The finals of US Open 2006 Division 1, Game 1

See the commentary official here.

I just came to the room, just after Round 1 of the finals for Division 1, between Jim Kramer and Geoff Thevenot. Guess what, even the top players play British words! The official commentary said it was a 'phoney', which in the sense it was, but it is an acceptable British word. Jim played 'ZOOEA', which is good for SOWPODS. Better yet, Geoff responded later by playing 'GENIE', hooking the E to make 'ZOOEAE', another British word. And none of them challenged each other!

Sidenote: I saw Marlon Hill ranting about them playing that word to everyone.

Jim won 390-374. Good luck to both of them. I am back in my room, packing to leave for the airport. Sayonara Arizona Biltmore!

Final Day of US Scrabble Open 2006

Day 4, final day of US Scrabble Open 2006. I feel nervous in the morning, like something is not right.... yes, I screwed up.... Something I did angered the tile-gods and they punished me left and right....

Round 22 - Opponent: Robert Collins, rated 905, seeded 31st

I meet Robert Collins again, whom I lost to by -11 points in Round 11. My first rack is FGHLMRX. I played 'F(I)G', and Robert immediately bingoed with 'VENDoRS'. For the next five racks, I get only 1 vowel each. Yet, amazingly, I managed to score 33, 26, 32, 31, 20 points, so I did not change my tiles. On my 7th rack, my rack became DLLRSSV, and with no where to play well, I changed LLVD to get AYII in return. Yeah, like AIIRSSY is any better. And in the end-game, I failed to catch the Q in his rack, because I missed the play-out of AIRIES(T). Anyway, I lost 305-384. And promptly dropped from 7th to 12th position. And Robert ended 2nd overall.

Round 23 - Opponent: Ben Lam, rated 1137, seeded 1st!

Now, if he is rated 1137, why is he playing in under 1000 raters? I guess he improved his rating after the cut-off date. Anyway, I lost to Ben by -11 points in Round 9, just like I lost to Robert Collins. I actually played pretty well this round, playing 'ZIL(L)s' for 66 points, and bingoed with 'TENNERS' later. Yet, Ben played a better game, maximing with 'J(OB)/JO' for 42 points, bingoed with '(JO)E/ErASION' for 74 points, (A)XIS for 33 points, 'VI(N)Y' across my TENNERS for 42 points. So, I lost 365-404. He played well. Ben ended 9th overall.

Round 24 - Opponent: Matt Canik, rated 906, seeded 28th

This is a young boy, who won several school championships. And he hoodwinked me thrice.... my own fault. He bingoed early with a phoney 'SLEETER' which is no good as well. It should be 'SLEETIER' but since it sounded feasible to me, I let it go. He later phoneyed with 'BEDY' which I did not challenge, since he opened up the triple-word lane. I replied with my own bingo of 'PADDieS' using 2 blanks, which is a waste. I also played 'OXEN/(JIN)X' for 40 points. Later, I had 'SATIRE+M' and he blocked my 'SMARTIE' bingo place with 'ORK' which I should have known is no good. But I did not challenge it. Worse, I totally missed another spot which I could have played 'MI(G)RATES' or 'MA(G)ISTER'. I played 'AM', and drew 2 tiles.... the 'A' and the 'M', the very same tiles I just played. What are the odds of that? So, I missed my all-important bingo. No doubt, Matt played well, with 'QUOINS' for 43 points and (Q)UIVER for 36 points late in the game. I could have won with the bingo. Lost 362-373, a mere -11 points. Guess what? Three of those players who beaten me by 11 points sat on the same table!!! Robert, Ben and Matt! Anyway, Matt ended 8th overall.

So, I lost the first 3 games in the morning! And dropped all the way to 20th position in 3 games!

Round 25 - Opponent: KC Frodyma, rated 931, seeded 48th

My luck finally turned here. I had some lucky breaks, playing 'Zo(O)/Z(A)' for 64 points, KEX for 36 points. I challenged 'CAJON' which was good, so I lost a turn. Later, my rack was 'AEEEEII', which I changed. 2 turns later, I bingoed with 'AWAITED' but I hooked A to a D, making 'DA', a British-only word! But she did not see it until too late, so the bingo stayed. She played a phoney bingo 'INCLOs(I)NG(S)' towards the endgame but I let it go, since I will win without challenging and playing '(C)UBE' at H12 to hit the triple word for 21 points to get ahead and possibly losing by challenging if INCLOSINGS turns out to be good. Well, I found out later that INCLOSING does NOT take the S hook. But I won 393-366, and got up to 17th position. From here, if I win my next 3 games, I can still have the chance to get to Top 10! Still hopeful. Anyway, KC ended in 6th position overall.

Round 26 - Opponent: Richard Hamilton, rated 880, seeded 39th

This was a close game, but I had the luck this time. I bingoed with 'RECITES', later played 'EXES/(JOB)S' for 50 points, and bingoed again with 'ENRAgED'. Richard bingoed also, with 'UnCLOGS' but was not enough. I won 411-377.

Round 27 - Opponent: Chris Nelson, rated 895, seeded 63rd

Another close game. Chris bingoed early with 'CASTINg', and I replied soon with 'SHOVERS'. He scored big with 'JEW(S)' for 30 points, 'FIZ/(I)F' for 42 points and 'oXE(N)/X(I)' for 38 points. And yet, I played close to lose by only 12 points, 320-332. Very very sad for me. Dropped to 18th position. And Chris ended 10th overall.

Round 28 - Opponent: Jeremy Hall, rated 820, seeded 61st

Now, this turned out weird. I wanted to play a good game to win 1 more game to remain in the top 20. If I lose, I know for sure I will go below 20th. And of all my luck, Jeremy was 'gibsonized' [note: not a good Scrabble word], and I am the 'gibsonee' [note: also not good in Scrabble]. Jeremy is from the Bay Area in California, so we knew each other. And he had already won 21 games to win the tournament in Round 27, so this game means nothing to his standing. Due to some rule in US, they don't play King-of-the-hill, but he is 'gibsonized' to play someone who, at best case scenario, will be the 11th position if he/she wins the final round. And that person happens to be ME!!! Man, how fair is that? Just so happens, there are a number of people at 16 wins and I have the highest spread, and for that, I get penalized to play with the champion? I don't understand Americans and their thinking. So, instead of me having a chance to get to the 11th position by playing others with 16 wins, I get to play the best player in the tournament with 21 wins!

The only good thing is, for the 28th and final game, I get to play in Table 1!!

Anyway, I have beaten Jeremy in club game in Palo Alto before, so our standards are not that far off from each other, I think. But I made my mistakes. We were scoring neck-to-neck. He started with 'ZETAS' for 48 points and in his 3rd move, bingoed early with '(T)ITTERED' but I played well to keep up to him. Then, I made my mistake. I bingoed with 'SOL(T)ICES', which he thought for a while, and then challenged it off. But he left the T-spot open, so I bingoed again with 'SOLS(T)ICE', the correct spelling. THis time, he did not challenge. At this point, at the 10th move, we were tied at 296-296. At the 11th move, we both scored 22 and tied again at 318-318. Then, he bingoed with '(BE)S/ STINGED'. STINGED sounds good right? That's because it is a British-only word!!! I thought about it and let it go, coz I have played it before. Turns out, it was not good in TWL2 and I let it stay. Sigh.... There goes the game. It ended in 13 plays, and I lost 352-402, a -50 point difference, coming exactly from the bingo bonus!!! Sigh.....

Dropped like a stone to 22nd position. Not in Top 10, not even in the top 20. And I have a cumulative spread of +1060! If I had won 1 more game, I'd be 15th, and if I had won 2 more games, I would have been 7th! And I really could have done it. My mistakes costed me. So, for today, I have 2 wins - 5 losses, ending the tournament with 16W-12L. Quite bad. Quite pissed, and quite disappointed. Sad. Sad. Sad. Maybe I should just retire from Scrabble.

Hey guys, from Singapore and Malaysia. I know some of you were rooting for me to be in Top 10, and I did actually thought I could do it too. But I screwed up. Sorry to disappoint you guys.

For the round by round standings, please see here.

Day 3 of the US Open

Day 3 of the US Open. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well last night, and was quite refreshed. Guess it must be my workout at the gym plus a good soak in the hot tub.

I met GI Joel in elevator going down, and saw his funny T-shirt. The back of the T-shirt reads 'I HAVE BEATEN NIGEL RICHARDS BEFORE'. I guess Nigel's fame spread far and wide.

Game 1 - Opponent: Cheryl Francis, rated 909, seeded 27th

Met this interesting lady, who turns out to be of a native american origin. Tough fight too, on the Scrabble board, that is. I bingoed early with 'FIShIER' and later screwed up playing a A hook to NULLED, thinking ANNULLED was spelt with a single 'N'. Of course, she challenged it off. Later I lost another turn because I challenged 'OYES', which turned out to be good while 'OYE' is not! Man, TWL2 ticks me off. It was neck-to-neck till the end, and on my last move, it was me 328, she leading with 339. I had IRON? on my rack, but could not go out. Spent a couple of minutes looking around, and saw an opening! Using ?N, I hooked to the front of 'ZIP' to play 'uN(ZIP)' and ? hook to 'N' for 'Nu' for a 31 points to lead 359-339. She ended the game with another 6 points, take my 'IRO' for 6 points. I won a very close game, 359-351. +8 point spread! Whew.....


Game 16 - Opponent: Chris Nelson, rated 810, seeded 63th

This was a heartbreaking game. I was leading for a long time, through half the game and playing a very closed board that my oppponent cannot play (due to lack of vowels), but made the mistake of opening up the board later. I was leading 223-160, so I opened up the board because I fished out one of the blank tile. But he caught up almost soon and bingoed with a simple 'SEALING' with the S hook. And instead of playing 'Jo(I)N' from the I in SEALING to hit the triple-word from H12 on the board, worth 54 points, I just played J(I)N for 30 points. And he hooked ODD to 'D(JIN)' for more points too!!! Lost badly, 310-405 for a -95 spread. Stupid mistakes!

Game 17 - Opponent: Edmond Wilson, rated 888, seeded 38th

Another sad game. I bingoed on my second turn with 'DILATeD'. He responded later with 'DOmAINS'. We were neck-to-neck, at one point late in the game, 301-308. Then, I made one mistake, playing WORE, hooking my E to THE for 'E(THE)'#, another British-only word!! Lost 323-351, probably due to my stupid ETHE. Stupid TWL2!!!!

Game 18 - Opponent: Khim Clarke, rated 684, seeded 92nd

Found out the Khim is Malaysian, from KL too! She has married locally, I am guessing, having adopted Clarke as her last name. She has settled in the US for about 13 years now, and have just started playing Scrabble in local clubs. We played a ladder-step board, ending up with a very closed-up board. At one point, we were playing 1 tile at a time. I bingoed early with 'SUNDIAL' and later on with 'SEATErS'. Won 412-323.

Game 19 - Opponent: Carol Jones, rated 955, seeded 7th

I ran away with this one. I had most of the power tiles, including the 2 blanks. Playing QI for 44 points, bingoed with 'AnIMATE' for 90 points, MAXES for 42 points, another bingo of 'ENLARgE, ZOO for 41 on the triple word at A1, and finished off with my end-rack bingo, 'REPOSED' for 74. She did get a bingo of '(S)TARTING' but did not hit 300 points. I won 520-295, with a +241 spread.

Game 20 - Opponent: Joyce Stock, rated 782, seeded 69th

Joyce won our earlier game in round 6, day 1. This game, the luck remained with me. Plus, she was really tired too. Played QAT for 42 points. I tried a bingo of 'LeNDORS', which she challenged off. (Yes, I do not know RONDELS works!!) # moves later, I bingoed with 'UNRUST(E)d', which I was pretty proud off, bingoing with 2 'U's. Later on, I played 'Z'AI(R)e' at J14 down, which she challenged unsuccessfully. Phew, I thought I played another British-only word! She, on the other hand, must really have bad racks. I won 387-219 for a +168 spread.

Game 21 - Opponent: Neva Slater, rated 857, seeded 51st.

This old lady had a neck brace on. But Joyce, who played her earlier, said she is a sneaky one! She tends to overdraw, and just drops off the extra tile back into the back. She also draw tiles with the bag below the table. I had to spend time watching her while she draws. Once, I caught her with overdrawing too. Man, old lady!!

Anyhow, it was a tough game. She is a pretty good player. She bingoed with 'RUNTIEr', leading me 146-183. I closed the gap, playing another very closed-up board. Later, I played 'ZAIRe' again for 42 points at O-8. In the end game, I vaulted in front slightly, winning 348-326. Hard fought.

Surprisingly, after today's games, I feel pretty good. Went to the gym again, had a session in the hot-tub and lazed in the pool for a while.... this is the life, playing Scrabble in a top-rate hotel.... (well, I DO have to pay for it....so might as well enjoy the facilities).

Found out after dinner that I am ranked 7th after 21 games!!! In top 10 again! Tomorrow, I am slated to play in tables 3 and 4 in the first 4 games, so it's gonna be a tough fight. I am meeting Robert Collins and Ben Lam again, whom I had lost to both by -11 points earlier. I have a shot in this!! Hope I don't screw it up....

OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM

p/s: See the my standing here

Ding Ding, Day 2 of US Open 2006

Day 2 started with me in a daze.... sleepy.... yawn......

Just found out today that I am rated 13th in Division 6.

Round 8 - Opponent: Susan Bertoni, rated 954, seeded 8th

Was sleepy, but managed to phoney with a believable 'DANcABLE', which should be 'DANCEABLE' to be good. Won 332-305.

Round 9 - Opponent: Ben Lam, rated 971, seeded 4th

Man, this was a tough one. He had both blanks, 3x 'S', the Q,X,Z. I challenged off his phoney 'OuTWINE(S)' and closed up the board, leaving him bingoless, and of course, me too. Made a bad mistake, playing VOL#, a British only word, and lost by a mere 11 points, 296-307. If I played right, could have won by 2 points by playing out first!!! Man, I am so cheesed with myself.

Round 10 - Opponent: Susan Watrous, rated 698, seeded 94th

Change of luck from previous game. This time, I got the good tiles. She bingoed with 'REmO(V)ING' early, and I replied immediately with 'LORRIES' and later on, with 'GRADINES'. Played the 'X' and 'Z' well. Won 445-328, with a +117 spread.

Round 11 - Opponent: Robert Collins, rated 919, seeded 25th

Man, luck changes like the tide, and Robert got the lion share of it. He bingoed with 'STaRERS', and later phoneyed me with 'OUTG(L)IDE', which I did not challenge after thinking over a minute. I put in all I could to catch up, playing well overall but lost 331-342, another loss by -11 spread, like Round 9!! By the way, Robert ended the day on top of Division 6, with a 12-2 record.

Round 12 - Opponent: Ronald Millard, rated 844, seeded 54th

After lunch, I developed this splitting headache, probably from overuse playing Ben Lam and Robert Collins earlier. Tried to sleep it off during lunch break, and took a 'Extra Strength Panadol' but didn't work. Anyhow, still have to play. Bingoed with 'MUSTIER' and led most of the way. He bingoed with 'REPUgNE(D)', which I challenged but lost. At this point, I was still leading. Won the game 395-311.

Round 13 - Opponent: Jack Allard, rated 906, seeded 31st

Still with a splitting headache, and the noise in the room doesn't help. Learnt a new 'Z' word, 'FURZE', which my opponent played. I bingoed with 'MONStER' and later, 'TOWNIES', leading through to win 395-296, a +99 spread.

Round 14 - Opponent: Angela Dancho, rated 687, seeded 96th

Now, the headache is quite unbearable, but the game goes on. No luck this time. My opponent bingoed 2 times consecutively with 'STUNNER' and 'MaLIGNS'. I played 'ZA' for 55, and tried bingo with 'REF(I)LERS' which got challenged off. Lost 339-406.

Ended the day with a 9 win - 5 loss record, and at 17th position. Since I am ranked 13th, my rating will actually drop. Leading the pack is 4 leaders with 12 wins-2 losses, 1 with 11W-3L, and 11 people with 10W-4L. I am the first of the 9W-5L, with my spread of +785, is way ahead of the next person at only +177. Actually, I am ahead in spread compared to most of the people 10W-4L. So, I still have a chance to jump ahead of the pack if I do well tomorrow.

Time to bed, prepare for tomorrow!!

Day 1 of US Open

Day 1 of the US Open!! Something interesting happened in the morning. I was getting my coffee, and saw G.I. Joel in front of me. While getting sugar and cream for the coffee, he turned to me and actually called me by my name!! I was stunned. How did he know me? I am in Division 6! (Later, he told me he checks out all tournament results. He actually recognizes my face!)

I am player #121, due to my last name. And incidently, we have 114 players in Division 6, as some got bumped up into Division 5 and some no-shows.

Game 1 - Opponent: Edna Perry, rated 470.

Edna is a sweet old lady, who just recently started in the tournament scene. Brave soul, to take part in the US Open. I won 466-123, a whopping +343 spread! This puts me in #1 position after round 1! I feel sorry for her though. I started off with a bingo 'WAGERED'. Turn 6, I bingoed with 'sUI(C)IDES'. I challenged off her bingo, 'EnVIOUS' because she hooked off the U to a B, making BU. So sorry....

Game 2 - Opponent: Dan Doerrfeld, rated 500.

Dan is a young teenage kid, playing in the tournament because his grand-dad is playing too and had wanted him to take part. Again, a real rookie in tournaments, this being his second ever tournament. I bingoed 'LAzIEST' early, and scored another 75 points playing QAId at L1 down, hooking I to VIED at N2. I won 396-319, with a spread of +77. With a cumulative spread of +420, I still stand at #1. Pole position!

Game 3 - Opponent: Paul Rickhoff, rated 644.

Man, my luck turned for the worse. I started, and drew this lousy rack, BDHIUUV. I traded BDOUUV, and got back ADGUW!!! Damn it, got a third U, and the D!!! Throughout the game, I kept getting the I's. Loss 316-411. Lose my pole position.... ah well.

Game 4 - Opponent: Cecille Betts, rated 665.

Tough game! Cecille is legally blind, and was entitled to an additional 5 minutes. And she is a tough one too! Was pretty close through the game. She bingoed with double blanks, REsIGNs. However, I was able to pull through at the end game, and won 326-295, without any bingoes to reply. Phew....

After game 4, I dropped to 17th position.

Game 5 - Opponent: Ruth Brower, rated 771.

No bingoes again, but I won 388-295. Ruth managed to bingo with '(C)ENSURES'.

Game 6 - Opponent: Joyce Stock, rated 795.

Sigh... my second loss here. 306-367. She managed to block 3 of my bingoes by playing exactly where I needed. She blocked 'W(I)TCHIER', UNWRITE#(OSW only), and OUtRI(D)ER. My last rack was 'BEARING', with no place to go... Sigh... She even bingoed on her first move, 'DECLiN(E)D'.

Game 7 - Opponent: Don Ball, rated 868.

Don hails from Toronto, Canada. I played well on this one. Don was fishing for a bingo early on, so I tried to score as much as possible. He tried '(R)AIdABLE', which I challenged off, and he tried again with '(R)AIsABLE' which I challenged but it was good. I lost a turn and he led for the first time 227-229. However, I caught up and bingoed later with 'HALTERS' to pull ahead and win 476-317.

I ended the first day with a 5 wins - 2 losses, and a healthy 547 spread, the highest amongst the 5-2s. This placed me in the 13th spot. Tomorrow, I will be playing against opponents closer to my rating. It'll be tough, but I hope to keep to the top 15, if possible.

On to US Open 2006!!

Sorry, have not blogged for a while. I am now writing from the Arizona Biltmore, a luxury hotel in Phoenix Arizona designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. I am participating in the Scrabble US Open 2006!! It is held in this hotel.

For the past months, up till 1st July, I was trying hard to hit the 1000 mark in US ratings... unfortunately, I failed. I got real close too! I hit 999!!! Damn it! Now, I have to play in the lowest division, Division 6, for those rated below 1000.

Anyway, I am looking forward to this tournament. This will give me a taste of what level I really am. Most of the tournaments I have took part so far in the US were small ones, and with 6 games, luck played a big part.

So far, I have met Sam Kantimathi, whom I played against (and lost) in Brands Kings Cup 2005. I have met Jason Katz-Brown, whom I had played a friendly game against in Osaka Japan when we were both visiting a local Scrabble club (he forgot who I am though). I have met Carol of the Carol & Ravi fame, the creators of Lexpert. I have also come across the famous Marlon Hill, the Division 1 player who ranted and raved in movie/documentary 'Word Wars: Tiles and Tribulations in the Scrabble Circuit'. Oh, and I just watched another Scrabble documentary called Scrabylon last night, which featured our very own Malaysian, Ganesh.

Looking forward to tomorrow!! Will update as I go along.

May the blanks and 'S' flow my way....
OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM SATINE
OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM SATINE
OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM SATINE
OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM SATINE