The venue at the Gazebo Hotel was spacious and comfortable, and set up befitting a major event by hotel staff. There was plenty of room to move between large tables, constantly stocked with water and mints. The players did pay for this luxury with the $50 entry fee, but most agreed that it was a worthwhile outlay, considering the guarenteed $500 first prize, and the stated intention of making this an international event. Quite a few players stayed one or more nights at the hotel, as did my wife Liz and myself. Our room was huge, with views over Sydney Harbour, and at $115 per night I reckon this was good value. In fact the hotel in their generosity donated one nights accommodation for two as a prize.
Day one was quite a heavy schedule with four games in the morning and six in the afternoon. Esther Perrins, fresh from her WSC experience, burst out of the blocks to an early lead, but was overtaken by Joan Rosenthal, who led at the lunch break. Joan conceded her lead to myself for a couple of rounds mid-afternoon, but regained it towards the end to lead at the end of Day one. Alistair Kane and Paul Cleary were on equal wins (8) behind Joan, with a cluster on 7 wins just behind, including myself, Sam, Lois Binnie from Victoria, and Peter Shaw. John Holgate and Esther were just behind this group.
Sam suffered a minor aberration in his losing game against Peter Tobler, the reigning NSW Champion. Sam played KEV, which is allowable in the USA up to March 1st. Sam genuinely thought that KEV was still allowable in Australia too, but unfortunately his late arrival did not give him enough time to clarify the tournament lexicon, which was the Redwood International Word List - that superior publication desired by all SOWPODS players, now under threat of extinction due to legal action instigated by Chambers. Peter was given the option of letting Sam retract his move, as a sporting gesture, or enforcing the Single Challenge rule of making Sam miss a move. Peter chose the latter option!
Day 2 kicked off a little late due to trains running late. Joan surrendered her overnight lead to myself during the morning session, but at the lunch break it was John Holgate who had forced his way to the lead with his great spread. The whole afternoon session was King of the Hill, making for an interesting tussle between the leading players. John accounted for Paul in the first game after lunch, while I tipped out Joan thanks to an outplay of ENTROLD. Sam, Alistair and Lois were still thereabouts going into game 2 of KOH. John beat me to keep the lead, while Paul put Lois out of contention for the lead. Alistair accounted for Joan and Sam won his game, leaving John and Paul on 12 wins, and myself, Alistair, Lois and Sam on 11 wins.
Paul played and beat John in game 17, leaving the same two to fight out the tournament in the final game. A win for John would have got him home by spread. A win to Paul would leave him as the only player on 14 wins. And that is what happened, in a nail-biting finish befitting these two top-finishing Australian representatives at Washington. Paul's outplay was BREGMA, slotting the A between a V and the word TIC, giving him the game by only 4 points, and the tournament. John stayed on 12 wins, and was relegated to third with Sam pushing up to 13 wins with his win over Alistair. I beat Peter Shaw to finish fourth, while Alistair had sufficient wins for fifth, making him the top-finishing interstate player.
Trevor Halsall, fresh from his Alice Springs exploits, made the highest scoring play of the tournament with COALISED for 140, thus winning himself and his girlfriend Francis the night at the Gazebo.
Derek McKenzie, a last minute inclusion and up and coming player gained 108 ratings points to win the ratings prize. Most of the lower rated players taking part were rewarded with rating gains, thus making this tournament an enjoyable and fruitful one for most.
The results:
Results after game 18
1998 CITY OF SYDNEY MASTERS
Rank Player Wins Mar
--------------------------------
1 Paul Cleary 14 903
2 Sam Kantimathi 13 541
3 John Holgate 12 1334
4 Bob Jackman 12 940
5 Alistair Kane 12 457
6 Joan Rosenthal 11 702
7 Graeme Lock Lee 11 532
8 Peter Tobler 11 208
9 Peter Shaw 11 135
10 Lois Binnie 11 69
11 Esther Perrins 10 388
12 Dianne Davis 10 260
13 Sal Costanzo 10 190
14 Carmel Dodd 10 117
15 Betty Foreman 10 59
16 Kris Logan 10 -352
17 Jean Mcgiffen 9« -220
18 Rod Talbot 9 304
19 Joanne Craig 9 131
20 Sue Kyatt 9 69
21 John Barker 9 -81
22 Anne Drew 9 -154
23 Gloria Gallagher 9 -284
24 Rene Chelton 9 -443
25 Ian Close 8« 107
26 Trevor Halsall 8 99
27 Sam Greenberg 8 75
28 Marie Knight 8 15
29 Dulcie Lyall 8 -319
30 Audrey Newman 8 -420
31 Derek Mckenzie 8 -449
32 Judy Hay 8 -536
33 Ros Gibbons 8 -617
34 Jeff Chelton 7 -153
35 Jean Noonan 7 -185
36 Ethel Collins 7 -207
37 Alison Rae 6 -274
38 Louise Kobler 6 -416
39 Jan Serisier 6 -467
40 Jeff Spring 6 -499
41 Hanne Marks 5 -701
42 Ivor Zetler 5 -858
HIGH GAME: John Holgate 573
HIGH WORD: Trevor Halsall 140
"COALISED"
Stats for Tournament : 1998 CITY OF SYDNEY MASTERS
+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New |
+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *MASTERS + + + +
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| NSW Paul Cleary | 7 3 | 5 2 | 10.8 14.0 | 1877 +50 1927 |
|*NSW Sam Kantimathi | 0 7 | 0 5 | 13.0 13.0 | 1908 +0 1908 |
| NSW John Holgate | 3 2 | 2 1 | 12.9 12.0 | 1964 -14 1949 |
| VIC Alistair Kane | 14 10 | 6 3 | 10.7 12.0 | 1835 +21 1856 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 4 4 | 3 3 | 11.6 12.0 | 1911 +7 1918 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 50 41 | 18 12 | 9.2 11.0 | 1676 +36 1712 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 5 8 | 4 6 | 11.7 11.0 | 1911 -11 1899 |
| VIC Lois Binnie | 59 33 | 32 19 | 7.1 11.0 | 1654 +79 1733 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 27 24 | 10 10 | 10.1 11.0 | 1769 +18 1787 |
| NSW Peter Tobler :act | 11 16 | 6 7 | 12.4 11.0 | 1845 -21 1823 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 2 5 | 1 4 | 14.0 10.0 | 1976 -63 1912 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 102 81 | 28 23 | 6.7 10.0 | 1544 +67 1611 |
| SA Carmel Dodd | 23 30 | 1 2 | 12.1 10.0 | 1795 -42 1752 |
| VIC Sal Costanzo | 66 66 | 37 36 | 9.9 10.0 | 1636 +2 1638 |
| VIC Dianne Davis | 31 46 | 17 27 | 13.3 10.0 | 1757 -66 1690 |
| NSW Kris Logan | 120 90 | 35 25 | 5.6 10.0 | 1503 +88 1591 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 45 43 | 14 14 | 9.0 9.5 | 1694 +10 1704 |
| NSW John Barker | 42 51 | 13 16 | 11.0 9.0 | 1707 -39 1667 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 84 75 | 24 22 | 7.6 9.0 | 1596 +28 1624 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 47 42 | 16 13 | 7.7 9.0 | 1685 +25 1710 |
| QLD Anne Drew | 93 53 | 3 1 | 8.1 9.0 | 1644 +18 1662 |
| VIC Sue Kyatt | 19 32 | 10 18 | 13.5 9.0 | 1809 -71 1737 |
| NSW Gloria Gallagher | 115 98 | 32 28 | 6.1 9.0 | 1510 +58 1568 |
| NSW Rene Chelton | 97 105 | 27 30 | 10.3 9.0 | 1565 -23 1541 |
| NSW Ian Close | 119 127 | 34 37 | 9.1 8.5 | 1503 -12 1490 |
| NSW Trevor Halsall | 25 52 | 9 17 | 13.6 8.0 | 1779 -111
1667 |
| NSW Dulcie Lyall | 104 102 | 29 29 | 7.5 8.0 | 1539 +10 1549 |
| NSW Marie Knight | 33 58 | 11 19 | 12.7 8.0 | 1751 -93 1657 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 107 108 | 30 31 | 8.1 8.0 | 1538 +0 1538 |
| NSW Derek McKenzie | 218 170 | 53 49 | 2.9 8.0 | 1307 +108
1415 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 127 115 | 37 33 | 6.2 8.0 | 1490 +35 1525 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 196 155 | 50 42 | 4.1 8.0 | 1365 +78 1443 |
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 221 187 | 54 51 | 3.6 8.0 | 1303 +88 1391 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton | 174 161 | 45 46 | 5.5 7.0 | 1401 +30 1431 |
| NSW Ethel Collins | 192 159 | 47 45 | 4.1 7.0 | 1377 +57 1434 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 121 116 | 36 34 | 5.7 7.0 | 1495 +27 1522 |
| NSW Alison Rae :act | 117 148 | 33 41 | 8.1 6.0 | 1506 -42 1463 |
| NSW Louise Kobler | 74 112 | 22 32 | 10.8 6.0 | 1626 -96 1529 |
| NSW Jeff Spring | 155 163 | 42 47 | 6.6 6.0 | 1440 -11 1428 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 209 200 | 51 54 | 4.5 6.0 | 1342 +30 1372 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 48 117 | 17 35 | 13.2 5.0 | 1683 -164
1518 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 144 166 | 41 48 | 7.1 5.0 | 1468 -42 1425 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+