Gauteng Masters 2014

The recent Gauteng Masters tournament, a double round robin of the top 10 in Gauteng, produced some very exciting Scrabble. Going into the last game, Trevor and I had the same number of wins - whoever won that game would win the tournament. Trevor played 3 consecutive bonuses on moves 7, 8 and 9. I bonused on move 10 to draw level but it turns out to have been a losing move because Trevor's 10th move for 60 points secured him the win. What should I have done on my 10th move instead of bonusing to give me a better (i.e. 53%) chance of winning?

2014 SA Nationals - Spectacular Win against Tristan

I found a beautiful win that Quackle did not find while trailing 396 vs 417 on move 10 of the SA National Champs in Cape Town. Can you find it?

Tristan held CEFINR and I held ADSTTTU. Turns out he could have responded differently to win but he only had 1 minute on his clock. See cross-tables for full game.

Collins Cup 2014 - Well done Steven

The Collins Cup tournament was held over the weekend at the Parktown Boys Highschool. Steven Gruzd won with a game to spare. Well done Steve. Meanwhile, I had my worst local tournament ever.

Results after 16 games:

1 13 +1214 Steven Gruzd 1833 +64 1897
2 12 +983 Tristan Hromnik 1815 +65 1880
3 10.5 +381 Paul Kalumba 1823 -7 1816
4 10 +705 Trevor Hovelmeier 1970 -39 1931
5 10 -25 Mwenya Munkonge 1631 +48 1679
6 9 +803 Dylan Early 1819 -42 1777
7 9 +453 Duncan Keet 1577 +19 1596
8 9 +110 Rajen Pillay 1414 +38 1452
9 9 -320*Sydney Kalema (1609)
10 8 +434 Patrick Mpundu 1730 -21 1709
11 8 +215 Ros Finn 1650 -21 1629
12 8 +57 Gary Birch 1462 +4 1466
13 8 +0 Harry Wiggins 1714 -37 1677
14 8 -232 Moses Kibet 1477 +23 1500
15 7 +175*Isaac Mwape (1437)
16 7 -57 Dominic Tresha 1582 -50 1532
17 7 -356*Mulenga Chitundu (1363)

My games (on cross-tables)

1) Dylan Early vs Isaac Mwape
2) Dylan Early vs Mwenya Munkonge
3) Dylan Early vs Trevor Hovelmeier
4) Dylan Early vs Debbe Hossy
5) Dylan Early vs Paul Kalumba
6) Dylan Early vs Harry Wiggins
7) Dylan Early vs Lynn Roff
8) Dylan Early vs Moses Kibet
9) Dylan Early vs Duncan Keet
10) Dylan Early vs Stephen Peter
11) Dylan Early vs Patrick Mpundu (I lost by 28. Let me know if there was a win)
12) Dylan Early vs Howard Rayner
13) Dylan Early vs Duncan Keet
14) Dylan Early vs Howard Rayner
15) Dylan Early vs Isaac Mwape
16) Dylan Early vs Patrick Mpundu (nice endgame situation)

 

 

 

 

 

Tournament - Primi Piatti, Pretoria

I managed to win the Primi Piatti tournament in Pretoria this weekend with 6/8 wins. Howard did well to finish 2nd beating Ros in the last game. In the final game I had to beat Harry Wiggins who has a good track record against me recently. It was a very exciting game with the lead vacillating between us until the very end. Ironically, this was my worst game of the tournament making only 5 of the best moves but fate smiled upon me and I eked a narrow win.

All games (barring game 6 which was a bye) have been uploaded on cross-tables so you can play through them rack by rack.

Game 1 - Rajen Pillay
Game 2 - Gary Birch
Game 3 - Howard Rainer
Game 4 - Diana Mason
Game 5 - Ros Finn
Game 6 - Bye
Game 7 - Harry Wiggins
Game 8 - Harry Wiggins

Puzzle - Vini's Game 8 (Dylan vs Solomon)

In a must win game against Solomon, and trailing by 80 points, I failed to spot the move. Can you find my 3 best moves?

Vinis Game 9

I doubted FULLS (it's good) so played PLUNDERS (68) instead of PUDSIER (90) on move 2. Otherwise PREFUNDS and UPTRENDS would have played through the N of BONNET. See if you can spot the best play on move 4 (57 points) and on move 5 (92 points). The clincher was move 11. I played HID giving a 52% chance of winning, however, Quackle found a better move giving 89% chance of winning the game. This win gave Harry the tournament and 9-0 for the day. Well done Harry, deserving winner of the Vini's tournament.

 

Vini's Game 8

Vini's Game 8

Vini's Game 7

Vini's Game 6

Vini's Game 5

Vini's Game 4

Vini's Game 3

Vini's Game 2

Vini's Game 1