Victorian Alistair Kane is the new NSW Scrabble Champion, having won 18 out of 22 games on a glorious Labor Day long weekend at the spacious Revesby Workers Club in Sydney's South West.
Alistair's sterling performance included a solid resistance to the challenge issued to him by Bob Jackman in each of the last three rounds of the tournament, all King of the Hill. This display of fortitude in the face of such opposition typified Alistair's performance throughout this tournament, as Bob had managed to lead for most of the way. However, Alistair is known for his consistently good play and even temperament in pressure games and this is probably what got him through. Although he ascribed much of his success to the fact that his "opponents seemed desperate to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" in the traditional victory speech, Alistair will no doubt be grateful that Bob, due to time constraints, was unable to find an 8-letter triple triple around a third position C with the rack EIINOR? Had he played RECISION, Bob would have taken the honours.
Joan Rosenthal was back amongst the prizes with an excellent 16 game haul, with her third place only 92 points shy of Bob's margin. Esther Perrins demonstrated her firepower with a high game of 617, whilst Peter Shaw took the high word prize with 176 for CREEPERS. Highly rated though he already is, Alistair also took out the highest rating game prize (78 points) and leapfrogged from 8th to 2nd place in the National Ratings list.
In the Advanced section, Alison Rae managed to keep contenders Ruby Kotwall (2nd) and Jean Noonan (3rd) at bay. Interestingly, the top four place-getters in Advanced each recorded 14 wins, a very close and exciting result which shows the importance of the margins system in determining places. Alison also took the chocolates for high game (518) whilst Jean had further consolation in triple tripling TINGLERS for 131. Val Ryan was rewarded for her rating gain of 101.
Trish Windhurst was victorious over Michael Adler (2nd) and Colleen Howie (3rd) in the Intermediate section whilst Pat Schuberg recorded 551 for a very satisfying high game. Trish also played ESQUIRES for 101 giving her high word honours. Faye van Oyen had a rating increase of 47 to take out that prize.
In Recreation, Wilma Vialle won easily over Daphne Bezuidenhout (2nd) and the impressive Dylan Sharma came third. Daphne played the high word STOPPING for 149 in her high game score of 542, whilst George Khamis went up 65 points in the Ratings.
Thank you to all those who contributed to make this such a smoothly run tournament. At the time of writing, I am unaware of any incident having occurred that could be said to blemish this tournament (...personal feelings about tile distributions set aside!).
On behalf of the ASPA(NSW) Committee, I would also like to thank all of those who attended the AGM on the Sunday night, and my fellow Committee members for their work throughout the year, and reiterate the President's welcome to Wilma Vialle on her appointment to the position of Secretary.
Results after game 22
1998 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS -- MASTERS
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Alistair Kane 18 1328
2 Bob Jackman 16 1396
3 Joan Rosenthal 16 1304
4 Esther Perrins 15 1072
5 John Holgate 15 435
6 Paul Cleary 14 802
7 Barbara Berlin 14 -175
8 Marie Knight 12 313
9 John Barker 12 303
10 Derek Mckenzie 12 -36
11 Robyn Flynn 11 251
12 Peter Shaw 11 1
13 Sal Costanzo 11 -466
14 Joanne Craig 10« 182
15 Rod Talbot 10 173
16 Patricia Mitchell 10 -62
17 Carmel Dodd 10 -110
18 Sue Gergelifi 10 -649
19 Audrey Newman 10 -1228
20 Sue Kyatt 9« -474
21 Jean Mcgiffen 9 -364
22 Rene Chelton 9 -447
23 Betty Foreman 9 -540
24 Ann Drew 8 -437
25 Sam Greenberg 8 -601
26 Meg Henderson 8 -888
27 Kris Logan 7 -280
28 Gloria Gallagher 3 -803
HIGH GAME: Esther Perrins 617
HIGH WORD: Peter Shaw 176
"CREEPERS"
Results after game 22
1998 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS -- ADVANCED
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Alison Rae 14 1113
2 Ruby Kotwall 14 723
3 Jean Noonan 14 654
4 Ian Close 14 439
5 Jan Serisier 13 418
6 Siva Sivapalasundram13 206
7 Duncan Smith 13 45
8 Nanette Reynolds 12 371
9 Betty Coleman 12 113
10 Robert Tomkins 12 87
11 Val Ryan 12 -9
12 Judy Hay 12 -230
13 Graeme Lock Lee 11 456
14 Cheryl Michler 11 217
15 Hanne Marks 11 46
16 Ros Gibbons 11 21
17 Sue Flack 11 -318
18 Joan Buchanan 10 -14
19 Liz Jackman 10 -116
20 Jenny Templeton 10 -235
21 Zina Costanzo 10 -538
22 Jean Balmer 10 -569
23 Susan Macgillivray 9 -206
24 Raya Wilkinson 9 -460
25 Gordon Meggs 9 -597
26 June Stephenson 9 -753
27 Marilyn Mackie 8 -525
28 Barbara Chenevier 4 -339
HIGH GAME: Alison Rae 518
HIGH WORD: Jean Noonan 131
"TINGLERS"
Results after game 14
1998 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS -- INTERMEDIATE
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Trish Windhurst 10 740
2 Michael Adler 9 324
3 Colleen Howie 9 207
4 Margaret Andrews 9 -37
5 Ram Mohe 8 262
6 Judy Mcguiness 8 193
7 Alan Gauci 8 -62
8 Edith Lowbeer 7 267
9 Faye Van Oyen 7 70
10 Mary Craven 7 -261
11 Pat Schuberg 6« 70
12 Linda Dimond 6« -17
13 Nonie English 6« -65
14 Sunny Wright 5 -664
15 Ivana Duria 4« -382
16 Denver Brodsky 1 -645
HIGH GAME: Pat Schuberg 551
HIGH WORD: Trish Windhurst 101
"ESQUIRES"
Results after game 14
1998 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS -- RECREATION
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Wilma Vialle 11 905
2 Daphne Bezuidenhout 10 818
3 Dylan Sharma 10 717
4 Margaret Ackman 9 607
5 Sue Tuckett 9 302
6 Jeff Richardson 8 111
7 Margaret Gauci 8 -275
8 Andree Lajoie 7 203
9 George Khamis 7 129
10 Stacey Lock Lee 7 -387
11 Ann Fiddler 6 -18
12 Frank Hunt 5« -557
13 Chris Phillips 5 -411
14 Merriss Adler 4« -406
15 Cassie Menne 4 -599
16 Diana Field 1 -1139
HIGH GAME: Daphne Bezuidenhout 542
HIGH WORD: Daphne Bezuidenhout 149
"STOPPING"
Stats for Tournament : 1998 NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *MASTERS + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| VIC Alistair Kane | 9 2 | 4 1 | 13.1 18.0 | 1839 +78 1917 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 11 6 | 5 4 | 12.9 16.0 | 1814 +50 1864 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 1 1 | 1 1 | 17.6 16.0 | 1995 -25 1970 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 2 3 | 2 2 | 16.2 15.0 | 1921 -19 1902 |
| NSW John Holgate | 3 4 | 3 3 | 15.6 15.0 | 1898 -10 1888 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 5 8 | 4 5 | 14.6 14.0 | 1860 -10 1850 |
| VIC Barbara Berlin | 26 11 | 14 5 | 10.9 14.0 | 1756 +62 1818 |
| NSW John Barker | 36 26 | 10 8 | 10.1 12.0 | 1700 +38 1738 |
| NSW Marie Knight | 28 27 | 9 9 | 11.8 12.0 | 1733 +4 1737 |
| QLD Derek McKenzie | 23 25 | 1 1 | 12.6 12.0 | 1771 -12 1759 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 69 45 | 20 14 | 8.4 11.0 | 1624 +51 1675 |
| NSW Robyn Flynn | 55 37 | 16 11 | 9.0 11.0 | 1651 +40 1691 |
| VIC Sal Costanzo | 47 51 | 26 26 | 11.5 11.0 | 1671 -10 1661 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 39 47 | 11 15 | 11.3 10.5 | 1688 -17 1671 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 46 39 | 13 12 | 9.3 10.0 | 1673 +13 1686 |
| SA Carmel Dodd | 29 49 | 1 2 | 13.4 10.0 | 1731 -68 1663 |
| VIC Patricia Mitchell | 82 62 | 46 33 | 7.5 10.0 | 1582 +51 1633 |
| NSW Sue Gergelifi | 72 59 | 22 18 | 8.7 10.0 | 1612 +25 1637 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 110 77 | 29 23 | 6.7 10.0 | 1525 +66 1591 |
| VIC Sue Kyatt | 32 44 | 18 24 | 11.7 9.5 | 1719 -43 1676 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 19 36 | 7 10 | 13.4 9.0 | 1782 -89 1693 |
| NSW Rene Chelton | 68 69 | 19 20 | 9.3 9.0 | 1625 -6 1619 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 98 83 | 27 24 | 7.4 9.0 | 1547 +32 1579 |
| QLD Anne Drew | 107 96 | 4 3 | 6.7 8.0 | 1527 +26 1553 |
| VIC Meg Henderson | 53 80 | 30 44 | 11.5 8.0 | 1654 -69 1585 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 104 101 | 28 27 | 7.5 8.0 | 1529 +11 1540 |
| NSW Kris Logan | 90 103 | 25 28 | 8.8 7.0 | 1572 -36 1536 |
| NSW Gloria Gallagher | 65 135 | 18 33 | 10.5 3.0 | 1626 -149
1477 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *ADVANCED + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Alison Rae :act | 150 139 | 38 34 | 13.3 14.0 | 1457 +14 1471 |
| NSW Ruby Kotwall | 143 141 | 37 35 | 13.9 14.0 | 1470 +1 1471 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 129 147 | 34 37 | 15.6 14.0 | 1496 -31 1465 |
| NSW Ian Close | 139 143 | 36 36 | 14.4 14.0 | 1476 -8 1468 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 201 182 | 49 42 | 11.9 13.0 | 1377 +23 1400 |
| NSW Duncan Smith | 226 191 | 55 46 | 10.2 13.0 | 1334 +56 1390 |
| NSW Siva Sivapalasundram | 183 173 | 45 41 | 12.4 13.0 | 1404 +11 1415 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds | 305 242 | 73 59 | 7.4 12.0 | 1195 +92 1287 |
| NSW Betty Coleman | 239 222 | 58 53 | 9.6 12.0 | 1290 +48 1338 |
| NSW Robert Tomkins | 164 184 | 42 43 | 13.9 12.0 | 1436 -38 1398 |
| NSW Val Ryan | 303 237 | 71 57 | 6.9 12.0 | 1198 +101
1299 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 194 202 | 48 47 | 13.0 12.0 | 1390 -21 1369 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 130 187 | 35 45 | 15.9 11.0 | 1494 -98 1396 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler | 165 212 | 43 48 | 15.1 11.0 | 1432 -83 1349 |
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 213 225 | 50 55 | 12.1 11.0 | 1358 -22 1336 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 214 214 | 51 49 | 11.2 11.0 | 1352 -4 1348 |
| NSW Sue Flack | 177 218 | 44 50 | 14.6 11.0 | 1414 -72 1342 |
| NSW Liz Jackman | 187 227 | 46 56 | 13.6 10.0 | 1399 -73 1326 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 271 251 | 64 61 | 8.3 10.0 | 1243 +33 1276 |
| NSW Joan Buchanan | 355 295 | 86 73 | 5.3 10.0 | 1121 +94 1215 |
| NSW Jean Balmer | 313 283 | 76 70 | 7.1 10.0 | 1175 +57 1232 |
| VIC Zina Costanzo | 152 215 | 77 97 | 15.4 10.0 | 1456 -109
1347 |
| NSW Susan MacGillivr:act | 338 312 | 82 78 | 7.2 9.0 | 1143 +36 1179 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson | 356 309 | 87 76 | 5.6 9.0 | 1121 +67 1188 |
| NSW Gordon Meggs | 237 260 | 56 62 | 10.6 9.0 | 1290 -32 1258 |
| NSW June Stephenson | 363 325 | 90 80 | 6.2 9.0 | 1111 +56 1167 |
| WA Marilyn Mackie | 322 318 | 34 32 | 7.8 8.0 | 1166 +4 1170 |
| NSW Barbara Chenevier | 290 359 | 70 89 | 9.2 4.0 | 1221 -103
1118 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
Note that Barbara Chenevier replaced Bye after Day 1. This means that her
rating, plus the ratings of all those who were given a bye on Day 1 require
adjustment from the above.
In particular:
Barbara Chenvevier adjusted to 1197
Raya Wilkinson 1188
Susam McGillivray 1171
Marilyn Mackie 1168
Ros Gibbons 1373
Nanette Reynolds 1282
Sue Flack 1351
June Stephenson 1142
Duncan Smith 1368
+Section: *INTERMEDIATE + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Trish Windhurst | 408 383 | 101 95 | 8.3 10.0 | 1048 +34 1082 |
| NSW Michael Adler :act | 390 390 | 96 97 | 8.9 9.0 | 1069 +3 1072 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 417 394 | 103 98 | 8.1 9.0 | 1043 +18 1061 |
| NSW Colleen Howie | 451 421 | 107 103 | 7.2 9.0 | 999 +36 1035 |
| NSW Ram Mohe | 441 438 | 105 105 | 7.9 8.0 | 1009 +3 1012 |
| NSW Judy McGuinness | 475 449 | 112 107 | 6.4 8.0 | 968 +32 1000 |
| NSW Alan Gauci | 542 495 | 133 119 | 5.8 8.0 | 907 +44 951 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 416 427 | 102 104 | 8.0 7.0 | 1043 -19 1024 |
| NSW Faye Van Oyen | 593 547 | 141 133 | 4.6 7.0 | 855 +47 902 |
| NSW Mary Craven :act | 491 487 | 118 116 | 6.8 7.0 | 953 +4 957 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 480 493 | 115 118 | 7.0 6.5 | 961 -9 952 |
| NSW Nonie English | 485 490 | 117 117 | 6.8 6.5 | 958 -5 953 |
| NSW Linda Dimond | 407 453 | 100 108 | 9.2 6.5 | 1049 -53 996 |
| NSW Sunny Wright | 591 591 | 140 141 | 4.9 5.0 | 856 +2 858 |
| NSW Ivana Duria | 534 566 | 130 139 | 6.3 4.5 | 912 -35 877 |
| NSW Denver Brodsky | 0 730 | 0 177 | 6.0 1.0 | 896 -151
745 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *RECREATION + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Wilma Vialle | 681 605 | 163 144 | 7.9 11.0 | 783 +63 846 |
| QLD Dylan Sharma | 604 578 | 75 70 | 9.3 10.0 | 847 +20 867 |
| NSW Daphne Bezuidenhout | 678 651 | 162 157 | 8.5 10.0 | 784 +29 813 |
| NSW Sue Tuckett | 697 678 | 167 164 | 8.0 9.0 | 767 +19 786 |
| NSW Margaret Ackman | 630 643 | 152 154 | 9.4 9.0 | 827 -8 819 |
| NSW Jeff Richardson | 690 715 | 165 172 | 9.0 8.0 | 773 -20 753 |
| NSW Margaret Gauci | 703 714 | 170 171 | 8.6 8.0 | 765 -12 753 |
| NSW Andree Lajoie | 832 811 | 199 193 | 5.8 7.0 | 651 +23 674 |
| NSW George Khamis | 999 903 | 251 216 | 3.7 7.0 | 527 +65 592 |
| NSW Stacey Lock Lee | 924 857 | 221 203 | 5.3 7.0 | 581 +51 632 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler | 872 870 | 209 208 | 5.9 6.0 | 618 +2 620 |
| NSW Frank Hunt | 902 938 | 215 230 | 6.1 5.5 | 592 -18 574 |
| NSW Chris Phillips | 824 873 | 196 210 | 7.2 5.0 | 661 -44 617 |
| NSW Merriss Adler :act | 939 967 | 231 240 | 5.7 4.5 | 572 -24 548 |
| NSW Cassie Menne | 855 958 | 203 237 | 6.6 4.0 | 634 -77 557 |
| NSW Diana Field | 963 1072 | 237 274 | 4.8 1.0 | 552 -77 475 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+