverly hanging out RIFLE when he had an D and an S on his last platter. He had worked out I couldn't block both sides of the E (with my V K and vowels) and so played RIFLED/DREGS (tws) for 37. By this (17th)game (in 21 waking hours), I was fairly travel-pooped and beyond tile tracking in the speedy 22 minutes NSW allows ! Ian Close , who started the tournie in fine style beating Paul was my last opponent and he let me scramble to a modest 9W/9L result.
It was great to be able to bring Chile along to such a friendly event, and she thoroughly enjoyed Sydney Town and all its Australia day peopling of the harbor precincts.
Only thing I missed was mums catering (ha!), and fortunately our return trip by the XPT was 2 days either side of the accident at Albury. It was great having lots of Victorians at the event, and I got to play both international players and 13 interstate players. With air or train fares (latter 1st class) now as low as $140 its getting easier to afford. Personal thanks to all the organisers and workers, and hope to see you down here in about 10 weeks for the National Chamionships.
Report from John Holgate, tournament organiser
Naween and Harry M have given us an eyeball description of their experiences at SIM 2001. I'll just give a quick summary of events.
Fifty three players assembled at the Landmark Parkroyal for the 18-round wordfest. It was a classy environment and ideal for a prestige tournament. The large number of interstaters also added to the quality of the field.
We were delighted to have two 'internationals' - Japan's national champion Keiichiro Hirai and Sri Lanka's Naween Fernando - who made their presence felt from the beginning.
Naween was an early leader and but for a loss to Paul Cleary would have been undefeated on day one. As it was he led the field on 9/10 with Esther Perrins and Anne drew on 8/10.
I had a clumsy start losing Games 2 and 3 by 1 and two points against Esther and Alistair respectively. Both were quite winnable. I managed to kick my brain into gear and win the next 7 but in this company you can't afford to throw away games.
My best 'finds' were probably the anagram of ELECTIVE - CLEVEITE (a pitchblende in octhedral crystals) IDONEITY (suitability) against Naween and CHOREGI (leaders of an Ancient Greek chorus) against Kris Logan.
On the final day several players attempted to dethrone King Naween - Esther Perrins, Rod Talbot, Bob Jackman and Joan Rosenthal - but he remained undefeated till Round 17. His three game buffer was by then unassailable.
He went on to collect the $800 with Joan Rosenthal and myself picking up the minor prizes.
Jean McGiffen's high word score of 149 for SAVIOURS was recorded in round 1 and not bettered. Paul Cleary's high game 652 (round 2) was also a tearaway winner.
Six of the games from SIM2001 were annotated for Mark Watkins' SOWPODS magazine and hopefully one or two will appear later in ATB.
The Saturday night's nosh at the Indian restaurant in Macleay St was another highlight - except for the waiter neglecting my order for two hours!
Thanks to all helped out - partcularly Wilma and Pat for their excellent direction and adjudication.
SIM 2002 promises to be bigger and better.
Results after game 18
JANUARY 27, 2001 -- CSIM01
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Naween Fernando 16 1013
2 Joan Rosenthal 13 775
3 John Holgate 12 830
4 Rod Talbot 12 802
5 Paul Cleary 12 541
6 Keiichiro Hirai 11.5 635
7 Alistair Kane 11 957
8 Esther Perrins 11 515
9 Steve Sunter 11 301
10 Cheryl Michler 11 182
11 Angie Pearse 11 164
12 Matte Dunn 11 61
13 Bob Jackman 10 822
14 Chris May 10 392
15 Jean McGiffen 10 358
16 Sue Kyatt 10 313
17 Graeme Lock Lee 10 233
18 Barbara Berlin 10 107
19 Kris Logan 10 49
20 John Spaan 10 -133
21 Judy Hay 10 -270
22 Peter Shaw 10 -933
23 Anne Drew 9.5 259
24 Harry Malcolm 9 602
25 Trevor Halsall 9 191
26 Sal Costanzo 9 86
26 Karen Richards 9 86
28 Norma Tracey 9 -43
29 Hanne Marks 9 -80
30 Ivor Zetler 9 -153
31 Elizabeth Ho 9 -236
32 Jan Serisier 9 -497
33 Joanne Craig 8 630
34 John Barker 8 112
35 Liz Jackman 8 -61
36 Ian Close 8 -196
37 Trish Windhurst 8 -236
38 Louise Kobler 8 -253
39 Audrey Newman 8 -259
40 Gary Pollard 8 -312
41 Gloria Gallagher 8 -493
42 Jenny Templeton 8 -554
43 Margaret Andrews 8 -731
44 Alison Pollard 7 5
45 Ros Gibbons 7 -287
46 Nonie English 7 -329
47 Olga Visser 7 -364
48 Zina Costanzo 7 -542
49 Sam Greenberg 7 -884
50 Paul Richards 6 -521
51 Richard Birch 6 -570
52 Betty Foreman 6 -838
53 Pat Schuberg 5 -886
54 A Bye 0 -360
HIGH GAME: Paul Cleary 652
HIGH WORD: Jean McGiffen 149
"SAVIOURS"
Stats for Tournament : JANUARY 27, 2001
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *CSIM01 + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| VIC Naween Fernando | 2 1 | 1 1 | 12.6 16.0 | 1890 +54 1944 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 24 14 | 9 7 | 10.2 13.0 | 1718 +55 1773 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 1 2 | 1 1 | 13.8 12.0 | 1944 -30 1914 |
| NSW John Holgate | 13 6 | 5 3 | 9.8 12.0 | 1769 +44 1813 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 15 8 | 6 5 | 9.6 12.0 | 1762 +47 1809 |
|*NSW Keiichiro Hirai | 0 20 | 0 9 | 11.5 11.5 | 1744 1744 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 8 7 | 3 4 | 10.2 11.0 | 1797 +15 1812 |
| VIC Alistair Kane | 19 13 | 10 5 | 9.4 11.0 | 1749 +32 1781 |
| VIC Steve Sunter | 7 9 | 4 3 | 11.7 11.0 | 1814 -11 1803 |
| TAS Matte Dunn | 113 90 | 8 5 | 8.7 11.0 | 1475 +47 1522 |
| VIC Angie Pearse | 73 76 | 40 40 | 11.4 11.0 | 1565 -7 1558 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler | 146 99 | 44 29 | 7.5 11.0 | 1430 +72 1502 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 5 5 | 2 2 | 11.3 10.0 | 1835 -21 1814 |
| NSW Chris May | 30 30 | 10 10 | 9.9 10.0 | 1662 +2 1664 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 64 47 | 18 15 | 7.8 10.0 | 1574 +43 1617 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 62 64 | 17 19 | 10.2 10.0 | 1578 -2 1576 |
| VIC Sue Kyatt | 6 15 | 3 6 | 13.0 10.0 | 1815 -48 1767 |
| VIC Barbara Berlin | 54 45 | 30 23 | 9.0 10.0 | 1602 +20 1622 |
| NSW Kris Logan | 187 131 | 50 42 | 6.9 10.0 | 1389 +62 1451 |
| NSW John Spaan :act | 94 85 | 25 23 | 9.4 10.0 | 1517 +13 1530 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 220 147 | 56 45 | 5.4 10.0 | 1328 +94 1422 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 31 35 | 11 11 | 10.5 10.0 | 1657 -9 1648 |
| QLD Anne Drew | 27 26 | 2 2 | 8.0 9.5 | 1675 +31 1706 |
| VIC Harry Malcolm | 17 25 | 8 13 | 11.4 9.0 | 1756 -48 1708 |
| QLD Karen Richards | 59 63 | 4 4 | 9.4 9.0 | 1585 -7 1578 |
| VIC Trevor Halsall | 12 19 | 6 9 | 10.5 9.0 | 1775 -30 1745 |
| VIC Sal Costanzo | 53 59 | 29 32 | 9.9 9.0 | 1606 -18 1588 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 83 103 | 22 30 | 11.3 9.0 | 1541 -45 1496 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 109 93 | 30 25 | 7.1 9.0 | 1482 +38 1520 |
| NSW Elizabeth Ho | 274 231 | 73 60 | 5.1 9.0 | 1233 +77 1310 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 77 94 | 21 26 | 10.9 9.0 | 1555 -38 1517 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 163 155 | 48 47 | 8.6 9.0 | 1407 +8 1415 |
| NSW John Barker | 45 55 | 14 16 | 8.9 8.0 | 1617 -18 1599 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 22 39 | 8 13 | 12.7 8.0 | 1725 -93 1632 |
| NSW Trish Windhurst | 133 118 | 41 35 | 7.3 8.0 | 1450 +13 1463 |
| NSW Liz Jackman | 277 233 | 75 62 | 4.2 8.0 | 1226 +75 1301 |
| NSW Ian Close | 98 123 | 28 38 | 10.2 8.0 | 1502 -44 1458 |
| NSW Gloria Gallagher | 147 145 | 45 44 | 8.1 8.0 | 1427 -3 1424 |
| NSW Louise Kobler | 151 188 | 46 52 | 9.8 8.0 | 1422 -36 1386 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 122 166 | 36 49 | 11.0 8.0 | 1461 -60 1401 |
| NSW Gary Pollard | 201 205 | 53 55 | 8.1 8.0 | 1361 -2 1359 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 254 222 | 65 58 | 4.2 8.0 | 1254 +75 1329 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 273 235 | 72 63 | 4.8 8.0 | 1233 +64 1297 |
| NSW Alison Pollard | 188 171 | 51 51 | 6.5 7.0 | 1385 +10 1395 |
| QLD Olga Visser | 143 194 | 11 16 | 10.0 7.0 | 1432 -59 1373 |
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 144 153 | 43 46 | 7.8 7.0 | 1431 -15 1416 |
| NSW Nonie English | 285 261 | 78 68 | 4.9 7.0 | 1209 +42 1251 |
| VIC Zina Costanzo | 79 126 | 43 59 | 11.6 7.0 | 1546 -90 1456 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 216 221 | 55 57 | 7.5 7.0 | 1339 -9 1330 |
| NSW Richard Birch | 251 266 | 63 71 | 6.4 6.0 | 1255 -9 1246 |
| QLD Paul Richards | 116 187 | 6 14 | 10.2 6.0 | 1471 -83 1388 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 111 201 | 32 54 | 11.8 6.0 | 1478 -116
1362 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 252 279 | 64 77 | 6.8 5.0 | 1255 -36 1219 |
|*NSW A Bye | 0 572 | 0 140 | 0.9 0.9 | 867 867 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+