This year the NSW committee decided to alter the format so that those higher rated players that could not play for three days could be accommodated. Some welcomed the chance to be able to gain rating points in the Open, while others bemoaned the lost opportunity to get amongst the trophies. Maybe we will try a different format again next year in the endless quest to keep everybody happy.
Before summarizing the Scrabble side of the tournament, I need to acknowledge the NSW Committee members who gave their time and effort into making this tournament a success. Firstly, Jean Balmer, our Liaison Officer, for organising the beautiful trophies, including the engraving. Secondly, Audrey Newman, our Treasurer, for organising the collection of entry fees, and distribution of prize monies. Next, Nanette Reynolds, for her tireless work catering for the event (assisted by her hand-picked team of helpers). Also to George Khamis for giving up his day to help on our last day, and lastly to Wilma (in absentia) and Rod for organising tournament booklets, nametags and the equipment generally.
The Open Competition was a victory for the North Shore Scrabble Club, who provided the winner, Kris Logan, and third place-getter Linda Dimond. I believe the champagne will be flowing at the Turramurra Club tonight, with the club founder, Barbara Berlin being in attendance for the celebrations. Kris led all the way to end up with 12 wins out of 14 games, and a comfortable two games margin. Up-and-comer Jan Pincott from the Blacktown Club came a creditable second, gaining 71 ratings points in the process. Both Jan and Linda finished on 10 wins.
The prize for the highest rating gain in the Open went to Jayanthi Viswanathan who shot up a remarkable 295 points. Jayanthi recently joined in through the newly-formed Borders Bookstore Club, and has since been playing at Balmain. The award for the fighest finisher in the 700 to 1000 rating bracket went to Lynn Parnell, while the award for the highest finisher in the below 700 rating bracket went to June Dillon of the Woy Woy Club.
The three day Advanced competition was a tight struggle with the lead changing several times. Young Alastair Richards led early, was overtaken by Betty Forman, regained the lead, then was overtaken by Moana Nepia who hung on to win (16 games) despite late challenges from Alison Pollard (runner-up, 15 games)) and Trish Windhurst (third place-getter, 14.5 games). Alastair finished in fourth place and gained 134 rating points, a truly excellent effort from the ten-year old, while Moana gained 74 points. Noel Coulter's tales of woe were cancelled out by a notable 145 ratings points rise, in finishing in sixth place.
In the Masters event, the scene was set. Paul Cleary was shooting for his fourth consecutive NSW Championship. Rising star Michael Hornung was making his first trip north from Melbourne to stake a challenge, and seven of Australia's Trans-Tasman team were in attendance.
Day 1 finished with Paul Cleary and John Holgate leading on 7 wins and Rod Talbot close behind on 6 wins. I lost three games on the first day to be well back in the field. At the end of Day 2, Rod Talbot had established a one game lead to be on 12 wins, losing only one game on the day. Paul Cleary and Michael Hornung were close hehind on 11 wins with high spreads, while I lost only one game on Day 2 to be just behind on 11 wins with a lower spread.
Going into the three King of the Hill rounds half way through Day 3 the placings were:
1. Michael Hornung 15 wins 1093 spread
2. Paul Cleary 15 wins 1011 spread
3. Rod Talbot 14 wins 918 spread
4. Bob Jackman 14 wins 762 spread
5. John Holgate 13 wins 945 spread
6. Joanne Craig 12 wins 627 spread
It looked certain the winner would come from either of the top 2, with Michael being in a strong position to take out a major title. In Michael's first KOH game against Paul, he got down the nine-timer RAGGIEST, but later tried SEANERS* when he had an opportunity to win the game. In my game against Rod, I opened with the incorrect VIRULar* which Rod failed to challenge, and went on to win by a healthy margin. Joanne beat John to move to 13 wins
This meant that the second KOH round pairings were identical for the top six players above. Again Michael went down to Paul, again Rod lost to me by a large margin, but this time John beat Joanne to overtake Rod on spread.
The situation going into the last round was now:
1. Paul Cleary 17 wins - large spread
2. Bob Jackman 16 wins - 278 spread points behind Paul
3. Michael Hornung 15 wins
4. John Holgate 14 wins
5. Rod Talbot 14 wins
6. Joanne Craig 13 wins
For me, the equation was clear. I had to do the seemingly impossible and beat Paul by 139 points or more to prevent him winning four consecutive titles. And this is exactly what happened in a dramatic final game in which I won by 153 points to edge out Paul by a mere 28 spread points. For me payback time had come for the many times Paul had accounted for me in previous finals of major events. This victory was certainly my sweetest ever. Meanwhile John beat Michael to take overall third place over Michael on spread, while Joanne beat Rod to take fifth place over Rod on spread. Despite losing his last three games, Michael recorded a 96 rating point gain.
Some notable plays during the Masters event were Peter Shaw's play of WHISPERY for 194 against Graeme Lock Lee, equalling the previous record high-word score for the event. Paul got down EXPEDITED through the X and the second E also against Graeme, who unsuccessfully tried to extend it to UNEXPEDITED*. Chris May got down the nine-letter ADORATION, but the play of the Masters event must surely have gone to Jan Serisier who played UnIONISMS through the second I and M against Joan Rosenthal.
In all the excitement of the finale I forgot to retrieve the tourney file from the laptop, so full results and ratings will have to follow later. Time permitting, I hope to write a game by game summary, with special emphasis on that deciding final game, of course,
Results after game 22
NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002 -- MASTERS
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Bob Jackman 17 1139
2 Paul Cleary 17 1110
3 John Holgate 15 1041
4 Michael Hornung 15 799
5 Joanne Craig 14 695
6 Rod Talbot 14 572
7 Anne Drew 13 591
8 Joan Rosenthal 13 440
9 Chris May 12 443
10 Robyn Flynn 12 -174
11 John Barker 11 373
12 Jean McGiffen 11 355
13 Peter Shaw 11 175
14 Barbara Berlin 11 30
15 Graeme Lock Lee 11 -194
16 Zina Costanzo 11 -409
17 Nicole Findlay 10 -381
18 Karen Richards 10 -473
19 Ivor Zetler 9 -281
20 Hanne Marks 9 -481
21 Sue Gergelifi 8 -438
22 Jan Serisier 8 -634
23 Barry Harridge 7 -550
24 Sal Costanzo 7 -1322
25 Norma Tracey 6 -1144
26 Tony Hunt 4 -1282
HIGH GAME: Anne Drew 559
HIGH WORD: Peter Shaw 194
"WHISPERY"
Results after game 22
NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002 -- ADVANCED
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Moana Nepia 16 751
2 Alison Pollard 15 649
3 Trish Windhurst 14.5 201
4 Alastair Richards 14 811
5 Paul Richards 14 307
6 Noel Coulter 13.5 319
7 Betty Foreman 13 385
8 Susan Macgillivray 12 432
9 Ram Mohe 12 266
10 Audrey Newman 12 63
11 Ian Close 12 41
12 Pat Schuberg 11 479
13 Judy Hay 11 80
14 Denise Smith 11 -182
15 Cheryl Michler 11 -451
16 Jean Noonan 10 -72
17 Jenny Templeton 10 -316
18 Margaret Andrews 9 166
19 Gary Pollard 9 -337
20 Nonie English 8 -827
21 Gordon Meggs 7 -411
22 Michael Adler 7 -626
23 Fay Van Oyen 6 -828
24 Nanette Reynolds 6 -900
HIGH GAME: Pat Schuberg 501
HIGH WORD: Betty Foreman 133
"REALIZE"
Results after game 14
NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002 -- OPEN
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Kris Logan 12 1112
2 Jan Pincott 10 534
3 Linda Dimond 10 388
4 Jeff Chelton 9 898
5 Lynn Parnell 9 641
6 Angie Farrington 9 574
7 Rex Shakespeare 9 341
8 Edith Lowbeer 9 101
9 Dolores Barbon 9 0
10 Rene Chelton 8 410
11 Natalie Tadday 8 373
12 Richard Farrington 8 158
13 Sandra Elliott 8 108
14 Tricia Shephard 8 20
15 Campbell Shanks 8 17
16 Basil Sands 8 -12
17 Jayanthi Viswanathan 8 -56
18 Margaret Ackman 8 -554
19 Veena Mohe 7 179
20 Sue Tuckett 7 84
21 Val Ryan 7 22
22 Alan Gauci 7 16
23 Ivana Duria 7 -67
24 Jacquelin Hochmuth 7 -88
25 Ann Fiddler 7 -138
26 June Dillon 7 -370
27 Jean Balmer 6 273
28 Heather Sorensen 6 129
29 Barbara Chenevier 6 96
30 Janine Whittaker 6 -41
31 Frank Hunt 6 -144
32 Bill Condon 6 -250
33 Maree Heynen 6 -322
34 Gial Leslie 6 -375
35 Esther Rolfe 5.5 -3
36 Teresa Traynor 5.5 -96
37 Daisy Bates 5.5 -434
38 Audrey Barrett 5 -97
39 Sunny Wright 5 -371
40 Pearl Gillott 5 -423
41 David Wiseman 5 -734
42 Merle Young 4 -363
43 Diana Field 2 -1186
HIGH GAME: Lynn Parnell 532
HIGH WORD: Rene Chelton 125
"EQUATES"
Stats for Tournament : NSW CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *MASTERS + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Paul Cleary | 6 4 | 4 2 | 15.9 17.0 | 1829 +18 1847 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 3 3 | 1 1 | 15.7 17.0 | 1844 +21 1865 |
| NSW John Holgate | 13 12 | 6 5 | 15.0 15.0 | 1788 1788 |
| VIC Michael Hornung | 32 20 | 15 9 | 10.2 15.0 | 1648 +96 1744 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 30 25 | 8 8 | 10.8 14.0 | 1661 +63 1724 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 4 7 | 2 4 | 15.8 14.0 | 1838 -28 1810 |
| QLD Anne Drew | 25 27 | 3 3 | 13.1 13.0 | 1715 -1 1714 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 9 17 | 5 6 | 15.4 13.0 | 1801 -39 1762 |
| NSW Chris May | 48 35 | 13 10 | 10.0 12.0 | 1605 +39 1644 |
| NSW Robyn Flynn | 34 33 | 9 9 | 11.4 12.0 | 1644 +12 1656 |
| NSW John Barker | 50 42 | 15 14 | 9.5 11.0 | 1590 +31 1621 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 39 37 | 10 11 | 10.4 11.0 | 1622 +12 1634 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 70 46 | 19 15 | 8.3 11.0 | 1555 +54 1609 |
| VIC Barbara Berlin | 53 49 | 26 24 | 10.0 11.0 | 1584 +19 1603 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 45 38 | 12 12 | 10.3 11.0 | 1610 +14 1624 |
| VIC Zina Costanzo | 104 64 | 55 34 | 7.5 11.0 | 1493 +71 1564 |
| VIC Nicole Findlay | 42 50 | 21 25 | 10.9 10.0 | 1619 -18 1601 |
| WA Karen Richards | 61 53 | 3 2 | 9.3 10.0 | 1572 +14 1586 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 57 70 | 17 18 | 10.6 9.0 | 1581 -32 1549 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 107 88 | 27 21 | 7.7 9.0 | 1489 +26 1515 |
| NSW Sue Gergelifi | 109 99 | 28 25 | 7.5 8.0 | 1488 +9 1497 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 82 87 | 22 20 | 8.7 8.0 | 1532 -14 1518 |
| VIC Barry Harridge | 36 80 | 18 42 | 12.1 7.0 | 1630 -102 1528 |
| VIC Sal Costanzo | 71 92 | 37 50 | 9.3 7.0 | 1555 -46 1509 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 52 107 | 16 26 | 11.1 6.0 | 1588 -102 1486 |
| NSW Tony Hunt | 75 140 | 20 37 | 9.5 4.0 | 1544 -111 1433 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *ADVANCED + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Moana Nepia | 166 110 | 48 27 | 12.4 16.0 | 1402 +74 1476 |
| NSW Alison Pollard | 142 137 | 39 34 | 15.1 15.0 | 1436 +4 1440 |
| NSW Trish Windhurst | 117 113 | 33 29 | 14.5 14.5 | 1466 +2 1468 |
| WA Alastair Richards | 281 180 | 26 15 | 7.8 14.0 | 1242 +134 1376 |
| WA Paul Richards | 133 130 | 8 8 | 14.2 14.0 | 1450 -2 1448 |
| NSW Noel Coulter | 310 218 | 80 57 | 6.9 13.5 | 1179 +146 1325 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 115 139 | 31 36 | 14.8 13.0 | 1469 -33 1436 |
| NSW Susan MacGillivr:act | 116 159 | 32 43 | 15.2 12.0 | 1469 -60 1409 |
| NSW Ian Close | 147 177 | 42 49 | 14.6 12.0 | 1429 -51 1378 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 143 165 | 40 46 | 14.0 12.0 | 1434 -37 1397 |
| NSW Ram Mohe | 233 215 | 62 55 | 11.2 12.0 | 1309 +19 1328 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 201 203 | 54 53 | 11.4 11.0 | 1345 -6 1339 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 294 252 | 74 63 | 7.3 11.0 | 1211 +75 1286 |
| NSW Denise Smith | 366 292 | 91 74 | 5.5 11.0 | 1105 +110 1215 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler | 205 219 | 56 58 | 12.0 11.0 | 1341 -17 1324 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 168 226 | 49 60 | 13.9 10.0 | 1397 -76 1321 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 206 235 | 57 62 | 11.8 10.0 | 1341 -36 1305 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 382 315 | 93 82 | 5.1 9.0 | 1088 +78 1166 |
| NSW Gary Pollard | 192 258 | 52 65 | 12.7 9.0 | 1352 -72 1280 |
| NSW Nonie English | 315 313 | 82 81 | 7.8 8.0 | 1165 +5 1170 |
| NSW Gordon Meggs | 261 296 | 65 76 | 10.4 7.0 | 1272 -66 1206 |
| NSW Michael Adler :act | 258 301 | 64 77 | 10.7 7.0 | 1273 -73 1200 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds | 309 329 | 79 86 | 7.8 6.0 | 1179 -35 1144 |
| NSW Fay Van Oyen | 326 341 | 86 88 | 7.2 6.0 | 1152 -23 1129 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *OPEN + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Kris Logan | 99 98 | 26 24 | 12.1 12.0 | 1504 1504 |
| NSW Jann Pincott | 430 371 | 107 93 | 6.6 10.0 | 1029 +71 1100 |
| NSW Linda Dimond | 429 373 | 106 94 | 6.6 10.0 | 1029 +69 1098 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton | 112 156 | 29 42 | 12.5 9.0 | 1477 -67 1410 |
| NSW Lynn Parnell | 455 417 | 114 102 | 6.6 9.0 | 994 +49 1043 |
| NSW Angie Farrington | 262 263 | 66 66 | 8.9 9.0 | 1269 +4 1273 |
| NSW Rex Shakespeare | 410 409 | 101 100 | 8.8 9.0 | 1058 +5 1063 |
| NSW Dolores Barbon | 395 365 | 94 92 | 7.5 9.0 | 1076 +31 1107 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 405 397 | 99 96 | 8.8 9.0 | 1067 +9 1076 |
| NSW Natalie Tadday | 304 305 | 78 79 | 8.0 8.0 | 1184 1184 |
| NSW Richard Farrington | 77 132 | 21 33 | 12.7 8.0 | 1539 -92 1447 |
| SA Campbell Shanks | 527 495 | 36 33 | 6.3 8.0 | 913 +39 952 |
| NSW Sandra Elliott | 542 451 | 133 113 | 3.8 8.0 | 905 +94 999 |
| NSW Rene Chelton | 136 168 | 37 48 | 10.8 8.0 | 1444 -50 1394 |
| NSW Basil Sands | 610 548 | 155 133 | 5.4 8.0 | 846 +53 899 |
| NSW Tricia Shephard | 679 616 | 173 155 | 5.2 8.0 | 782 +56 838 |
| NSW Jayanthi Viswanathan | 1136 673 | 325 174 | 1.2 8.0 | 500 +295 795 |
| NSW Margaret Ackman | 724 617 | 186 156 | 3.9 8.0 | 743 +93 836 |
| NSW Alan Gauci | 504 492 | 123 120 | 6.5 7.0 | 939 +16 955 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler | 399 448 | 97 112 | 10.9 7.0 | 1072 -71 1001 |
| NSW Sue Tuckett | 532 514 | 131 125 | 6.0 7.0 | 911 +20 931 |
| NSW Veena Mohe | 593 522 | 149 129 | 4.6 7.0 | 868 +53 921 |
| NSW Ivana Duria | 531 517 | 130 127 | 6.5 7.0 | 912 +14 926 |
| NSW Val Ryan | 300 351 | 76 91 | 11.4 7.0 | 1198 -82 1116 |
| NSW Jacquelin Hochmuth | 608 629 | 154 159 | 8.6 7.0 | 848 -21 827 |
| NSW June Dillon | 828 743 | 213 193 | 3.9 7.0 | 667 +64 731 |
| NSW Jean Balmer | 396 433 | 95 106 | 8.6 6.0 | 1074 -51 1023 |
| NSW Barbara Chenevier | 319 410 | 83 101 | 11.4 6.0 | 1160 -101 1059 |
| NSW Heather Sorensen :ac | 552 558 | 135 136 | 6.3 6.0 | 896 -4 892 |
| NSW Bill Condon | 1062 909 | 290 236 | 2.9 6.0 | 503 +106 609 |
| NSW Frank Hunt | 638 628 | 162 158 | 5.6 6.0 | 820 +7 827 |
| NSW Gial Leslie | 435 561 | 108 138 | 10.6 6.0 | 1025 -137 888 |
| NSW Janine Whittaker | 688 690 | 174 175 | 6.1 6.0 | 774 -3 771 |
| NSW Maree Heynen | 917 917 | 237 239 | 6.0 6.0 | 599 +2 601 |
| NSW Esther Rolfe | 412 478 | 102 116 | 9.5 5.5 | 1048 -79 969 |
| NSW Teresa Traynor | 798 776 | 206 203 | 4.6 5.5 | 689 +19 708 |
| NSW Daisy Bates | 1021 1013 | 273 272 | 5.1 5.5 | 526 +13 539 |
| NSW Pearl Gillott | 744 706 | 191 182 | 3.7 5.0 | 728 +32 760 |
| NSW Audrey Barrett | 955 953 | 250 251 | 4.9 5.0 | 576 +5 581 |
| NSW Sunny Wright | 490 568 | 120 141 | 9.2 5.0 | 960 -77 883 |
|*NSW David Wiseman | 0 965 | 0 254 | 5.0 5.0 | 572 572 |
| NSW Merle Young | 671 695 | 172 176 | 5.2 4.0 | 792 -24 768 |
|*NSW O Bye | 0 1109 | 0 309 | 4.9 3.5 | 500 500 |
| NSW Diana Field | 1053 1184 | 286 336 | 4.4 2.0 | 505 -47 458 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+