2007 Michael Wise Memorial Scrabble® Tournament – Results from day 1

Well, having survived the Leah Katz Memorial early bird, I didn’t really have any expectations for the main Michael Wise Memorial Scrabble® event (12 games over two days). The theme for day one was “ending losing streaks”, as I ended up getting my first (tournament) wins against many players to whom I’d lost many times. In this tournament, I have nothing to lose as I’m seeded 17th of 18 players in Division C.

I haven’t had a chance to review anything, as I’m quite tired. All I know is that day one is over and I have another five games to go tomorrow. I must say that I was very lucky and fortunate in my first seven games. Phoney bingos are indicated with *.

GAME #1 VS GENE RAWLINS (C4)
I seemed to get most of the good tiles and slowly built up a 70–100 point lead. Gene seemed to get discouraged by his tiles so I just kept on scoring as best as I could to keep the pressure on. Since I had the lead, I left it up to Gene to open up the board. This was the only time I’ve ever played Gene.
SCORE: 372 – 311 (WIN)
RECORD: 1 – 0 (+61)
BINGOS: MISTIER (me), SpICIER (me)

GAME #2 VS ERIC PETERS (C6)
I’ve played Eric about four or five times this past year and lost every one, with each game being very close.  In the end, Eric left himself two places to play QIS and I couldn’t keep up, even with my bingo (UNOILED).  A solid player – hopefully I’ll beat him one of these days
SCORE: 384 – 424 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 1 (+21)
BINGOS: ERINGOS (me), UNoILED (me), RENDERS (Eric), S(O)UtHERN (Eric), AFRONT(E)D* (Eric)

GAME #3 VS PAUL WIGLEY (C10)
This was an interesting game. Paul kept the game very close even though he didn’t bingo. He made several high scoring plays that nullified my bingos: FREAK (45), HANGS (39), and AXE (55). In the end, I was able to pull away by getting the majority of the 3–5 point consonants. I got the sense that Paul was trying to balance his rack to try and bingo so I just kept on playing as many tiles as I could to make the game end sooner. My first win against Paul in a tournament – yay! At the club, we’ve played several times and I think we’re about even in terms of wins. In tournaments, I’ve lost all 4 or 5 games we’ve played.
SCORE: 399 – 308 (WIN)
RECORD: 2 – 1 (+112)
BINGOS: WREATHS (me), nOMINaL (me)

—— LUNCH BREAK ——

GAME #4 VS KEVIN GAUTHIER (C1)
I opened with FOLLIES, hooking Kevin’s opening play of WOODIE. I lost a turn by challenging RALLIERS and then thought I caught a break when Kevin traded five tiles.  Unfortunately, he plays REALISE. I ended up getting the last S and blank about halfway in the game and created a set-up for a bingo. He could have blocked me, but he would have had to use the last A for very few points (I ended up getting the last A too).

On my last turn, the score was 363 – 253 for Kevin and I wasn’t too hopeful about my chances. I had a bingo, but didn’t think I’d get enough to win – SWAGgER for 92 points. When Kevin announced the points for his tiles, I almost fell out of my chair!  I got 24 points, giving me a final score of 369 and a six point win. Wow! After the game, Kevin said that he thought the game was over after his second bingo on turn #5.
SCORE: 369 – 363 (WIN)
RECORD: 3 – 1 (+118)
BINGOS: FOLLIES (me), SWAGgER (me), RAL(L)IERs (Kevin), REALISE (Kevin)

GAME #5 VS KAVERI RAVIRAJ (C18)
I drew the bag in this game and was VERY lucky. Other than the J and one S, I had all of the power tiles and most of the high value consonants. I made the mistake of playing QI on my first turn which effectively shut down the middle of the board – bad, bad play.
SCORE: 390 – 283 (WIN)
RECORD: 4 – 1 (+225)
BINGOS: DEPARTS (me), sTINKIe(R) (me)

GAME #6 VS GEOFF GIBSON (C8)
I should have lost this game. The game was back and forth at the beginning with both of us getting bingos and decent 20–30 point plays. Geoff took the lead with (B)ERATERs – it didn’t look good to me, but I chickened out and didn’t challenge. I figured that I was only down by 30 points and he had to burn the last blank, so I thought it was worth it. Geoff then scored 10 (a block), 31, 24, and 40 points, while I only scored 0 (I played PRE – duh!), 20, 15, and 18. I then played AGONIES to make the score 374 – 382 for Geoff.

I emptied the bag by drawing the U. Geoff had CCEINTV (28 points) left on his rack with very few places to play. Then to my utter surprise, he played CIN(G)E* for 16 points when he could have played (Z)INC for 15 and the win! Whatever play Geoff made, I told myself that I had to challenge to give myself a chance at a win. Geoff’s play came off and I got the win. If he played ZINC (15), I would have finished with 394 after counting his tiles. I think he made a mistake and thought I could score 4 points instead of 2 with my U. He later said he didn’t want a recount and decided to go for a decisive win either way – lucky for me. I finally beat Geoff! We’ve played two or three times and I’ve lost every one. My first game against Geoff was very memorable because I played sU(B)POENA in my first ever tournament (Mississauga vs. Toronto 2006).
SCORE: 404 – 382 (WIN)
RECORD: 5 – 1 (+247)
BINGOS: ATT(E)NDEE (me), PAIN(L)ESS (me), AGONIES (me), BANtERS (Geoff), (B)ERATERs* (Geoff)

GAME #7 VS LORRAINE SOUBLIERE (C2)
This game was a bit painful – a “death by thousand cuts” type of game. I opened with a bingo, burning both blanks PORTiOn. The board started to get closed, with both of us using up most of the As and Es early.  We both kept waiting for someone to make a big play, and didn’t realize that the S-es were all in the bag until the end.  Toward the end, Lorraine made a great play by fitting in ODE between three different words to score 30 points. That was a beautiful play. My first win against Lorraine!  We’ve only played once before, but I’ll always remember playing her because she played PEACED against me and I challenged it, thinking that it can’t be good – it is.
SCORE: 358 – 321 (WIN)
RECORD: 6 – 1 (+284)
BINGOS: PORTiOn (me)

FINAL DAY 1 RESULTS
I ended day 1 with a record of 6 – 1 (+284), possibly in first place because of my point spread. I played 14 bingos vs. 7 for my opponents. Hopefully my luck holds tomorrow when I play the final 5 games. Yesterday, I was wondering if I should stop playing in the Toronto tournaments because I seem to play poorly at them. Hopefully I can keep up my theme of “ending losing streaks”.  My tentative rating is now around 1020 after 6 games (the end of day 1 results weren’t posted when I left). Regardless of the final outcome, I know that I will not have a losing record this tournament. Hopefully I’ll be able to solidify my 1000+ rating, as my goal for this year was to get above 1000.  So far it looks like I have a decent chance to achieve it. Stay tuned for Day 2…