City of Sydney International Masters - Jan 26th & 27th 2002


Report from winner, John Holgate

Sixty players gathered for this year's Sydney International Masters in the Waratah Room at Revesby Works Club.

The venue was excellent and a bit more upmarket than our usual Henry Lawson hut across the road.

One of our internationals Aloysius Conzago from Singapore was missing at the roll call but Naween Fernando (from Sri Lanka via Melbourne) was there to defend his title. After his 11th at the Worlds last month he was the hot favourite. A goodly sprinkling of interstaters from Queensland and Victoria made it a fairly classy field.

Right from round one upsets were the order of the day Paul Cleary and Naween dropped their first games but made steady progress through the ranks thereafter.

But the early pacemaker proved to be Ann Drew who lead the field at the end of day one. Sometime Queenslander Karen Richards and Sue Kyatt were in the front pack after round eleven which finished around 9 p.m.

Our genial GP Ivor Zetler added some triviality to the championships by offering a $5 prize for the longest word and the best (in his humble opinion) medical word. At one stage some oohs and ahs were heard coming from a table which pitted Olga Fisher against Richard Birch. As I strolled by I noticed the impressive 12-letter word INCAUTIOUSLY on their board (the longest word I can remember seeing in a tournament game). Olga had wrapped CAUTIOUS around Richard's O on her opening move. He later added an LY and Olga attached IN up to the TWS for 48 - classy stuff!

Needless to say it eventually won Ivor's $5 just ahead of Naween's FLAUNTIER (through an I and an R) and DENOUNCER (off DE).

The Revesby tile gods were certainly kinder to me than the Las Vegas deities and my games flowed nicely apart from a clumsy loss to Frank Czarics, a 53 point defeat by Naween and a shellacking from Ann Drew who played sequentially OVERAWE (83) ZONA (59) IMITATED (72) and NEAREST (81) but fortunately missed the eight from CLUTTER plus A next move.*

At the end of Day one I was running third but in the first Sunday game I was tipped out by three points by Karen Richards who played a smart endgame.

As the day unfolded Ann Drew was being challenged by me Paul Cleary Naween Rod Talbot and Trevor Halsall. After 17 rounds we began the three King of the Hill games which turned out to be a best of three between Rod and me. I managed a 39 point win in our first game. Rod found NEMATODE onto a TWS for 86 in reply to my REAVAIL (72). In game two Rod scored well with (B)ORAZON early on and with SALUTE(D) late in the game to win by 79.

The final playoff game was a real nailbiter.

After 12 moves I trailed by 113 points and had practically given the game away. Somehow I grafted a couple of 30+ scores then the two blanks landed on my rack and I squeezed in STONIED for 66 drawing an unplayable BRN. Rod held E I P U.

 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
   -----------------------------
01|# . . + . . . M I B . + . . #|
02|. V . . P * Q I . A(S)  . = .|
03|. A A . H O I . + I(T)  = . .|
04|G U . W O E . + . L O O . . +|
05|L . . I N . . . . . N A . . .|
06|O * . F . * . T . * I F . * .|
07|A G L I T T E R + . E . + . .|
08|T . . E . . . O . . D + . . #|
09|. . + . . . + T + . . . + . .|
10|. * . . . * . S E Z . . . * .|
11|. . H E A V E . . E D . . . .|
12|D R E Y . . . + . A A = J . +|
13|U . R E L A X . + . N . O . .|
14|C = . . U M . S A N G E R S .|
15|K . . W R I S T . . . + . O Y|
   -----------------------------
I then played BRA/BAA at 12i for 11 - to lead 367/364. Rod then played PE at n4 for 13 and I went out with HERN (c11) for 7 (with 4 seconds left) gaining four points from Rod's I U to win 376/375. We later saw Rod's mistake by not playing CUE/HERE for 17 blocking my N play. I should have played HERN first which would have meant a tied game. N3 UP/LOOP would have tied the game for Rod also. Funny what pressure can do to your powers of analysis.

Naween beat Ann to sneak into second (by two spread points) ahead of Rod with Paul and Ann finishing fourth and fifth.

High game went to Jean McGiffen (538) and Liz Jackman won the high rating gain prize (+113 points). Ivor's best medical word was judged to be VERRUGAS - a Pervuvian fever with warty tumours. His medical trivia session was a fun finale to the tournament and gave us some unusual bingos - like PHIMOSIS.

Some interesting words played were INSHENT, CANAIGRE (Cleary), GUAIACOLS (Fernando) FALDETTA, SANIDINE (Holgate) NEMATOID, ALLERION (Rosenthal).

A special word of thanks to Wilma Vialle for her entertaining direction of the event and to all who worked to make the event enjoyable for all participants. Our memories of the tournament will also be tinged with sadness as we mourned the passing of our friend Ros Gibbons in a moment's silence. The Sydney Scrabble scene won't be quite the same without her.

* CULTRATE

Results after game 20
2002 SYD INTNL MASTERS -- OPEN

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  John Holgate        15     986
  2  Naween Fernando     14     939
  3  Rod Talbot          14     937
  4  Paul Cleary         13    1192
  5  Anne Drew           13     884
  6  Trevor Halsall      13     503
  7  Alistair Kane       13     248
  8  Sue Kyatt           13    -118
  9  Esther Perrins      12     639
 10  Joanne Craig        12     433
 11  Joan Rosenthal      12     394
 12  Derek McKenzie      12     274
 13  Michael Vnuk        12     273
 14  Karen Richards      12     -19
 15  Harry Malcolm       12    -188
 16  Frank Csarics       11.5   -43
 17  Jean McGiffen       11     381
 18  Edward Okulicz      11     284
 19  Hanne Marks         11     117
 20  Sal Costanzo        11      25
 21  Jean Noonan         11      15
 22  Gloria Gallagher    11     -46
 23  Dianne Davis        11    -121
 24  Sam Greenberg       11    -148
 25  Tony Hunt           11    -303
 26  Bob Jackman         10.5   545
 27  Chris May           10     341
 28  Audrey Newman       10     310
 29  Cheryl Michler      10     153
 30  Betty Foreman       10      17
 31  Alison Pollard      10     -61
 32  Ivor Zetler         10     -92
 33  Jenny Templeton     10    -150
 34  Ian Close           10    -257
 35  Raya Wilkinson      10    -457
 36  Trish Windhurst      9     307
 37  Peter Shaw           9      87
 38  John Barker          9      79
 39  Elizabeth Ho         9      14
 40  Norma Tracey         9     -59
 41  Sue Gergelifi        9    -161
 42  Judy Hay             9    -185
 43  Liz Jackman          9    -331
 44  Paul Richards        9    -347
 45  Gary Pollard         9    -602
 46  Rene Chelton         8     435
 47  Olga Visser          8      25
 48  Jan Serisier         8    -100
 49  Margaret Berliner    8    -266
 50  Vicki Russell        8    -519
 51  Moana Nepia          8    -561
 52  Alastair Richards    8    -699
 53  Chile Malcolm        7    -115
 54  Zina Costanzo        7    -183
 55  Nanette Reynolds     7    -328
 56  Penny Wells          7    -686
 57  Richard Birch        7   -1055
 58  Pat Schuberg         6    -976
 59  Margaret Andrews     5    -759
 60  Nonie English        5    -902
HIGH GAME: Jean McGiffen     558
HIGH WORD: Derek McKenzie    149
            "DANEWEED"

Stats for Tournament : 2002 SYD INTNL MASTERS

+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state     Name           | National  | State   |   Wins    | Rating Points |
|                          | Old  New  | Old New | Exp  Act  | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *OPEN                        +         +           +               +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW John Holgate         |    7    4 |   3   2 | 13.3 15.0 | 1814 +29 1843 |
| VIC Naween Fernando      |    3    2 |   1   1 | 14.9 14.0 | 1906 -14 1892 |
| NSW Rod Talbot           |   12    7 |   4   4 | 11.7 14.0 | 1774 +46 1820 |
| NSW Paul Cleary          |    2    3 |   1   1 | 15.0 13.0 | 1916 -33 1883 |
| QLD Anne Drew            |   22    9 |   4   2 |  9.4 13.0 | 1725 +74 1799 |
| VIC Trevor Halsall       |    6    8 |   2   2 | 14.1 13.0 | 1827 -17 1810 |
| VIC Sue Kyatt            |   24   13 |  11   5 | 10.1 13.0 | 1712 +59 1771 |
| VIC Alistair Kane        |   14   26 |   6  12 | 15.2 13.0 | 1758 -44 1714 |
| NSW Esther Perrins       |   16   15 |   5   5 | 11.7 12.0 | 1751  +9 1760 |
| QLD Michael Vnuk         |   52   49 |   6   6 | 11.6 12.0 | 1613  +7 1620 |
| NSW Derek McKenzie       |   33   25 |  11   7 | 10.3 12.0 | 1679 +36 1715 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal       |   30   27 |  10   8 | 11.0 12.0 | 1683 +22 1705 |
| NSW Joanne Craig         |   17   18 |   6   6 | 12.6 12.0 | 1749 -11 1738 |
| QLD Karen Richards       |   27   20 |   5   5 | 10.1 12.0 | 1694 +40 1734 |
| VIC Harry Malcolm        |   25   22 |  12  10 | 10.9 12.0 | 1711 +22 1733 |
| VIC Frank Csarics        |   97   51 |  52  27 |  6.4 11.5 | 1510 +104
1614 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen        |   28   36 |   9  10 | 12.6 11.0 | 1693 -30 1663 |
| QLD Edward Okulicz       |    9   17 |   3   4 | 12.7 11.0 | 1783 -33 1750 |
| VIC Sal Costanzo         |   53   61 |  28  33 | 12.6 11.0 | 1612 -32 1580 |
| VIC Dianne Davis         |   66   71 |  37  39 | 11.6 11.0 | 1570 -12 1558 |
| NSW Jean Noonan          |  210  136 |  55  37 |  6.1 11.0 | 1341 +99 1440 |
| NSW Hanne Marks          |  121  103 |  35  25 |  9.8 11.0 | 1472 +25 1497 |
| NSW Tony Hunt            |  201  142 |  53  40 |  7.0 11.0 | 1346 +82 1428 |
| NSW Gloria Gallagher     |  153  134 |  43  36 |  9.6 11.0 | 1414 +28 1442 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg        |  182  145 |  48  41 |  8.1 11.0 | 1365 +60 1425 |
| NSW Bob Jackman          |    4    6 |   2   3 | 15.1 10.5 | 1891 -71 1820 |
| NSW Chris May            |   18   28 |   7   9 | 13.0 10.0 | 1744 -59 1685 |
| NSW Audrey Newman        |  178  130 |  47  35 |  6.2 10.0 | 1372 +76 1448 |
| NSW Alison Pollard       |  134   93 |  39  21 |  7.2 10.0 | 1455 +56 1511 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler       |  226  171 |  57  49 |  6.3 10.0 | 1312 +74 1386 |
| NSW Ian Close            |   84  100 |  19  22 | 11.4 10.0 | 1526 -26 1500 |
| NSW Betty Foreman        |   92  113 |  23  30 | 11.4 10.0 | 1514 -28 1486 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton      |  257  220 |  63  58 |  6.9 10.0 | 1269 +63 1332 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler          |   87  106 |  21  27 | 11.6 10.0 | 1524 -32 1492 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson       |  199  203 |  52  56 | 10.1 10.0 | 1348  +1 1349 |
| NSW John Barker          |   26   55 |   8  14 | 14.7  9.0 | 1709 -113
1596 |
| NSW Elizabeth Ho         |  249  225 |  60  59 |  7.1  9.0 | 1279 +39 1318 |
| NSW Peter Shaw           |   83  112 |  18  29 | 10.9  9.0 | 1526 -38 1488 |
| NSW Norma Tracey         |  190  175 |  50  50 |  7.8  9.0 | 1357 +25 1382 |
| NSW Trish Windhurst      |   98  101 |  26  23 |  9.6  9.0 | 1510 -10 1500 |
| NSW Sue Gergelifi        |  101  148 |  27  42 | 13.3  9.0 | 1506 -85 1421 |
| NSW Judy Hay             |  214  181 |  56  51 |  7.2  9.0 | 1337 +36 1373 |
| QLD Paul Richards        |  176  186 |  16  18 |  9.6  9.0 | 1375 -11 1364 |
| NSW Liz Jackman          |  317  245 |  78  61 |  3.6  9.0 | 1173 +113
1286 |
| NSW Gary Pollard         |  117  154 |  32  44 | 12.4  9.0 | 1479 -67 1412 |
| QLD Olga Visser          |  106  140 |   9  12 | 11.2  8.0 | 1500 -63 1437 |
| NSW Margaret Berliner    |  256  257 |  62  64 |  7.8  8.0 | 1270  +3 1273 |
| NSW Rene Chelton         |   96  153 |  25  43 | 13.0  8.0 | 1511 -99 1412 |
| NSW Moana Nepia          |  137  193 |  40  53 | 12.8  8.0 | 1452 -96 1356 |
| NSW Jan Serisier         |  118  162 |  33  46 | 11.9  8.0 | 1478 -78 1400 |
| QLD Vicki Russell        |  289  270 |  29  29 |  6.2  8.0 | 1203 +37 1240 |
| QLD Alastair Richards    |  291  259 |  30  25 |  4.6  8.0 | 1202 +67 1269 |
| VIC Zina Costanzo        |  108  152 |  56  68 | 11.0  7.0 | 1496 -79 1417 |
| NSW Penny Wells          |  116  196 |  31  54 | 13.5  7.0 | 1484 -129
1355 |
| VIC Chile Malcolm        |  326  290 | 122 114 |  4.9  7.0 | 1162 +43 1205 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds     |  321  279 |  80  68 |  4.4  7.0 | 1168 +52 1220 |
| NSW Richard Birch        |  277  281 |  67  69 |  7.0  7.0 | 1218  +1 1219 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg         |  268  268 |  65  65 |  5.8  6.0 | 1237  +5 1242 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews     |  282  313 |  69  77 |  6.5  5.0 | 1212 -31 1181 |
| NSW Nonie English        |  284  308 |  71  75 |  6.0  5.0 | 1209 -20 1189 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+