But the event was far from British in terms of games played, with ten on the first day and eight on the second making it a veritable Scrabble feast.
We chose the same venue as that which was used for the Trans-Tasman, the Macquarie Boutique Hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel is far from boutique, as when Jeff Chelton (the inventor of dingle challenge) complained about not being able to get sound or picture on the TV, he was told this was standard reception for Sydney CBD. When Jeff said this was garbage, the management invited him to find some place better. He did. Jeff and his wife, Rene, packed up and returned to their home in Wollongong for the night. So much for customer service. The hotel has been renamed Fawlty Towers.
But the playing area there was ideal for the 40 players assembled to play Scrabble, and in many cases including mine, lose hard earned rating points. Richard Evans had a particularly strong start and established an early lead. However it was his British couterpart, Esther, who took over late on the first day, and from that point on held on to her lead. The final round was only a formality, with Alistair Kane from Victoria beating Esther to grab second, and Roger Blom, Alistairs travelling companion hanging on for third.
Roger did cover himself with glory by finding DROMICAL(1) for 176 against Gloria Gallagher, surpassing his 122 for BANJOIST in an earlier round. Incredibly, Roger lost the game against Gloria.
Two stars of the future identified themselves over the weekend. Kris Logan from Syney's North Shore Club, and Grahame Lock Lee, recently relocated in Sydney from Wollongong, picked up 176 and 172 rating points respectively.
But it was Esther's tournament. Mother of four, she has managed to combine the skills of playing top-class Scrabble, and bringing up at a young family simultaneously. This may well have been the first tournament in history where the eventual winner has been required to undertake breast-feeding responsibilities during the long breaks. Well done to Esther, a much-deserved victory, and pity help the rest of us when she find the time to learn a few new words.
Bob Jackman
(1) DROMICAL: pertaining to a race-course
Here are the final placings:
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Esther Perrins 14 778 $200
2 Alistair Kane (VIC) 13 1170 $120
3 Roger Blom (VIC) 12 969 $70
4 Ivor Zetler 12 717 $40
5 Richard Evans (UK) 11« 136
6 John Holgate 11 530
7 Jean McGiffen 11 187
8 Gloria Gallagher 11 -247
9 Bob Jackman 10 794
10 Peter Shaw 10 736
11 Joan Rosenthal 10 678
12 Trevor Halsall 10 302
13 Jeff Chelton 10 112
14 Paul Cleary 10 65
15 Rod Talbot 10 32
16 Graeme Lock Lee 10 1
17 Peter Tobler (ACT) 9« -141
18 Kris Logan 9« -259
19 Geoff Wright (VIC) 9 693
20 Nicole Findlay (VIC) 9 277
21 John Barker 9 15
22 Rene Chelton 9 -147
23 Moana Nepia 9 -198
24 Jean Noonan 9 -471
25 Marie Knight 8« -266
26 Betty Foreman 8« -429
27 Sue Gergelifi 8 245
28 Dianne Davis (VIC) 8 -437
29 Hanne Marks 8 -456
30 Jeff Spring 7« -122
31 Audrey Newman 7 -253
32 Jan Serisier 7 -279
33 Joanne Craig 7 -308
34 Siva Sivapalasundram 6 -426
35 Robert Tomkins 6 -762
36 Judy Nelson 6 -1102
37 Ian Close 5 -567
38 Eileen Seaborn (SA) 1 -1567
HIGH GAME: Joan Rosenthal 551
HIGH WORD: Roger Blom 176
"DROMICAL"
HIGH RATING GAIN: Kris Logan 177