It was ladies day at the North Shore Christmas Tournament in Turramurra, NSW. Despite soaring temperatures and strong performances from Messrs Barker, Holgate & Chelton, the fairer sex showed their true colours by securing nine out of twelve placings in the four divisions. Congratulations were showered on Joanne Craig who slipped quietly past the post to win the tournament in a strong field of 80 contestants. Ros Gibbons from Wollongong was also impressive with her seven game win in B Division. Between them they notched up rating gains of 100 and 88 points respectively. In C and D Division Margaret Berliner and Merle Young took the honours and Veena Mohe's rating gain of 90 points and Henni Maat's 48 were also noteworthy improvements. High game scores were recorded by Joan Rosenthal (588), Jan Serisier (484), Wilma Vialle (498) and Beverley Purkis (450). Feminine skill was also apparent in the high word score placings with Joan Buchanan's "quoiters" (98), Daphne Bezuidenhout's "requests" (100) and Merle Young's "coaxing" (109).
The much publicised "Great Ratings Race" between Joanne Craig, Rod Talbot, John Barker, Graeme Lock Lee and Derek McKenzie resulted in a final two horse showdown with Derek flying down from Queensland in an attempt to catch the favourite John Barker. Perhaps Derek wished that the tournament was "nonrated" when he gained 133 points for using the word but still lost 51 rating points for the day. Final placings were John 1808, Joanne 1758, Derek 1706, Rod 1675 and Graeme 1410.
Birthday girl Lan Knox from the North Shore Club not only received flowers to mark the occasion but also drew her own winning ticket to win the $100 raffle prize. Later seasoned revellers made their annual pilgrimage to the Blue Gum at Waitara where equally warm conditions near the D.I.Y. barbecue, and the desire for loud carousing, caused a major exodus to the Jackman's swimming pool.
My thanks extend to all tournament helpers and in particular to Kris Logan who forsook a day of Scrabble to act as rules adjudicator, kitchen hand and runner.
Results after game 7
TURRA98 -- MASTERS
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Joanne Craig 6 503
2 John Barker 6 195
3 John Holgate 5 584
4 Bob Jackman 5 329
5 Paul Cleary 4 260
6 Joan Rosenthal 4 229
7 Trevor Halsall 4 226
8 Betty Foreman 4 0
9 Rod Talbot 4 -17
10 Jean Noonan 4 -158
11 Robin Duncan 3 140
12 Jean Mcgiffen 3 10
13 Louise Kobler 3 -72
14 Peter Shaw 3 -239
15 Ian Close 3 -379
16 Derek Mckenzie 2 96
17 Rene Chelton 2 -177
18 Keith Bioletti 2 -535
19 Sam Greenberg 2 -557
20 Audrey Newman 1 -438
HIGH GAME: Joan Rosenthal 588
HIGH WORD: 0
""
Results after game 7
TURRA98 -- ADVANCED
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Ros Gibbons 7 330
2 Joan Buchanan 5 449
3 Jeff Chelton 5 242
4 Norma Tracey 5 235
5 Nanette Reynolds 4 175
6 Jan Serisier 4 173
7 Graeme Lock Lee 4 158
8 Val Ryan 4 73
9 Hanne Marks 4 7
10 Liz Jackman 4 -90
11 Sue Flack 4 -174
12 Ethel Collins 3 1
13 Judy Hay 3 -16
14 Cheryl Michler 3 -168
15 Jean Balmer 3 -169
16 June Stephenson 2 -73
17 Gordon Meggs 2 -136
18 Penny Wells 2 -295
19 Richard Birch 2 -389
20 Raya Wilkinson 0 -333
HIGH GAME: Jan Serisier 484
HIGH WORD: 0
""
Results after game 7
TURRA98 -- INTERMEDIATE
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Margaret Berliner 6 275
2 Wilma Vialle 5 676
3 Judy Mcguinness 5 255
4 Linda Dimond 5 105
5 Henni Maat 5 -13
6 Maureen Hilder 4« 227
7 Margaret Andrews 4« 5
8 Esther Rolfe 4 58
9 John Mcmahon 3 33
10 Nonie English 3 24
11 Donna Macdonald 3 15
12 Ram Mohe 3 -8
13 Trish Windhurst 3 -47
14 Alan Gauci 3 -155
15 Daphne Bezuidenhout 3 -158
16 Lan Knox 2 -118
17 Pauline Potter 2 -149
18 Edith Lowbeer 2 -186
19 Sunny Wright 2 -359
20 Sue Tuckett 2 -480
HIGH GAME: Wilma Vialle 498
HIGH WORD: 0
""
Results after game 7
TURRA98 -- RECREATIONAL
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Merle Young 6 443
2 Beverly Purkis 5 461
3 Ann Fiddler 5 282
4 Jenny Trad 5 148
5 Anna Kaszonyi 4 142
6 Marie Hirschfeld 4 74
7 Veena Mohe 4 53
8 Silvana Newman 4 25
9 Maria Kaye 4 0
10 Peter Raymen 4 -7
11 Jean Doyle 4 -144
12 Jeff Richardson 3 15
13 Claire Dove 3 4
14 Inge Burke 3 -19
15 Florence Rankin 3 -43
16 Win Hendriksen 3 -253
17 Nancy Sacchetti 3 -302
18 Chris Phillips 2 -79
19 Ursula Schokman 1 -230
20 Diana Field 0 -570
HIGH GAME: Beverly Purkis 450
HIGH WORD: 0
""
Stats for Tournament : TURRA98
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *MASTERS + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Joanne Craig | 57 22 | 18 8 | 2.3 6.0 | 1651 +101
1752 |
| NSW John Barker | 21 14 | 7 6 | 4.0 6.0 | 1763 +46 1809 |
| NSW John Holgate | 4 4 | 3 3 | 5.3 5.0 | 1888 -1 1887 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 1 1 | 1 1 | 6.2 5.0 | 1988 -18 1970 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 11 11 | 5 5 | 4.6 4.0 | 1826 -7 1819 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 7 9 | 4 4 | 4.7 4.0 | 1848 -8 1840 |
| NSW Trevor Halsall | 44 38 | 13 12 | 3.6 4.0 | 1679 +9 1688 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 124 101 | 33 28 | 1.7 4.0 | 1489 +51 1540 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 54 46 | 17 14 | 3.0 4.0 | 1655 +20 1675 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 87 78 | 25 23 | 2.8 4.0 | 1569 +24 1593 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 38 51 | 12 17 | 4.5 3.0 | 1687 -28 1659 |
| NSW Robin Duncan | 30 32 | 9 10 | 3.5 3.0 | 1713 -8 1705 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 36 45 | 11 13 | 3.8 3.0 | 1692 -17 1675 |
| NSW Louise Kobler | 108 97 | 30 26 | 2.0 3.0 | 1523 +19 1542 |
| NSW Ian Close | 133 120 | 36 34 | 2.0 3.0 | 1478 +20 1498 |
| QLD Derek McKenzie | 22 31 | 1 1 | 4.6 2.0 | 1758 -51 1707 |
| NSW Rene Chelton | 67 76 | 20 22 | 3.4 2.0 | 1625 -28 1597 |
| NSW Keith Bioletti | 65 73 | 19 21 | 3.4 2.0 | 1628 -27 1601 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 103 104 | 28 30 | 2.0 2.0 | 1531 +1 1532 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 86 98 | 24 27 | 2.5 1.0 | 1571 -30 1541 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *ADVANCED + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 208 160 | 48 40 | 3.7 7.0 | 1353 +89 1442 |
| NSW Joan Buchanan | 280 234 | 70 55 | 2.2 5.0 | 1229 +69 1298 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton | 159 157 |