An unfortunate glitch occurred in the setting up of the tournament file. The tournament had accidentally been created using the aggregate method of ranking players, something that is generally anathema here in NSW. This error was only discovered when posting the pairings for Round 2, and it was therefore deemed too late to recreate the file and redraw round 2. It probably would have meant one less game than advertised, so it was unanimously agreed to press on with this unpopular method.
I had an idea that I probably would not have a good day when I found myself trailing John Barker by 200 after four moves in Game 1. John's fourth move saw him wrap DEETION around an L I had placed in the triple file, without having to use a blank to do it.
Despite John averaging 520 after his first two games, he did not have a good day either so it turned out. As last years winner of the great ratings race, he slipped even further back in this year's contest. The leader of this years rating race, Trevor Halsall, also had a bad day, losing 60 ratings points on this outing.
It was Paul Cleary, Joan Rosenthal and Jean McGiffen who were having the good day. They were the only three to win seven out of the nine games, with only aggregate separating them at the finish. Jean's narrow victory against Paul in the last game brought about the blanket finish. Paul's win in this event was his fourth for the year, including of course the National Championships.
Karen Richards performed admirably, possibly highlighting a rating differential between NSW and WA. Len Mannell from Newcastle acquitted himself very well in only his second tournament, and Donna MacDonald from the Central Coast collected the prize for the highest rating gain (127)
My wife Liz joined the elite group of players who have clocked up 1000 rated games. This group of nine now is headed by John Barker (1501 games), Alistair Kane (1400 Games) and Jean McGiffen (1345 games).
The Rooty Hill RSL again proved to be a great venue. Bistro meals there were priced at $4.00, with dessert and coffee thrown in. The club is undergoing refurbishment and their new Settler's Restaurant is part of the completed portion. Whilst dining in Settler's after the tournament, the Scrabble socializers were treated to a very effective outback storm right in the middle of the dining area, complete with thunder, lightning and a shaking water tank which springs a leak for added effect. It was a bit like Las Vegas, on a smaller scale, but very effective and entertaining nevertheless.
Special thanks go to Jean Noonan, and her helpers such as Diana Hilly and Raya Wilkinson for organising yet another great Scrabble day out.
Results after game 9
MAY 8th 1998 -- HASSGR
Rank Player Wins Agg -------------------------------- 1 Paul Cleary 7 3989 2 Joan Rosenthal 7 3915 3 Jean Mcgiffen 7 3669 4 John Holgate 6 3839 5 Karen Richards (Wa) 6 3712 6 Bob Jackman 6 3609 7 Robin Duncan 6 3483 8 Rod Talbot 6 3420 9 Robyn Flynn 6 3409 10 Sunny Wright 6 3173 11 Donna MacDonald 6 3140 12 John Barker 5 3549 13 Peter Shaw 5 3547 14 Ruby Kotwall 5 3493 15 Rene Chelton 5 3370 16 Jenny Templeton 5 3318 17 Norma Tracey 5 3217 18 Margaret Andrews 5 3143 19 Joan Buchanan 5 3122 20 Elizabeth Ho 5 3091 21 Edith Lowbeer 5 3060 22 Trevor Halsall 4 3339 23 Ian Close 4 3319 24 Harry Walsh 4 3316 25 Betty Coleman 4 3225 26 Richard Birch 4 3225 27 Daphne Bezuidenhout 4 3171 28 Len Mannell 4 3166 29 Ros Gibbons 4 3071 30 Ann Fiddler 4 3038 31 Keith Bioletti 3 3398 32 Hanne Marks 3 3252 33 Gary Pollard 3 3243 34 Raya Wilkinson 3 3171 35 Liz Jackman 3 3038 36 Andree Lajoie 3 2932 37 Alan Gauci 3 2882 38 Diana Hilly 2 2974 39 Esther Rolfe 2 2972 40 Diana Field 0 2438 HIGH GAME: Paul Cleary 552 HIGH WORD: John Barker DELETION 140 +--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+ | state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points | | | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New| +--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+ +Section: *HASSGR + + + + +--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+ | NSW Paul Cleary | 2 1 | 2 1 | 7.5 7.0 | 1944 -5 1939 | | NSW Joan Rosenthal | 13 7 | 6 3 | 5.7 7.0 | 1789 +26 1815 | | NSW Jean McGiffen | 25 24 | 8 7 | 6.2 7.0 | 1712 +17 1729 | | NSW John Holgate | 9 13 | 4 6 | 6.9 6.0 | 1809 -13 1796 | | WA Karen Richards | 146 125 | 9 7 | 4.6 6.0 | 1440 +30 1470 | | NSW Bob Jackman | 1 2 | 1 2 | 7.9 6.0 | 1966 -31 1935 | | NSW Robin Duncan | 46 39 | 13 12 | 4.6 6.0 | 1642 +28 1670 | | NSW Rod Talbot | 44 46 | 12 13 | 6.7 6.0 | 1657 -10 1647 | | NSW Robyn Flynn | 62 55 | 17 14 | 5.0 6.0 | 1598 +22 1620 | | NSW Sunny Wright | 468 374 | 120 97 | 1.5 6.0 | 907 +119 1026 | | NSW Donna MacDonald | 421 335 | 102 83 | 1.3 6.0 | 964 +127 1091 | | NSW John Barker | 56 59 | 15 15 | 5.8 5.0 | 1618 -16 1602 | | NSW Peter Shaw | 31 35 | 10 10 | 5.8 5.0 | 1698 -17 1681 | | NSW Ruby Kotwall | 111 95 | 32 27 | 3.8 5.0 | 1496 +27 1523 | | NSW Rene Chelton | 51 62 | 14 17 | 6.8 5.0 | 1630 -33 1597 | | NSW Jenny Templeton | 229 213 | 56 53 | 3.0 5.0 | 1275 +42 1317 | | NSW Norma Tracey | 193 182 | 49 47 | 4.3 5.0 | 1355 +16 1371 | | NSW Margaret Andrews | 380 349 | 97 88 | 2.5 5.0 | 1007 +55 1062 | | NSW Joan Buchanan | 197 198 | 50 49 | 5.5 5.0 | 1347 -5 1342 | | NSW Elizabeth Ho | 235 237 | 60 60 | 5.1 5.0 | 1266 -2 1264 | | NSW Edith Lowbeer | 443 394 | 109 101 | 2.4 5.0 | 936 +56 992 | | NSW Trevor Halsall | 17 32 | 7 9 | 7.0 4.0 | 1756 -61 1695 | | NSW Ian Close | 148 177 | 41 46 | 6.7 4.0 | 1438 -51 1387 | | NSW Harry Walsh | 302 292 | 74 74 | 3.1 4.0 | 1147 +17 1164 | | NSW Richard Birch | 283 288 | 71 73 | 4.7 4.0 | 1178 -12 1166 | | NSW Betty Coleman | 244 253 | 62 63 | 5.0 4.0 | 1251 -20 1231 | | NSW Daphne Bezuidenhout | 475 441 | 121 110 | 1.9 4.0 | 898 +42 940 | | NSW Len Mannell | 464 449 | 117 113 | 3.3 4.0 | 909 +20 929 | | NSW Ros Gibbons | 124 164 | 36 43 | 7.2 4.0 | 1473 -64 1409 | | NSW Ann Fiddler | 538 501 | 131 125 | 2.1 4.0 | 831 +38 869 | | NSW Keith Bioletti | 100 136 | 28 36 | 5.9 3.0 | 1512 -57 1455 | | NSW Hanne Marks | 179 187 | 47 48 | 4.0 3.0 | 1384 -20 1364 | | NSW Gary Pollard | 304 304 | 75 75 | 3.2 3.0 | 1133 -1 1132 | | NSW Raya Wilkinson | 339 343 | 86 86 | 3.7 3.0 | 1082 -13 1069 | | NSW Liz Jackman | 189 222 | 48 55 | 6.4 3.0 | 1359 -63 1296 | | NSW Andree Lajoie | 659 638 | 157 153 | 1.7 3.0 | 697 +26 723 | | NSW Alan Gauci | 440 451 | 108 114 | 3.6 3.0 | 939 -12 927 | | NSW Diana Hilly | 621 610 | 147 147 | 1.6 2.0 | 741 +9 750 | | NSW Esther Rolfe | 309 347 | 77 87 | 5.1 2.0 | 1125 -62 1063 | | NSW Diana Field | 880 887 | 216 217 | 0.8 0.0 | 475 -15 460 | +-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+