Gauteng Masters 5 - Diana

Even though I had both blanks Diana beat me fair and square in this game. I thought I was going to win after getting 100 for FOREMAST on move 11, but Di kept on scoring well. It came down to the wire. Her last rack was ABCILST and mine was AEEEOR. The scores were Dylan 377 vs Di 360. I had an out in 2 but it was Di to play. She took me by surprise by playing CABS onto BLAND making BLANDS. I held for a long time, trying to work out a win but could not find one so I decided to challenge. BLANDS was good. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday! I had lost my 3^rd game and was pretty much out of the running. Post mortem revealed several opportunities which I will post as a quiz later on. Final score Dylan 396 vs Di 406. 2-3

Gauteng Master 4 - Debbe

This game really went well for me and poor Debbe did not really get a chance. I was 200 ahead after 8 moves. My best play of the tourney was on rack 4 holding ACEINPS. See puzzle below. Final score Dylan 507 vs Debbe 352. 2-2

Gauteng Masters 3 - Howard

Howard played a good strong game, opening with AGAROSE (73). He also scored 46 for QI and 47 for JAK. By the time I managed to bonus with PELORIES (pl of PELORY, unexpected regularity in a flower), I was still 75 behind. On move 13 I made a cheeky opening by playing AX to the edge of the board, holding 1 of 2 Es and hoping for a miracle. As it happens, said miracle arrived in the form of a sea turtle. I had RIDLEYS on my rack but did not see it! I played YO for 4 instead. The bonus would have scored 96 and given me the game. Final score: Dylan 379 vs Howard 425. 1-2

Gauteng Masters 2 - Steve

Steve played TSETSEBE, a type of flying antelope (cross between a tsetse and a tsessebe) but luckily for me, such a word does not exist. I quickly saw an opportunity to play CORNEAE and took the lead. Steve was not fazed. He came back strong with scores like: 70, 70, 36, 51, 44. Meanwhile, I was getting 20s,battling with too many vowels. Here are some of my racks: DIIIOOY, FIIILTU, DGIOUUV, DEIIOPU. There was nothing I could do. Final score: Steven 445 vs Dylan 341. This put Steve in poll position as he had just beaten Trevor in the previous game.

Gauteng Masters 1 - Fern

Fern made a poignant point when she took an early lead with JaV(E)LINS (68). I’m used to chasing her so I settled down for a tough game. I got my first bonus on move 7 – TRIZONE (91) to draw level. Fern riposted with CANTIES(T) (68). After 10 moves we were equal but I had the last blank. I managed to play GUAnINES (77+5) and win the game. Final score: Dylan 460 vs Fern 369.

Results of the Cape Winter Tourney

9 game tourney played today. Well done to Tristan. Very exciting to see Ashley coming up. Surprised to see Llewellin, the national champ, take a hit.

  1    7  +644 Tristan Hromnik      1854   +3 1857
  2    7  +534 Ashley Willenberg    1716  +24 1740
  3    6  +294 Gwen Rea             1430   -3 1427
  4    6  +194 Duncan Keet          1596  +10 1606
  5    6  -300 Angela Cohen         1393  +29 1422
  6    5  +419 Llewellin Jegels     1756  -46 1710
  7    5    -6 Michael Leuw         1190  +38 1228
  8    5   -23 David Gad            1190  +42 1232
  9    4  +218 Greg Decerff         1468  -29 1439
 10    4  +127 Joy Palm             1290   +6 1296
 11    4   +38 Ata Sonday           1452  -22 1430
 12    4    +8 Leanne Sabath        1241   +0 1241
 13    4  -366 Freda Malgarte        824   +5  829
 14    4  -370 Barbara Montgomery   1012  +22 1034
 15    4  -388 Lloyd Parkerson       923   +1  924
 16    3  -248 Estelle Marney       1241  -27 1214
 17    3  -325&Fareed Arnold       (1125)    (1002)
 18    0  -450*Bye Bye                       ( 500)

High game: Ata Sonday 578
High word: Joy Palm WAVELESS 111

Riding a panzer, eating nartjies

Trev opened with UNCI and I played GOX to his U, keeping RATE. Trev played (N)ARTJIES (68) and I double-doubled with EN(T)RANTS (82). Trev got 54 for P(A)NZER through my A, an armoured combat vehicle and I countered with GUAVAS for 42. After 4 turns it was 160 each. The game was on! Unfortunately, Trev soon bonused  with DiMPlED to take a commanding lead. Even though I held the very promising RETAIN+Y, the board was so blocked that a professional plumber and a crew of jolly lumberjacks could not unblock it. I gave up on bonus hunting and decided to go for score instead. I played TYIYN for 45 which was very snazzy but sadly not enough. I opened with REV which would have allowed me to play NAILERS/EREV next turn but Trevor blocked with BORA, a cold wind. Trev only had 3 seconds on his clock and I tried to exploit this by throwing him a curveball when I played ASSY (a nonword). It went unchallenged but did not help my result. Final score Dylan 364 vs Trev 388.