Millenium Cup Singapore 2000
Sarah and Emy - Millenium Cup
Emy and Ricky Purnomo- Millenium Cup in Singapore

3rd Penang YMCA 2001
Nigel receiving prize from John Lam
Jocelyn receiving prize from John Lam
Ganesh, champion for Penang YMCA 2001
Emy receiving prize from John Lam

Bangkok 2001
The stadium on Opening Day
Gan Cher Siong and Mark Nyman
Gan Cher Siong, Goh Jiang Pern and Cheah Siu Hean
The board - 1st game of the finals between Nigel Richards and Paul Cleary
The board - 2nd game of the finals

Venue & Date : Equatorial Hill Resort Cameron Highlands on 13th - 15th September 2002


Results after game 18
SEPTEMBER 13-15, 2002 -- MASTERS

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  A Ganesh            14    1958
  2  Tony Sim            14     798
  3  Nigel Richards      13     624
  4  Michael Tang        11     715
  5  Ricky Purnomo       11     288
  6  John Lam            11     264
  7  Andy Kurnia         10     583
  8  Quek Sim Ho         10     412
  9  Kong Chock Heng     10     299
 10  Pui Cheng Wui       10     165
 11  Aaron Chong         10     124
 12  Seshi Ramanathan    10    -298
 13  Dylan Sharma         9     431
 14  Jocelyn Lor          9     303
 15  Chuah Sim Swee       9     259
 16  Kenrick Ng           9     -33
 17  Tan Jin Chor         9    -132
 18  Ong Suanne           9    -258
 19  Krishna Kumar        9    -412
 20  Irene Lim            9    -424
 21  Tan Khee Chiang      8     -42
 22  Krishna Iyer         8    -130
 23  Vannitha Balasingam  8    -292
 24  Yeo Kien Hung        8    -359
 25  Azlan Tajudin        8    -562
 26  Pushpa Krishna       8    -601
 27  Yeap Gim Sai         7    -110
 28  Adele Tan            7    -578
 29  Paulette Yeoh        7    -646
 30  Zeenath Ariff        7    -710
 31  Ng Chee Eng          6    -736
 32  Bye                  0    -900
HIGH GAME: Chuah Sim Swee    642
HIGH WORD: A Ganesh          203
            "LEXICONS"

+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| state     Name          | National  | State   |   Wins    | Rating Points  |
|                         | Old  New  | Old New | Exp  Act  | Old Change New |
+-------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *MASTERS                    +         +           +                +
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
| --- A Ganesh             |    4    2 |   2   1 | 10.1 14.0 | 1798 +77 1875 |
| OS  Tony Sim             |    8    5 |   3   3 |  9.8 14.0 | 1718 +84 1802 |
| OS  Nigel Richards       |    1    1 |   1   1 | 13.5 13.0 | 1902  -8 1893 |
| OS  Ricky Purnomo        |   17   17 |   5   5 | 10.3 11.0 | 1582 +21 1603 |
| --- John Lam             |    9    7 |   6   4 | 10.9 11.0 | 1701  +2 1703 |
| --- Michael Tang         |    6   10 |   4   7 | 14.3 11.0 | 1739 -66 1672 |
| --- Kong Chock Heng      |    5    8 |   3   5 | 12.5 10.0 | 1743 -50 1692 |
| OS  Andy Kurnia          |    0   13 |   0   9 | 10.0 10.0 | 1644  +0 1644 |
| --- Aaron Chong          |   16   15 |  12  11 |  8.7 10.0 | 1590 +26 1616 |
| OS  Quek Sim Ho          |    0   19 |   0   6 |  8.7 10.0 | 1520 +39 1559 |
| --- Pui Cheng Wui        |    7    6 |   5   3 | 11.2 10.0 | 1731 -23 1707 |
| --- Seshi Ramanathan     |   39   35 |  30  26 |  8.5 10.0 | 1430 +29 1459 |
| OS  Dylan Sharma         |    0   26 |   0  18 |  9.0  9.0 | 1505  +0 1505 |
| --- Jocelyn Lor          |   14   18 |  10  13 | 10.3  9.0 | 1627 -26 1600 |
| --- Chuah Sim Swee       |   30   42 |  23  32 | 10.9  9.0 | 1478 -37 1440 |
| --- Krishna Kumar        |   24   28 |  17  20 |  8.9  9.0 | 1496  +2 1498 |
| --- Tan Jin Chor         |   22   23 |  15  16 |  8.6  9.0 | 1521  +8 1529 |
| --- Ong Suanne           |   51   53 |  40  41 |  8.2  9.0 | 1359 +16 1375 |
| --- Kenrick Ng           |   29   33 |  22  25 |  9.6  9.0 | 1478 -12 1465 |
| --- Irene Lim            |   81   76 |  66  60 |  5.8  9.0 | 1153 +64 1217 |
| --- Tan Khee Chiang      |   55   63 |  43  49 |  8.7  8.0 | 1351 -13 1337 |
| --- Vannitha Balasingam  |   26   25 |  19  17 |  6.3  8.0 | 1487 +34 1521 |
| --- Krishna Iyer         |   66   70 |  52  55 |  8.6  8.0 | 1270 -12 1257 |
| --- Yeo Kien Hung        |   47   52 |  36  40 |  8.2  8.0 | 1386  -4 1381 |
| --- Azlan Tajudin        |   84   90 |  69  74 |  9.4  8.0 | 1124 -28 1095 |
| --- Pushpa Krishna       |   74   84 |  59  68 | 11.4  8.0 | 1210 -67 1142 |
| --- Yeap Gim Sai         |   25   40 |  18  30 |  9.4  7.0 | 1488 -47 1440 |
| --- Paulette Yeoh        |   61   65 |  48  51 |  8.0  7.0 | 1323 -19 1303 |
| --- Adele Tan            |  107  109 |  92  93 |  6.1  7.0 |  965 +18  983 |
| --- Zeenath Ariff        |   87   92 |  72  76 |  8.4  7.0 | 1105 -41 1063 |
| --- Ng Chee Eng          |  124  117 | 109 101 |  3.9  6.0 |  852 +62  914 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+

We had a great time! The trip was pleasant, Nigel Schumacher drove the BMW through bends and curves and with such speed and stead. We had the company of Hannah chatting away at the back while her nanny swooned with the sway! I was invited again to direct the event and the getaway to the mountains was timely as the school holiday tapers off that week. Hannah met up with Suanne again and they had a bit of fun while Hannah helps to enter the score and keep rooting Suanne on everytime she wins a game. "Way to go, Suanne, great show!" I did not bring enough warm clothings...again. Fortunately my savior came in the form of Paulette who graciously lent me her jacket.

The competition started on time and without a hitch, well, maybe a small one, when the group from Singapore came shuffling in after the briefing. They missed it entirely of course but it was alright because there wasn't any problems over the rules, not from them anyway. We had one game before dinner, which was a sumptious barbecue buffet. 2 games were played thereafter and by that time, we were all quite knackered.

This shall not be too lengthy...the competition went well. There was some challenges that came back wronged but not more than the usual human errors you would find in tournament of this nature. KC Tan had once again outdid himself in organising this event for the 3rd year in a row. He had a huge backlog of work that had to be postponed but he persisted!

There was some funny stories to be heard, like the reason why the Singaporean contingent were late..was that Dylan realised he left his passport at home while filling up the Immigration forms along the Causeway! He looked different this time round, probably more matured, longish hair (tinted with a groovy kind of colour),cooler-like dude, hey man..! Hannah says he looked like a girl! The other one heard was Paulette telling that she sewed some kind of cloth with a button attached to it, to be placed onto the pulse of the hand, and that was supposed to stop car sickness. Three out of 4 in the car she was in didn't get sick on account of wearing it!

Stopped by the strawberry farm, the Waterfalls and the Boh Plantation on the way home. This time the ride was not as pleasant. The rain didn't help much but all in all, a wonderful trip. Thanks again KC and Equatorial Hill Resort. I will let John update you with the results.

The 13th KL YMCA Scrabble Tournament
10th and 11th August 2002

12 games KOTH, last 3 with repeats


Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards      11    1626
  2  John Lam             8     288
  3  Kong Chock Heng      8     105
  4  Raja Fuadin          8     -44
  5  Pui Cheng Wui        7     322
  6  Tengku Asri          7      61
  7  Alex Tan             7    -163
  8  A Ganesh             6     661
  9  Chim Wai Main        6     344
 10  Vannitha Balasingam  6     273
 11  Yeap Gim Sai         6    -640
 12  Krishna Kumar        5      32
 13  Jocelyn Lor          5      19
 14  Seshi Ramanathan     5     -90
 15  Krishna Iyer         5    -259
 16  Yeo Kien Hung        4    -750
 17  Pushpa Krishna       3    -702
 18  Jill Lee             1   -1083

HIGH GAME: A Ganesh          581
HIGH WORD: A Ganesh          167
            "FRONTAGE"

This tourney was organized by the Penang Scrabble Club headed by Dr Mohamed Salahudin, Jackie Cheah and John Lam. 30 players took part in this year event with 2 players from Singapore, Cheah Siu Hean and Peter Tay, Jodi Gonzalez from Phillipines. From the word "GO" the players were all ready for a glorious weekend of scrabble.

As usual , with the idea of encouraging up and coming players, the organizers have divided the prizes into 3 categories,

1   OPEN
2   RATING BELOW 1500 
3   PENANG CLOSE

Upset wins were aplenty. This augurs well for Malaysian scrabble as the young players are slowly but surely giving the seniors a run for their money.

In game 2 Alex Tan beat Nigel Richards 434-418 with 3 bingos PORTING, STAYNED and ELOgIUM. Nigel played 2 bingos, one of which was the lovely INVENIT which does not take a "s".

In game 4 Dr Mohamed Salahudin played very well to pip Nigel Richards 407-404 for a most memorable win. He bingoed twice with HASTIER (81) and SOAPING (99) against Nigel's GERANIuM (80) and NAGARIS (79).

Ong Suanne the cool 10 year old darling of Malaysian scrabble played very well to beat 6 players who were rated higher than her. Lim Sha-lyn the talented 18 year old daughter of Paulette Yeoh, who has a natural flair for scrabble played very well to thrash John Lam 428-333 in game 9. She played 3 bingos, TERMINAL, CRASHER and ANGRIEST. John had no reply.

Game 12 sees fast improving youngster, Matthew Mathan Raj from KL swamping John Lam 481-297 with 3 bingos ACTIVES, NEAREST and IDOLISER. All the players had a great time playing and also winning spot prizes for every round.

The organizers would like to thank the General Manager of Penang City Bayview Hotel Mr Derek Tan for sponsoring the venue for the tournament, Mr Stephen Phong for making the arangements and En Tengku Badli and for giving away the prizes. Also special thanks to Muhammad Muzzammil for manning the computer to tabulate the results, M Puveneswaran ,Joel Lim, Dr Adele Tan and Miss Lim for helping in the running of the tournament and Dr Mohamed Salahudin for sponsoring the lovely curry puffs and vadeh.

Results
DATE July 4-7, 2002

1  Nigel Richards 22 1483
2  Femi Awowade 18 1307
3  Cheah Siu Hean 17 1396
4  Charnwit Sukumrattanaporn 17 1333
5  Jakkrit Klaphajone 17 1125
6  Gerry Carter 16 786
7  Ganesh Asirvatham 16 757
8  Manop Phiphatboonserm 16 497
9  Virgilio Quiballo 16 271
10 Komol Panyasoponlert 16 38
11 Ronald Credo 16 -5
12 Panupol Sajayakorn 15 976
13 Maida Manog 15 843
14 Pakorn Nemitrmansuk 15 585
15 Evan Simpson 15 445
16 Andy Kurnia 15 375
17 Roongroj Harinvorarob 15 258
18 Odette Rio 15 182
19 Terry Kirk 15 99
20 Amnuay Ploysangngam 15 -252
21 Prachya Pitapho 14.5 -506
22 Arun Methaseth 14 736
23 Montien Choltichanun 14 539
24 Taewan Suthasin 14 442
25 Alistair Kane 14 235
26 Apithai Hemachuta 14 145
27 Liz Fagerlund 14 134
28 Tony Sim 14 53
29 Ricky Purnomo 14 -145
30 Thien Termpaisith 13.5 -193
31 Sue Kyatt 13 545
32 Michael Tang 13 481
33 Alex Tan 13 270
34 Denise Gordon 13 227
35 Surachaste Boonyasatian 13 145 
36 Jodi Gonzalez 13 129
37 Vannitha Balasingam 13 21
38 Gerardo Robbie Onate 13 -274
39 Cecilia Ruto 13 -681
40 Ayo-Awojobi Motolani 13 -779
41 Delio DiMaano 12.5 189
42 Ashby Rivera 12 146
43 Goh Jiang Pern 12 -46
44 Thepparit Vichayasiri 12 -77
45 Charae Worrapotpisut 12 -85
46 Jocelyn Lor 12 -155
47 Chatchawin Petchlert 12 -226
48 Waiyapot Suthawassuntorn 12 -382
49 Apirat Choomai 12 -443
50 Antonio Malonzo 11 449
51 Jakkrit Thipthanasup 11 288
52 Sanmi Odelana 11 27
53 Dianne Ward 11 -127
54 Kittikorn Issariyakamol 11 -232
55 Thavachai Tivavanvong 11 -334
56 Visan Vongthanasuntorn 11 -464
57 Paul Lister 11 -894
58 Betty Eriksen 10.5 -643
59 Robert Rubina 10.5 -1552
60 Rosario Lambino 10 -342
61 Surachai Boonchamnarn 10 -347
62 Aloysious Conzaga 10 -378
63 Yeo Kien Hung 10 -496
64 Wichai Lertsakulpiriya 10 -767
65 Daniel Srichawala  9.5 -949
66 Hyatt Basman 9 -750
67 Maneeda Thanasarnwimol 7 -1653

5TH SINGAPORE OPEN SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP
1st and 2nd June 2002
Jurong Green CC (formerly Hong Kah East CC)

Masters Division
16 games KOTH, last 4 with repeats

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards      12     782
  2  Tony Sim            11     774
  3  Naween Fernando     11     545
  4  Cheah Siu Hean      11     539
  5  Pui Cheng Wui       10     355
  6  Jocelyn Lor         10     161
  7  Goh Jiang Pern       9     558
  8  Michael Tang         9     145
  9  Thong Liew Kee       9      16
 10  John Lam             8     367
 11  Alex Tan             8      28
 12  Koh Chon Kiat        8     -43
 13  Vannitha Bala.       8    -160
 14  Jessie Lim           7.5   -74
 15  Ong Kang Ng          7.5  -248
 16  Andy Kurnia          7     263
 17  Quek Sim Ho          7     -76
 18  Ismail Kassim        7    -372
 19  Chim Wai Main        6    -371
 20  Lam Piang            6    -748
 21  Philip Tan           6    -856
 22  Paulette Yeoh        5    -411
 23  Rhodie Dacanay       5    -854
 24  Jodi Gonzalez        4    -320
HIGH GAME: Pui Cheng Wui         628
HIGH WORD: Jodi Gonzalez     140
            "RUCTIONS"

Intermediate Division
Results after game 16

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Tan Ming Tiong      12     906
  2  Peter Tay           12     560
  3  Elizabeth Wok       11     792
  4  Ong Suanne          10     630
  5  Lim Sha Lyn         10     306
  6  Peter  Yu           10     181
  7  Shahrul Kamal       10     177
  8  Md Khalid            9     433
  9  Serene Ngu           9     323
 10  Goh Soo Hang         9     265
 11  Md Saleh             9     206
 12  Fong Choon Peng      9    -230
 13  Kenneth Lim          9    -295
 14  Sne Hath             8     497
 15  Tommy Yuen           8     315
 16  Valli Thamb.         8     -25
 17  Lee Sze Yong         8    -176
 18  Chin Sze Min         8    -253
 19  Adele Tan            8    -356
 20  Shim Yen Nee         7     176
 21  Lim Sun Kiat         7     -56
 22  Prakash Menon        7     -79
 23  K Subramanian        7    -324
 24  Dinna Lim            7    -329
 25  Ruby Sim             7    -417
 26  Chay Wen Liang       6     -28
 27  Low Bee Tiang        6    -270
 28  Benjamin Chow        6    -375
 29  Hozariah Markso      6    -389
 30  Foo Jia Ee           6    -499
 31  Tan Peng Ting        6    -854
 32  Avtar Harrid         1    -812
HIGH GAME: Elizabeth Wok         534
HIGH WORD: Tan Ming Tiong        140
            "SEATINGS"

Jurong Green CC St John's Institution Annual Friendly
27th and 28th April 2002
Jurong Green CC

16 games KOTH, last 6 with repeats

Rank Player            Wins  Margin
-----------------------------------
  1 Nigel Richards      15  1543
  2 Tony Sim            10   802
  3 John Lam            10   699
  4 Ricky Purnomo       10   661
  5 Cheah Siu Hean      10   653
  6 Thong Liew Kee       9½ -128
  7 Alex Tan             9   313
  8 Jessie Lim           9   190
  9 Andy Kurnia          9   137
 10 Paulette Yeoh        9  -526
 11 Sarah Law            8    17
 12 Jodi Gonzalez        8  -378
 13 Douglas Reyes        7½ -628
 14 Quek Sim Ho          7   629
 15 Chew Han Ei          7    -8
 16 Irene Lim            7   -89
 17 Dinna Lim            7  -587
 18 Mohd Khalid          6½ -650
 19 Ho Soo Meng          6  -513
 20 Low Bee Tiang        6  -529
 21 Shim Yen Nee         5½ -808
 22 Z Bye                0  -800
HIGH GAME: Ricky Purnomo
HIGH WORD: Cheah Siu Hean 158 FINGERED 

Champion             Challenge Trophy +
                     Cash & Prizes worth RM500.00
2nd Placing          Cash & Prizes worth RM300.00
3rd Placing          Cash & Prizes worth RM200.00
4th to 10th Placing  Consolation prizes (non-cash)

Non-Masters’ Category:
Non-cash prizes (to be advised)

Special Prizes (both categories)

(1) Highest Game
(2) Best Bingo
(3) Best Mensan Score
(4) Best Lady Player

In event of any enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Goh Siu Lin at telephone number 017-8858398 or email: siulin@shooklin.com.my or Ms Lucy of the Mensa Office at telephone number: 03-7955 0122

REPORT

When I walked into the office on Monday morning, I stopped by Nigel's office to ask him about yesterday's Mensa game. He muttered something like "some chap from New Zealand won it" . I had to put on a smile and give a chuckle. It was a typical thing to get from Nigel, non-evasive, humble yet to the point.

It was apparently a close fight between the threesome of Nigel, Jocelyn and John Lam. According to Nigel, if he had loss by 100 points in the final game, he would have been second. If he'd loss by 99 points he would still be the champ and if he'd loss by 99 1/2 points, he would draw. He had beaten John, who in turn had beaten Jocelyn and who then beat Nigel in the final game for a spread of 12 points. Small number of games is also a touch and go affair isn't it? Considering there was only six games, it would have been nice to meet up with John and Paulette who had driven down from Penang to participate in the show, staged by the Mensa Society of Scrabble wannabes.

Venue: Equatorial Hill Resort, Cameron Highlands, Pahang Format: 18 games- No repeats SWISS pairing for the first 12 games and last 6 games repeat KOTH. Prizes 1st Prize: RM1000 2nd Prize: RM 750 3rd Prize: RM 500 4th Prize: RM 250 5th Prize: RM 150 6th-10th Prize: RM 50

Twin Sharing : RM260.00 nett (3 days 2 nights)
Single Occupancy : RM360.00 nett (3 days 2 nights)
Child Rate : RM144.00 nett (3 days 2 nights) (for children aged at 12 yrs or below)

Check In Time : 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm (14 September 2001 - Friday)

Starting Time : 1st Game at 6:00 pm (14 September 2001 - Friday)

Contact Persons :-

(1) Tan Khee Chiang (Financial Controller)
Tel No. : 05-496 1434 (Direct Line) ; 05-496 1777 Ext. : 7100
H/P : 019-572 7730
E-mail address : kctan@cam.equatorial.com

(2) Lau Kam Kee (Accounts Manager)
Tel No. : 05-496 1433 (Direct Line) ; 05-496 1777 Ext. 7101
E-mail address : kklau@cam.equatorial.com
      

Results after game 18
2ND EHR OPEN 2001 -- OPEN

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards      16    2403
  2  A Ganesh            13     465
  3  Jocelyn Lor         12     584
  4  Cheah Siu Hean      12     306
  5  Kong Chock Heng     11     874
  6  Tony Sim            11     845
  7  Alex Tan            11     155
  8  Tan Jin Chor        10     655
  9  Yeap Gim Sai        10     163
 10  Emy Yap             10     -24
 11  Krishna Kumar       10    -366
 12  John Lam             9     686
 13  Ricky Purnomo        9     278
 14  Leonard Wong         9      39
 15  Jerry Jang           9     -54
 16  Vannitha Balasingam  9    -113
 17  Marzukhi Omar        9    -578
 18  Krishna Iyer         8     282
 19  Kenrick Ng           8     232
 20  Paulette Yeoh        8      87
 21  Tan Khee Chiang      8     -36
 22  Wan Amir Abd Hakim   8    -764
 23  Jackie Cheah         8    -890
 24  Ong Yeam Chin        7     -43
 25  Seshi Ramanathan     7    -804
 26  Mohd Yasir Mohd Ali  6    -312
 27  Masri Selamat        6   -1211
 28  Mohd Ali Yahya       6   -1379
 29  Azlan Tajudin        5.5  -644
 30  Zasman Mohd Gulam    4.5  -836
HIGH GAME: Nigel Richards    676
HIGH WORD: Tony Sim          163
            "DREARILY"
      

The title was successfully defended by Nigel Richards with a more than usually monstrous margin. Nigel won RM 1,000, a trophy, and a large chalenge trophy generously donated by the Equatorial group. Tan Khee Chiang, financial controller of the hotel, and his department put in a great deal of effort to make sure that the tournament was a success. The hotel generously provided a cake at the conclusion of the event; marzipan, icing and coloured jams making a life-sized facsimile of a deluxe Scrabble board. Emy Yap was Tournament Director. There were very attractive spot prizes for every one of the 18 rounds. The spot prizes were vouchers for stays at various related hotels in Malaysia. The tournament was held over three days at the Equatorial Hill Resort at Brinchang in the Cameron Highlands. Total cost of the stay including accommodation, meals and tea breaks but not transport, was 310 ringgit a person. Hopefully more Singapore players will participate next year.

Entry Fee:
RM40 for members of the MSA and RM50 for non members

Format:
18 games-12 games no repeat swiss pairing and 6 games with repeat "King of The Hill".

All participants are kindly requested to register at 2.30am onwards as the 1st game will commence at 3.00 pm on Friday, 31st August. Four games will be played on the first day, subsequently 8 and 6 respectively. Coffee and tea is complimentary from IndoCafe Sdn Bhd

Report

Congratulations to both Ganesh and Michael Tang who has proven that tenacity and pure raw determination can get you places. Michael Tang won all the 4 games on the 1st day, dropped 2 games on Saturday, one to Sandy and the other to Tan Jin Chor and on Sunday because of his large margin of wins, paired to play Ganesh 5 games in KOTH format repeat play. He lost 3 to Ganesh, won one, drew one and took the remaining game from Pui Cheng Wui. In the last game, if Kong Chock Heng had lost, Krishna Kumar would be the 2nd representative. It certainly gave Michael Tang a scare and we had Krishna Kumar who came out of the woodworks to say "Hey, I could have made it, you know..."

Well, they all could have and it isn't pleasant to admit that besides Ganesh, Malaysia still has a long way to go in terms of more players being ahead in standard of play. Ganesh could claim that, he has matured so much in the game. His endgame is well thought out. In my opinion, he is a class above the rest of us at the moment. The rest, still, anyone could have done it, and those that think they can, can!... Michael Tang took leave from his busy schedule to try to qualify. And he did! Malaysia's criteria of qualification to the World is the 1st ranked player in the Malaysian rating after the Nationals and the winner of the Nationals. If they are the same person, then No. 2 & 3 in the Nationals will be the 2nd representative and reserve player respectively. Ganesh proved beyond doubt that he is the best and he is indeed by a long way and emphatically so! The result is posted below.

This competition showed big movers, particularly with Yeo Tat Mun who moved 127 points up, he obviously did a lot of research, followed by Vannitha Balasingam at plus 78 points. Tan Khee Chiang has gone up by 74 points, he has been very active with Hussein's online scrabble, way to go, KC... Michael Tang went up 68 points to rank 3rd in Malaysia now, what perfect timing to be in top form and Krishna Kumar who showed tremendous form and climbing 60 points up. On the other side, we see John Lam falling with Pui and Alex Tan. All having tales to tell...there was one from Pui, who had already put NOYANCE on the board at the opening move against Jin Chor but changed his mind to score 28 points for CANNY instead. He never got over that during the competition.

We may have a special report by E S Tung of the New Straits Times Press, an enthusiast who will certainly add exposure to the game by giving it more coverage in the papers. Keep checking into this webpage ladies and gentlemen.

Results

Results after game 18
MALAYSIAN CLOSED 2001 -- PLAYERS

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  A Ganesh            13.5  1484
  2  Michael Tang        12.5   141
  3  Kong Chock Heng     12     592
  4  Tan Jin Chor        12     408
  5  Krishna Kumar       12     196
  6  Tengku Asri         11     814
  7  Jocelyn Lor         11     430
  8  Vannitha Balasingam 11     382
  9  Yeo Tat Mun         11     159
 10  Thomas Tan          11     139
 11  Pui Cheng Wui       10     937
 12  Leonard Wong        10     406
 13  Tan Khee Chiang     10     311
 14  Emy Yap             10     226
 15  Alex Tan            10     163
 16  Sandy Tsen          10     -36
 17  John Tan            10    -349
 18  John Lam             9     345
 19  Seshi Ramanathan     9     313
 20  Zamri Majid          9     103
 21  Paulette Yeoh        9      80
 22  Ong Yeam Chin        9     -68
 23  Zainal Abidin        9    -259
 24  Warren Lau           9    -319
 25  Yeap Gim Sai         9    -378
 26  Mohd Ali Ismail      8     336
 27  Jerry Jang           8     107
 28  Irene Lim            8     -75
 29  Chim Wai Main        8    -180
 30  Abd Majid Jaafar     8    -209
 31  Marzukhi Omar        8    -302
 32  Ng Peng Sang         8    -589
 33  Aaron Chong          7      56
 34  Ayob Samad           7    -201
 35  Krishna Iyer         7    -393
 36  Azlan Tajudin        7    -523
 37  Mathew Mathan        6    -300
 38  Tung Eng Swee        6   -1232
 39  Tuan Hui Wearn       5   -1171
 40  Bryan Wong           0   -1544
HIGH GAME: A Ganesh          566
HIGH WORD: Abd Majid Jaafar  145
           "ABORTERS"
      

Fee          : Players who register before 28th July will pay RM50/-
               (RM40/- for Penang Scrabble Club members)
               Late entries will be charge RM60/-

Format       : 15 games, first 12 games with no repeat and the last 3 
               games with repeat.

Accomodation : The City Bayview Hotel is offering Twin sharing rooms with 
               Breakfast at RM 115.

Request      : Players are encouraged to bring their own sets and clocks 

Contact      : Dr Mohammad Salahudin 04-6432144, 012-4527650

               John Lam              04-6415779, 012-4943950
                                     email : kmlam@pc.jaring.my

               Jackie Cheah          04-6451129, 016-4531325
                                     email : pvlhc@pc.jaring.my

Prizes       : Valuable cash prizes, trophies and other EXCITING prizes 
               for Lucky Draw are to be won.

               Open category

               Champion        Trophy + RM550
               2nd             Trophy + RM400
               3rd             Trophy + RM250
               4th             Trophy + RM150
               5th             Trophy + RM50

               Highest Bingo   Trophy
               Highest Game    Trophy

               Rating Below 1500 Category

               Champion Trophy only
               2nd             Trophy only
               3rd             Trophy only
               4th             Trophy only
               5th             Trophy only

               Penang Closed Category

               Champion Trophy only
               2nd             Trophy only
               3rd             Trophy only

Results

Results after game 15
3rd Pg Open Scrabble Tournament -- MASTERS

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards      14    2549
  2  John Lam            10     582
  3  Alex Tan            10     168
  4  Jocelyn Lor          9     500
  5  Sarah Law            9     394
  6  Tan Jin Chor         9     264
  7  Chuah Sim Swee       9     103
  8  Krishna Kumar        9      77
  9  Vannitha Balasingam  8     406
 10  Yeap Gim Sai         8     155
 11  Leonard Wong         8     -26
 12  Ong Suanne           8     -94
 13  Sandy Tsen           8    -300
 14  Tan Khee Chiang      7     125
 15  Mohd Salahudin       7      -1
 16  Lim Sha-lyn          7     -34
 17  Michael Wong         7    -148
 18  Jackie Cheah         7    -155
 19  Kong Chock Heng      6     355
 20  Mohd Shameer         6     -26
 21  Paulette Yeoh        6    -232
 22  Jacintha Ramaya      4   -1598
 23  Adele                3    -311
 24  Foong Yin Yee        1   -2753
HIGH GAME: Nigel Richards    637
HIGH WORD: Nigel Richards    117
            "EUTEXIA"
      

Format:
6 games-No Repeat "King of The Hill" swiss-pairing format.

All participants are kindly requested to register at 9am onwards as the 1st game will commence at 10am. Lunch will be provided and sponsored by Sheraton Imperial Hotel.

To ease participant's play, 2 and 3 letter word lists will be provided.

Results & Ratings

+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state     Name           | National  | State   |   Wins    | Rating Points |
|                          | Old  New  | Old New | Exp  Act  | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *RECREATIONAL    |           +         +           +               +
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| --- Tengku Asri          |   12   11 |   8   8 |  5.5  6.0 | 1648 +11 1659 |
|*--- Eroll Mark Netto     |    0   46 |   0  41 |  5.0  5.0 | 1418  +0 1417 |
|*--- Tung Eng Swee        |    0   80 |   0  71 |  4.1  4.5 | 1200 +27 1227 |
| --- Zainal Abidin        |    0   78 |   0  69 |  2.7  4.0 | 1203 +42 1245 |
|*--- Abu Bakar Samat      |    0   81 |   0  72 |  4.0  4.0 | 1216  +0 1216 |
|*--- Felicia Yap          |    0   57 |   0  50 |  4.0  4.0 | 1355  +0 1354 |
|*--- Azura Abas           |    0   64 |   0  57 |  4.0  4.0 | 1339  +0 1338 |
|*--- Ahmad Zahrin         |    0   92 |   0  83 |  4.0  4.0 | 1119  +0 1118 |
|*--- Norliza Md Ali       |    0   66 |   0  58 |  4.0  4.0 | 1316  +0 1316 |
|*--- K P Waran            |    0   84 |   0  75 |  3.9  4.0 | 1200  +4 1204 |
|*--- Anzani Danapaul      |    0  119 |   0 110 |  3.0  3.0 |  938  +0  937 |
|*--- Christine Too        |    0  152 |   0 143 |  3.0  3.0 |  668  +0  667 |
|*--- Aminda Farina Omar   |    0  109 |   0 100 |  3.0  3.0 | 1011  +0 1010 |
|*--- G Danapaul           |    0  120 |   0 111 |  3.0  3.0 |  937  +0  936 |
|*--- Corrine Ho           |    0  106 |   0  97 |  3.0  3.0 | 1024  +0 1023 |
|*--- Azman Ujang          |    0  129 |   0 120 |  3.0  3.0 |  848  +0  847 |
|*--- R Murali Rajaratenan |    0  122 |   0 113 |  3.0  3.0 |  891  +0  890 |
|*--- Johardy Hj Ibrahim   |    0  140 |   0 131 |  3.0  3.0 |  765  +0  764 |
|*--- Mary Anne Tan        |    0   98 |   0  89 |  2.5  2.5 | 1064  +0 1063 |
|*--- Aniza Danis          |    0  160 |   0 151 |  2.0  2.0 |  622  +0  621 |
|*--- Yogeshwary           |    0  166 |   0 157 |  2.0  2.0 |  584  +0  583 |
|*--- Goh Ee Koon          |    0  159 |   0 150 |  2.0  2.0 |  623  +0  622 |
|*--- Anita Pondian        |    0  161 |   0 152 |  2.0  2.0 |  602  +0  601 |
|*--- Yeoh Oon Chuan       |    0  158 |   0 149 |  2.0  2.0 |  634  +0  633 |
|*--- Hasni Falina         |    0  143 |   0 134 |  2.0  2.0 |  745  +0  744 |
|*--- Sheridan Mahavera    |    0  180 |   0 171 |  1.6  1.0 |  500 -40  459 |
|*--- Fay D Cruz           |    0  181 |   0 172 |  1.7  1.0 |  500 -42  457 |
|*--- Sharifah Arfah       |    0  183 |   0 174 |  1.1  0.0 |  500 -72  427 |
|*--- Mohd Fazli           |    0  184 |   0 175 |  1.1  0.0 |  500 -73  427 |
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
      

GENERAL DETAILS

Venue
Venue: The Indoor Stadium Hua-Mark, Bangkok (June 30-July 1), & Central City Bangna Shopping Complex (June 28-29)

Entry Fee
USD110 (can be paid upon Bangkok arrival)
This amount includes the reception dinner on the first day and the coffee breaks on the other days

Word Source
SOWPODS 2000 (there will be a list of all 2 & 3-letter words and their inflected forms provided for each player. This list can be opened at any time during the game)

Challenge Rule
Free. No penalties for any word(s)challenged

Game Timing
Each player is allowed 25 MINUTES per game.

Format
26 rounds swiss-pairing based. The top two players will play in the final, the others play an additional round to decide the final rank. The two finalists play in a special rule in the final: They play two games first. If one of them wins both game, then he will be the winner. But if they tie with a win and a loss, the third game will be played. The winner, in this case, is the one who scores the most when combining scores from three games.

Accommodation
The Interplace Hotel is offering its special room rate of 650 Baht net/room/night for a double occupancy room. The reservation should be done via Thailand Crossword Club (contact Mr. Ravee or Nattakrit)

Contact
Amnuay P. (or Ravee or Nuttakrit)
Thailand Crossword Club
633, RAMA 3 ROAD, BANGPONPANG,
YANNAWA, 10120 THAILAND
Tel. (662) 6378410-2 Fax (662) 6376502
Email: crosword@ksc.th.com

Schedule
Thursday, June 28, 13.00-21.00
Registration, Ballot Draw, Reception & Round 1-4

Friday, June29, 13.00-20.30
Round 5-11

Saturday, June 30, 9.00-20.00
Grand Opening Ceremony & Round 12-19

Sunday, July 1, 9.00-18.00
Round 20-26, Final Round, Closing Ceremony

Result of 16th Brands King's Cup Bangkok

Format was groups of 4 according to rank. 1 plays 2 and 3 plays 4 first game, Winners and losers play each other 2nd game then pairings are done again.

Result after 26 rounds with the top two players playing the finals.

Rank Player                  Wins Spread Country
1    Nigel Richards          20     1078 NZ
2    Paul Cleary             17     1466 AU
3    Mark Nyman              17     1091 UK
4    Joan Rosenthal          17      536 AU
5    Jakkrit Klapajone       17      513 TH
6    Femi Awowade            16     1293 NG
7    Cheah Siu Hean          16      161 SG
8    Gerry Carter            15     1112 TH
9    Charnwit S              15      908 TH
10   Komol P                 15      578 TH
11   Roongroj Harinworrarop  15      340 TH
12   Bob Jackman             15      254 AU
13   Akegapun E              15       88 TH
14   Nuttakrit K             15        8 TH
15   Goh Jiang Pern          14      504 SG
16   Evan Simpson            14      377 UK
17   Taewan Suthasila        14      192 TH
18   Apithai Hemathuja       14      119 TH
19   Darryl Francis          14       27 UK
20   Jocelyn Lor             14      -88 MY
21   Pakorn Nemitrmansuk     13      221 TH
22   Terry Kirk              13      210 UK
23   Apirat Choomai          13      202 TH
24   Marut Siriwangso        13       12 TH
25   Liz Fagerlund           13      -71 NZ
26   Joanne Craig            13     -358 NZ
27   Amnuay Ploysangngam     13     -449 TH
28   Arun Methaseth          12      511 TH
29   Kittikorn Issariyakamol 12      287 TH
30   Gan Cher Siong          12       39 SG
31   Thien Termpaisith       12     -187 TH
32   Charae Worapotpisut     11½     -19 TH
33   Dylan Sharma            11½    -159 SG
34   Michael Tang            11½    -254 SG
35   Debbe Hossy             11     -377 ZA
36   Wichai Lertsakulpiriya  11     -406 TH
37   Tanawat Choomai         11     -510 TH
38   Keiichiro Hirai         11     -540 JP
39   Prachya Pitapho         11     -730 TH
40   Chatchawin Petchlert    10½    -522 TH
41   Apichart Choomai        10     -451 TH
42   Diane Ward              10     -896 AU
43   Borom Kinthong          10    -1380 TH
44   Sanmi Odellana           9     -802 NG
45   Aloysious Conzaga        8     -670 SG

Report by Dylan Sharma on his experience in Bangkok

Splendid show. For some of us, but not all. I personally had a bad tourney, and am sure that I could have done better, but let's NOT go there. More importantly, credit to those that truly earned it.

Firstly, Cheah Siu Hean, for a truly spectacular performance. We all know that Cheah is good, very good, but in this tourney, he held his head high when competing against the likes of Nigel Richards and Mark Nyman, earning international respect in the interim. If not for a bad last day, Cheah would have finished higher than his already impressive showing of 7th. Very aptly nicknamed by the Thais as Mr Nice Guy.

Secondly, Goh Jiang Pern, for sticking in there. At the end of Day 1 (4 games), Goh was on 1 win and a margin of more than -500 points. Not much better on Day 2, but an impressive run after that (on Day 4 esp) saw him sit on Table 3 for the last 2 games. He ended with the best margin amongst the Singapore contingent, remarkable considering his margin earlier in the tourney.

And lastly, Gan. A fabulous Day 2 saw him register 6 wins out of 7, including wins against well known players like Gerry Carter and Pakorn. Day 3 was a bit opposite for Gan, but how many players in Singapore have sat on the leader's table on Day 3 to lock horns with Mark Nyman? In fact, he played Nyman twice, as he sportingly allowed a rematch of his early game after a computer error was detected. Maybe next year, he will be called Mr Nice Guy as well.

All said, it was a fantastic tourney, and the experience 'blew me out of the world'. 5000 kids in the arena, loud music throughout, and the adulation that Nigel Richards enjoys amongst the locals are some of the incredible things about playing there. Certainly a highly recommended experience for any Scrabble player. But be warned, once you play in Thailand, you will go back and back and back.......

Pictures from Bangkok 2001

PLUS++! The 1st prize winner in Expert Section will win a place to represent Singapore in the World Scrabble Championship in Las Vegas (conditions apply)

Sponsors:
Yeo's, Singapore Pools, Far East Square and Eu Yan Sang.

Prizes for Expert Section

1st      S$500 cash voucher, challenge shield and trophy
2nd      S$300 cash voucher and trophy
3rd      S$200 cash voucher and trophy
4th      S$100 cash voucher
5th-10th Consolation prize
     

Prizes for Open Section

1st      S$300 cash voucher, challenge shield and trophy
2nd      S$200 cash voucher and trophy
3rd      S$100 cash voucher and trophy
4th      S$100 cash voucher
5th-10th Consolation prize

Entries should reach Teck Ghee Community Club 861 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Singapore 569734 not later than 29th June 2001. Entries without payment will not be accepted.

Report of the tournament by Emy Yap

The Singapore Association (SA) invited me to be their tournament director in the recent Nationals 2001, staged yearly to determine the Champion for 2001 and also for this particular year, the selection of two representatives to represent Singapore to the World Scrabble Championship in Las Vegas. As it turned out, the expected was nearly almost upstaged by the surprising determination of Thong Liew Kee, who gave the pair of Cheah Siu Hean and Tony Sim a run for their money. Thong, a veteran in the game and a real mover in the promotion of Scrabble, was seen at Table 1 in Game 16 with Tony Sim. The winner will be the 2nd representative. Cheah Siu Hean had by Game 14 been determined to be the 1st representative when he was at 10 wins. He was too far in the ratings at 1920 to be overtaken by anyone. Singapore determines their representatives by selecting the highest rated player as of 15th July 2001 and the winner of the Nationals. If they happen to be the same person, then the 2nd highest rated player will be the rep.

So, it was a touch and go affair at Table 1 that I had the pleasure to watch. The final game could have gone either way with each of them having a blank and at some stage. Both had awful racks at some stage and at other moment, everything falling in place together. Tony triumphed. He was very steady like as if he knew he was going to win! Thong played a non-word at a crucial point in the game and allowed Tony to pulled further away halfway through the match. Thong recovered by not enough to take victory from Tony. Cheah Siu Hean lost a game to Sarah Law by 1 point, which I thought nudged him out from the final showdown. He would have wanted to be the Champion in this tournament but losing two straight games to Thong made it impossible. Mr Nice Guy as he is now affectionately known has been very active in local Scrabble in the organisational, promotion and overall management in the Scrabble Association. He, Pwee Keng Ho and several others are the key people in producing the entertaining SA News.

What I really like about Singapore Scrabble is the common aim each of these individuals in the SA has towards the game, its success and growth. While Thong does his Community contribution through Scrabble, raising sponsorships, which all of them do, Siu Hean contributes in newsletter and posting through email of lasting happenings and activities. Sarah Law is the person that cajoles and recruits participants in the numerous games Malaysia and Singapore holds. She organises the Singaporean's flights and accommodation and gets the best deals for them. Lam Piang who is the SA President gets support from sponsorships through the various community centres Singapore has. And they are fantastic because in this tournament alone, they were at least 20 volunteers in the form of runners and help in everything from banner printing and postings to refreshments and displays of photographs of the recent Brands Bangkok tournament. Michael Tang who aims for the stars and reminds us to dream of bigger things yet, he who has joined CNN as Director of Marketing may perhaps yet organise THE tournament of the century. And Tony Sim who is a diehard at the game has contributed tremendously in the running of tournaments, setting up of computers, printers and programme software and processing, distribution of the ratings after each tournament. His experience is vast and useful for the new breed of players sprouting here and there in Singapore. Such a wonderful team of movers! Cheers to all my friends.

The results will be posted soon for final standing after Game 16 on July 15th. A long word was played in this tournament when Goh Jiang Pern stuck an "S" after WARFARING built by Cheah Siu Hean from WARFARIN to form the bingo BEFANAS. This will be updated into my Long Words list together with ANTIPROTON by Cheah Siu Hean vs Gerry Carter in Bangkok last month. Tony Sim played the pretty MOIETIES and in a different game against Thong played RAINBOWS off an "N" and AURORAS, very pretty indeed. Bingos like VIVERRA by Michael Tang, OVERTHIN by Ricky Purnomo and STICHERA by CSH was spotted during the tournament. Jodie (assistant TD) and me got some really nice chocolates in appreciation of our contribution towards their successful tournament. Oh yes, and the dinner for 10 that the Singaporeans invited me for at the end of the tournament. What a great finish to the weekend.

Format:
8 games on Friday, 8 games on Saturday no repeat and 6 games repeat on Sunday based on SWISS pairing system KOTH.

Fees:
RM40 for members of the MSA and RM50 for non members.

This tournament is one of two compulsory tournament for all competitors who wishes to take a shot at qualifying for the World Scrabble Competition in Las Vegas in November this year. The Malaysian Nationals 2001 is the other tournament to compete in. Details of the selection will appear soon at the Announcement Section at the bottom of this webpage.

The challenge rule of 5 point per word will be exercised in this tournament.

The tournament director for this competition is Rose Salehud Din and Rosli Majid. Kindly contact them for more information and entry forms at 03-2161 9151/9142 x 278, 03- 983 2575 or her mobile at 016-612 4863 .

Report
In this incredible tournament I would like to cover in particular the number of committee members that helped towards its success.

Rose and Rosli of the Bertam Organising Committee fame ran the tournament like a charm. With some help from Nigel Richards, scrabble extraordinaire, and eventual champion of the tournament on the improved SWISS program by Barry Harridge, Australia, nearly all of the competitors were happy about the even starts and table numbering that the program was able to generate.

Ganesh, Chim and Jocelyn helped in the decision of the selection of representatives to the World. Thomas Tan assisted with the booking of the tea for the event consisting of tea and coffee and snacks. Emy Yap organised with the booking of guests into the ParkRoyal Hotel, sponsor for the venue and drafted the rules and regulation for the MSA with the help of Cheah Siu Hean.

Mohd Ali, the President of the MSA, succeeded in getting sponsorship from Datuk Astaman Aziz, entrepreneur who also gracefully presented the prizes at the end of the 3-day tournament. Tengku Asri, a local television producer organised the TV coverage for TV2 where Nigel Richards and Pui Cheng Wui were interviewed over their 1st and 3rd spot victory respectively in the 22 games event. Their interview was aired that same night on Monday, the 4th. The "Malay Mail", the local tabloid had both the champions holding up a Scrabble board with a big write-up on the Scrabble Masters on Tuesday, 5th. Pui Cheng Wui was so happy with his result that he stayed back for the press and was grinning from ear to ear. Pui was Malaysia's representative to the World for the last two championships.

It was a good day for the promotion of the game as extensive coverage was given to the event, thanks to the effort of those involved. A notable mention is 20 year old participant M Nashad, who was one of the competitors representing Sri Lanka in the Asia Pacific Scrabble Tournament KL in 1998. He is studying at the Malaysia Multimedia University and will be here for 3 years. We will be seeing a lot of him in the local circuit. The result of this event is at the Rating section of this web page.

Format:
10 games
Individual event with no repeats for the first 8 games.

Eligible participants:
Primary and secondary (Forms 1-5) students.
Limited to 6 students from each school for each category.

Cost:
Free

Scrabble sets and chess clocks:
Participants are to bring their own scrabble sets. A minimum of one scrabble set must be brought for every two participants. Chess clocks will be supplied.

Categories:
Under 15 years of age and Under 18 years of age

Prizes:
School level: The Champion (challenge trophy, School trophy),
1st runner-up (school trophy) and 2nd runner-up (school trophy).
This is determined by adding the total number of wins of the first 3 top scorers in each school.
Individual level: 1st - 10th position (individual trophies)
Trophies for the highest bingo, highest game score
Certificates of participation
Prizes for schools participating
Other attractive prizes

Programme:

       26th  May 2001 (Saturday)  27th May 2001 (Sunday)
       8.30 a.m. Registration     8.30 a.m. Games 6 - 8
       9.00 a.m. Games 1 - 2      Lunch
       Lunch                      2.00 p.m. Games 9 - 10
       2.00 p.m. Games 3 - 5      6.00 p.m. Closing ceremony
      

Closing date:
4th May 2001

Send your entry form to:
Pengetua, SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, Jalan 12/13, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Fax no: 03-7957 5746.

Enquiries and information:
SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, Jalan 12/13, 46200, Petaling Jaya, Fax: 03-7957 5546, Tel:03-7956 5085
Please call Puan Sim between 1.00p.m.- 4.00p.m.

WHAT A GREAT REPORT ON THE JUNIOR COMPETITITON, PLEASE CLICK AT THE LINK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY! http://www.geocities.com/simgnsmksas/juniorscrabble.html
e-mail: simgnsmksas@yahoo.com

Format:
16 games, 12 repeat, 4 none KOTH

Again, due to the untiring effort of a few individuals, the tournament was another huge success. A total number of 78 Scrabble enthusiasts converged to the 3rd floor of the now infamous HongKah East Community Centre in Jurong to battle out in the Singapore Open for 2001. Tony Sim, Sarah Law and Theng Wai Mun did the general running of the tournament. Thong Liew Kee, the always good natured, soft-spoken Singaporean organised the money and most of everything. A total budget of S$7,000 was sponsored by various sources and spent on this tournament. Most of it see it going into the prize money in three category that was played out over two days.

This tournament, says Tony Sim to me a week earlier is to be the tournament where we can see the "fall" of the titan, Nigel Richards. Due to the third position he got from the recent KL YMCA, some thought that he has finally landed on earth. But alas, no such thing, he is still up there. Nigel took home a warm S$1,000 for top spot. It was a very tight finish when Nigel had 12 wins with 700 point spread while the closest competitor, Tony has 11 wins and 800+ point spread before the last game. The ever smiling Quek Sim Ho did remarkably well by grabbing the 2nd spot by beating John Lam in the 16th game. He was rewarded S$700 for his performance of which some was lessened for the huge dinner and drinks that he spent with some fellow Scrabblers after the game. Thanks Quek! Pui Cheng Wui took 3rd spot happily for he really started playing after the 7th game when he went on to win 7 games on Sunday. He reckoned his luck turned after a game when a good samaritan gave him 100 points extra! (Not true, he miscounted less by 100 points for that game and his opponent highlighted it to him).

Tony took a huge thrashing from Nigel and dropped to 4th position after being 1-2 finish with Nigel in the 16th game KOTH. It was something to do with missing a bingo that turned the game in Nigel's favour. Tony says he needs to go study!

Dylan Sharma looked really sharp in his smart, all-black attire on Sunday and looked to continue his run. He didn't do too badly, most of his countrymen observed that he has improved tremendously in the game. Oh incidentally, he won a mini tournament recently where most of the top Singaporeans competed. Impressive!!

The following are the results over three categories

4TH SINGAPORE OPEN
5TH AND 6TH MAY 2001
HONG KAH EAST COMMUNITY CLUB

MASTERS
Results after game 16

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards (NZ) 12    1021
  2  Quek Sim Ho         11     579
  3  Pui Cheng Wui  (MY) 10     726
  4  Tony Sim            10     539
  5  John Lam       (MY) 10     453
  6  Kong Chock Heng(MY) 10     168
  7  A Ganesh       (MY)  9     728
  8  Cheah Siu Hean       9     499
  9  Michael Tang         9     438
 10  Goh Jiang Pern       9     184
 11  Tan Jin Chor   (MY)  9      82
 12  Dylan Sharma         9    -187
 13  Leonard Wong   (MY)  9    -212
 14  Jocelyn Lor    (MY)  8      85
 15  Ricky Purnomo  (ID)  8      71
 16  Azmil Aziz     (MY)  8     -56
 17  Philip Tan           8    -127
 18  Simon Harinv.  (TH)  8    -143
 19  Jodi Gonzalez  (PH)  8    -447
 20  Eugene Goh           7     224
 21  Tengku Asri    (MY)  7     -12
 22  Emy Yap        (MY)  7    -279
 23  Chim Wai Main  (MY)  7    -562
 24  Thong Liew Kee       6     -47
 25  Sarah Law            6    -211
 26  Koh Chon Kiat        6    -299
 27  Ismail Kassim        6    -927
 28  Theng Wai Mun        5    -457
 29  Peter  Yu            5   -1144
 30  Noel Joseph          4    -687

HIGH GAME: Nigel Richards (NZ) 592
HIGH WORD: Cheah Siu Hean      172
            "EPIGRAMS"

INTERMEDIATE
Results after game 16
Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Jessie Lim          12    1090
  2  Chew Han Ei         11.5   605
  3  Sebastian Lim       11     281
  4  Chay Wen Liang      11      42
  5  Low Bee Tiang       10     270
  6  Serene Ngu          10     131
  7  Samri Nawer         10      60
  8  Andy Kurnia     (ID) 9.5   568
  9  Ong Kang Ng          9    1048
 10  Kenneth Lim          9     406
 11  Douglas Reyes        9     195
 12  Chew Hui Min         9     120
 13  Elizabeth Wok        9     -77
 14  Joanna Chaw          8.5  -521
 15  Rhodie Dacanay       8     311
 16  Karthik Nataraj.(IN) 8     -42
 17  Peter Tay            8     -70
 18  Vincent Tay          8     -80
 19  Ruby Sim             8    -296
 20  Goh Soo Hang         7.5    37
 21  Paulette Yeoh   (MY) 7.5    12
 22  M Ganapathy          7     216
 23  Lam Piang            7     -12
 24  Valliammah Thamb.    7     -74
 25  Irene Lim       (MY) 7    -526
 26  Jeeva Kumar          7    -859
 27  Kwan Mun Wai         6      68
 28  Albert Koey          6    -484
 29  Shahrul Kamal        5    -446
 30  Yeo Kien Hung        4.5  -597
 31  Salim Bahmad         3    -336
 32  Sonny Viduya         2    -405
 33  Lai How Fatt         1    -225
 34  Charles Retnam       1    -410

HIGH GAME: Andy Kurnia(ID)   585
HIGH WORD: Elizabeth Wok     122
            "LITERARY"

RECREATIONAL
Results after game  6
Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  Benjamin Chow        5     368
  2  R Balachandran       5     289
  3  Chin Sze Min         4     340
  4  Adeline Kang         4     234
  5  Gwee Choon Siong     3     154
  6  Chua Geok Kian       3      98
  7  Alice Ling Ai Li     3     -81
  8  Chong Fee Foong      2     -16
  9  Loh Kwek Leong       2    -132
 10  B Natarajan    (IN)  2    -219
 11  Zainudin Asmure      1    -103
 12  KMRajesh Kumar       0    -280
 13  Khrishna Viswana.    0    -285
 14  GSudish Kumar        0    -367

HIGH GAME: R Balachandran    515
HIGH WORD: R Balachandran    140
            "TINGLERS"

YMCA Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Brickfields,
Kuala Lumpur

Cost:

Masters: RM50 / RM40 (YMCA Members)

Format:

13 games under a modified KOTH format. First 9 games without repeat and last 4 games with repeat. 7 games will be played on the first day and 6 on Sunday.

Prizes:

1st RM 300 & Challenge Trophy + Trophy
2nd RM 200 & Trophy
3rd RM 100 & Trophy
4th RM 75 & Trophy
6th-10th Consolation Prizes

Special prizes for Highest Bingo Score & Highest Game Score.

Please register with Mr Suresh Pillai or Alicia at 03-2274 1439

Results and Report of the tournament

We started at 2pm on Saturday. As it is every year, Matthews Jacob was in charge of running the tournament with Suresh and Alicia lending a helping hand. Matthews is getting a little out of date I see for he is still using the old Swiss programme as well as the old Lookup!

This year sees some new faces, at least 13 of them. This was mainly due to the relentless effort of Suresh in trying to get as much people to play as possible. It may be true that the Scrabble in Malaysia is stunted insofar as the participation in tournaments are concerned. Competitive players are few and without growth in youngsters and junior section, the game will slowly deteriorate. The competition attracted Raja Fuadin, Malaysia's pioneer player who inspired the likes of Ganesh and Mohd Idrus during his heydays. Due for retirement next year, he came back to "warm-up" for more competitive scrabble ahead. Now that is good news. The following are the results of the tournament.

Results after game 13
Rank Player            Wins     Mar
---------------------------------
  1  A Ganesh            11    1493
  2  Kong Chock Heng     10      39
  3  Nigel Richards       9     875
  4  Krishna Kumar        9     326
  5  Jocelyn Lor          8     497
  6  Tan Jin Chor         8     489
  7  Bro Michael Wong     8     338
  8  Tengku Asri          8     177
  9  Yeap Gim Sai         8      64
 10  John Lam             7.5   381
 11  Alex Tan             7.5   336
 12  Emy Yap              7     599
 13  Chim Wai Main        7     156
 14  Paulette Yeoh        7     -21
 15  Jackie Cheah         7    -147
 16  Leonard Wong         7    -253
 17  Lim Ed Mund          7    -423
 18  Tan Kee Chiang       6.5   405
 19  Sandy Tsen           6.5   317
 20  Jerry Jang           6     257
 21  Raja Fuadin          6      98
 22  Vannitha Balasingam  6      40
 23  Krishna Iyer         6      21
 24  Andrew Oon           6    -348
 25  Sean Lip Zhao Wen    6    -611
 26  Jeremy Ian           6    -839
 27  Jill Lee             5      94
 28  Long Siken           5    -326
 29  Salehudin A Hadi     5    -413
 30  Warren Lau           5    -538
 31  Mohd Ridzuan         4    -254
 32  Gan Te-shien         4    -393
 33  Wan Jumani Fauzi     4    -605
 34  Wan Fariza Fauzi     4    -618
 35  Usha Rani            3.5  -541
 36  Nageswari            3.5  -672
HIGH GAME: Tan Jin Chor          613
HIGH WORD: REBACKED Tan Jin Chor 212   

Format:
10 games
Individual event with no repeats for the first 8 games.

Eligible participants:
Primary and secondary (Forms 1-5) students.
Limited to 6 students from each school for each category.

Cost:
RM12.00 per student (Inclusive of lunch).
Payment is to be made on the day of registration. All cheques are to be addressed to Pengetua, SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (P.J.)

Scrabble sets and chess clocks:
Participants are to bring their own scrabble sets. A minimum of one scrabble set must be brought for every two participants. Chess clocks will be supplied.

Programme:

     31st March 2001 (Saturday)  1st April 2001 (Sunday)
     8.30 a.m. Registration      8.30 a.m. Games 6 - 8
     9.00 a.m. Games 1 - 2       Lunch
     Lunch                       2.00 p.m. Games 9 - 10
     2.00 p.m. Games 3 - 5       6.00 p.m. Closing ceremony

Enquiries and information:
SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, Jalan 12/13, 46200, Petaling Jaya, Fax: 03-7957 5546, Tel:03-7956 5085
Please call Puan Sim between 1.00p.m.- 4.00p.m.
http://www.geocities.com/simgnsmksas/juniorscrabble.html
e-mail: simgnsmksas@yahoo.com

Report from Puan Sim, teacher extraordinaire and organiser of the event.

Organisers:      The Scrabble Club of SMKSAS
President:       Zain Putra bin Baharuddin
                 Director of the event:  Kenrick Ng
                 Assisted by 20 runners

Sponsors:        Malaysia Scrabble Club
                 Mattel Southeast Asia Pte Ltd
                 MPH Bookstores
                 Campbell Soup Southeast  Asia Pte Ltd
                 A & W Restaurants

Schools:         SMK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, K.L.
                 SMK Victoria, K.L.
                 SMK Taman Petaling, P.J.
                 SMK Damansara Jaya, P.J.
                 SMK Seri Hartamas, K.L.
                 SMK La Salle, P.J.
                 SMK (L) Bukit Bintang, P.J.
                 SMK Subang Utama, P.J.
                 SMK Seafield, P.J.
                 SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, P.J.
                 SMK Taman SEA, P.J.
                 SMK Assunta, P.J.

Number of participants: 74
Prizes:
Under-18 Category
Challenge Trophy – donated by Zain Putra
1st School Team
2nd School Team
3rd School Team
1st – 10th Individual prizes
Highest bingo
Highest game score

Under-15 Category

Challenge Trophy – donated by Kenrick Ng
1st School Team
2nd School Team
3rd School Team
1st – 10th Individual prizes
Highest bingo
Highest game score

Results at a glance

Under-18 Category
 Individual level

   1st  Zain Putra        (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, won 9/10 games)
   2nd  Jayston Wong      (SMK Seafield, won 7/10 games)
   3rd  Jason Lim         (SMK Seafield, won 7/10 games)
   4th  Kwa Wee Chiang    (SMK Damansara Jaya, won 7/10 games)
   5th  Hew Jenn Shyung	  (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad,  won 7/10 games)
   6th  Brian Chin        (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, won 7/10 games)
   7th  Ho Jia Jian       (SMK Damansara Jaya, won 6.5/10 games)
   8th  Liew Eu-Gene      (SMK Damansara Jaya, won 6.5/10 games)
   9th  Vincent Chua      (SMK Victoria, won 6/10 games)
   10th Aaron Khoo        (SMK Seri Hartamas, won 6/10 games)

Highest bingo: ZOMBIES 121 by Hew Jenn Shyung(SMK Sultan Abdul Samad)
Highest games score: 562 by Zain Putra (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad)

Under-18 Category
 Individual level

   1st  Sithambara Kuhan  (SMK Victoria, won 8.5/10 games)
   2nd  Hew Jenn Wei      (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad,  won 8/10 games)
   3rd  Joel Kesavan      (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad,  won 7.5/10 games)
   4th  Matthew Mathanraj (SMK Victoria, won 6.5/10 games)
   5th  Teh Chu Sim       (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, won 6.5/10 games)
   6th  Josephine Lim     (SMK Assunta, 6.5/10 games)
   7th  Cham Jia Xin      (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, won .5/10 games)
   8th  Mohd Zaharuddin   (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, won 6/10 games)
   9th  Lim Sha May       (SMK Seafield, won 6/10 games)
   10th Wong Wai Keat     (SMK (L)Bukit Bintang, won 6/10 games)


   Highest bingo: HAIRDOS 100 points by Hew Jenn Wei (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad)  
   Highest game score: 504 by Joel Kesavan (SMK Sultan Abdul Samad)
 					         
Under-18 Category
School level:
   Champion team:      SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (No. of wins: 28/40)
                       1. Zain Putra
                       2. Hew Jenn Shyung
                       3. Mohan Mahadeva
                       4. Brian Chin

   1st Runner-up team: SMK Seafield (No. of wins: 25/40)
                       1. Jayston Wong
                       2. Jason Lim
                       3. Belinda Jane
                       4. Teoh Pei Kheng
   2nd Runner-up team: SMK Damansara Jaya (No. of wins: 24/40)
                       1. Ho Jia Jian
                       2. Kwa Wee Chiang
                       3. Liew Eu-Gene
                       4. Yong Wai King

Under-15 Category

School level:
   Champion team:      SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (No. of wins: 27/40)
                       1. Mohd Zaharuddin
                       2. Hew Jenn Wei
                       3. Joel Kesavan
                       4. Seow Wei Liang
   1st Runner-up team: SMK Victoria (No. of wins: 25/40)
                       1. Sitambara Kuhan
                       2. Matthew Mathanraj
                       3. Ho Sui Jon
                       4. Benjamin Ong
   2nd Runner-up team: SMK Seafield (No.of wins: 23/40)
                       1. Lim Sha May
                       2. Zachary Tan
                       3. Bryan Chang
                       4. Jerome Wong

Under-18 Category
School Ranking
1. SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (28 wins)
2. SMK Seafield (25 wins)
3. SMK Damansara Jaya (24 wins)
4. SMK Victoria (22.5 wins)
5. SMK Seri Hartamas (19.5 wins)
6. SMK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling (18 wins)
7. SMK Subang Utama (17 wins)
8. SMK (L) Bukit Bintang (17 wins)
9. SMK La Salle (11.5 wins)

Under-15 Category
School Ranking
1. SMK Sultan Abdul Samad (27 wins)
2. SMK Victoria (25 wins)
3. SMK Seafield (23 wins)
4. SMK Subang Utama (18 wins)
5. SMK Taman SEA (17.5 wins)
6. SMK (L) Bukit Bintang (17 wins)
7. SMK Taman Petaling (16 wins)
8. SMK Assunta (13.5 wins)

Report from Kenrick Ng, the tournament director of the event.

SMKSAS's sole hall was crowded with schoolboys and girls who came to participate in the third SMKSAS Inter-school Scrabble tournament on the 31st of March and the 1st of April. The response was overwhelming, with 13 schools participating(5 of them are new to this annual tournament),with over 60 students taking part.

In the under-18 section,Zain was simply unbeatable. He only dropped one game out of the 10 games played.He also deserves special mention for his sportsmanship, when he allowed me to help Hew Jenn Shyung in one of his moves,which proved to be the decider of that neck-to-neck game. Jenn Shyung was lucky to pick up both the blanks, whilst Zain had horrible racks towards the end of that game.Zain lost the game 338-333.The elder participants were amazed by his ability in the game. Zain garnered 9 wins with a spread of 1574. I recall seeing Zain playing AEROBIA against Kwa Wee Chiang.

In the under-15 category, S.Kuhan from Victoria Institution won the individual title after defeating Hew Jenn Wei in the final round, who led the category most of the time. He had to come back from behind, after a bad first day. Nevertheless,he is improving very fast.

The highlight of the tourney was when Mr.Alex Tan, Ms.Emy Yap and myself played friendly games with different schools, according to their final positions.Congratulations to the Under-18 team of SMK Damansara Jaya and the Under-15 team of SMK Seafield,who managed to steal a game each from their opponent.

As for the results, SMK Sultan Abdul Samad were the champions of the Under-18 category, followed by SMK Seafield and SMK Damansara Jaya. Jayston and Jason from SMK Seafield were second and third respectively in the individual section.

SMKSAS were also the victors in the Under-15 section,followed by Victoria Institution and SMK Seafield. Jenn Wei and Joel Kesaven were the 1st and 2nd runner-ups in the individual category.

Finally, thank you to Ms.Emy and Mr.Alex for presenting the prizes to the winners. Also a word of thanks to all our sponsors, Mrs Sim and not forgetting the runners and other officials who helped in so many ways to run the tourney and to make it such a huge success.

Penang YMCA Scrabble Club,
211 Macalister,
Penang

Cost:

Novices: RM25 / RM15 (YMCA Members)
Masters: RM60 / RM50 (YMCA Members)

Format:

15 games under a modified KOTH format. First 12 games without repeat and last 3 games with repeat. The Novice Category will be played over 7 games.

Prizes:

Novice Category

1st RM 100 & Trophy
2nd RM 75 & Trophy
3rd RM 50 & Trophy
4th & 5th Trophy Only
6th-8th Trophy Only

Highest Bingo Score Trophy
Highest Game Score Trophy
Most Number of Bingos Trophy

Masters Category:

1st RM 800 + Trophy + Laura Lam Challenge Trophy
2nd RM 600 + Trophy
3rd RM 400 + Trophy
4th RM 250 + Trophy
5th RM 150 + Trophy
6th-8th Trophy

Best Performance for players ranked below 1500 points:

1st to 3rd Trophies

Registration is at 8.30 am and the games will start at 9.00 am

Detailed rules of the game will be posted on the day of the tournament.

Outstation participants are offered a special rate for accomodation at the venue. For details, contact the organisers.

John Lam: 012-494 3950 (e-mail: kmlam@pc.jaring.my)/Ms Chuah: 04-227 0714

RESULTS

NOVICE:

Top ten finishers (Full details are in the ratings):

 1. Ong Suanne        6  945
 2. Goh Keat Chye     6  589
 3. Foo Jia Ee        5  499
 4. Vanessa Goh       5  454
 5. Narein Manohara   5  236
 6. Rachel Boey       5  -55
 7. Adele Tan         4  208
 8. Kelly Lim         4  177
 9. Jackie Cheah      4  111
10. Muhammad Shafeek  4   86

Top ten finishers (Full details are in the ratings):

 1. A Ganesh         12.5   931
 2. Nigel Richards   12    1322
 3. Cheah Siu Hean   11.5  1004
 4. Jocelyn Lor      10     266
 5. Tan Jin Chor      9     231
 6. Emy Yap           9     159
 7. John Lam          8     516
 8. Paulette Yeoh     8     483
 9. Alex Tan          8     219
10. Chuah sim Swee    8     142

First Day

Game 1 Ganesh beat Nigel 461 - 444
Game 3 Albert beat Cheah 437 - 356
Game 4 Albert beat Ganesh 407 - 383

Albert was undefeated and he lead the field with 4 straight wins before the lunch break.

Game 6 Tan Jin Chor beat Nigel 427 -377
Game 8 Cheah beat Nigel 454 - 438

End of day 1 Ganesh led the field with 7 wins followed by Cheah and Jocelyn with 6 wins each and Nigel with 5 wins only.

Second Day

Ganesh, Cheah and Nigel won all 4 games in the morning. In Game 10 Chim Wai Main was neck to neck with Ganesh and took the lead when he slammed down FANZINE. Ganesh had AEIRRTT on his rack, a good rack which can yield bingos like TARTIER, RETRAIT and RATTIER. The board was closed and none of the anagrams could go down. The only line for an 8-lettered word was through an embedded T. Such was the brilliance of Ganesh that he managed to salvaged a win when he hooked the I to the Q to form QI and RETRAIT to the embedded T to form RETRAITT (RETRAITE, RETRAITS).

Also in Game 10 Cheah Siu Hean was having a tough time fending of the challenge from Ms Chuah Sim Swee. The latter a fast improving player from Penang. However Cheah's extensive working vocabulary pulled him through. In one instance Cheah had ANOTHIN on his rack but the board had no lines for a seven. He played through the first G of VUGGY to form GNATHION. Following that he had SAFFIN? on his rack which he promptly played SAFFIaN (AFFINeS) to win the game narrowly from the hapless Sim Swee.

Prior to the last 3 games in the afternoon the top 4 players were

Ganesh 11 wins and a spread of +1039
Cheah 10 wins and a spread of +904
Nigel 9 wins and a spread of +1105
Jin Chor 8 wins and a spread of +324

Ganesh had a 2 game lead over Nigel, is it a sign that Nigel will not be winning this tournament?

The last 3 games in afternoon was played following the KOTH format with repeat. In Game 13 Cheah beat Ganesh 520 - 357 to take the lead from Ganesh. Each with 11 points. Meanwhile Nigel was lucky to win over Jin Chor when the the latter who had GATTIER which has no valid anagrams missed GNATTIER (ARETTING, TREATING) through a floating N.

Going into Game 14 Cheah and Ganesh have 11 wins, Nigel 10 wins and Jocelyn 9 wins. So Cheah will play Ganesh again and Nigel plays Jocelyn.

In Game 14 Ganesh was ahead of Cheah. He played SKIRTED to stretch his lead further, however he emptied the bag in the process. Cheah immediately replied by playing SPOONIER (POISONER, SNOOPIER) and caught Ganesh with the J,K and W among other tiles. On adding the points to Cheah's score, the final result was 405 - 405 a tie! Nigel beat Jocelyn narrowly 448-446 by 2 points.

So Cheah and Ganesh has 11.5 points each and Nigel 11 wins. For the first time there is a very high probability that Nigel will not win this tournament.

As it was in Game 15 Ganesh beat Cheah 473 - 410 to win the tournament. Nigel beat Jin Chor 512 - 342 to take 2nd place. Cheah was third followed by Jocelyn, Jin Chor, Emy Yap, John Lam and Paulette Yeoh.

And these were the thoughts of Siu Hean during and after the 14th game.

"One of the most exciting games I have ever played."

Ganesh's last rack was PESBYIZ (Presbyterianize the best I can do)

It went something like this.

C: rack of ARIETTE and nowhere to play. TE for 10 on top of QATS to open the board.
G: blocks with MU/MET.
C: rack of MOATIER with nothing to play through. MOI 3m making MU for the A or E hook instead of MO hoping that G will play vertically through the I to the triple instead of blocking.
G: Tries out a block for size but elects for AMIR o1 for the points
C: OTARINE/EMU
G: sKIRTED/TO/ET/DA 1c to get the K on the double letter. "109"
C: with no choice at all and hardly able to believe that an S has become available. SPOONIER c1 (or SNOOPIER) "70. I think it is not enough." At that point I knew G had the Z but not the other heavy letters since tracking was a bit pointless.
G: Places tiles on board. "I think you win." Challenges SPOONIER just in case.
C: "Ganesh! You know perfectly well the anagrams are SNOOPIER and POISONER."
G: Nods.

Hasty addition.

C: "405 all! Tied! I don't think I can stand the stress of a recount."

Frantic checking of the last score while the challenge comes back.
We both peer surreptitiously over at table 2 to see what is happening.

C:(struck by a thought. Nigel is on 11 wins if he wins this one and we are both 11½!)
C: Looks at G.
G:(struck by same thought): Looks at C and holds out hand.
C: shakes G's hand.

The Millennium Cup is the Singapore Scrabble Association's perpetual challenge trophy for its members. It was donated to the SA to mark the start of the new millennium in 2000 (strictly speaking 2001). The stipulations attached to the trophy are:

-that the tournament should be held in January or February every year (usually a quiet period for tournaments);

-that there should be no cash prizes (which solves the perennial problem of getting sponsorship);

-that the tournament is open to members only, although members of the hosting club are allowed to play as a courtesy;

-and that the entry fees should be low. It was $10 in 2000 and 2001, and all the proceeds have been used to cover costs, such as the small memento trophies and the refreshments.

My misses include SaUCEBOX (Tony), EPURATE (Emy - still can't understand why I didn't play it since it flashed through my head), TROILITE (Gana I think or possibly Jiang Pern) from TRIOLET/TORTILE, JoANNES (Tony, too fixated on JENANaS which I decided was not good and played JIN instead thereby blocking Tony's AEQUORIN 2x2 phew), and GERAH for 51 v Dylan (he would have challenged - not looking for it was just plain lazy).

I recall seeing Sarah miss TAMANOIR/ANIMATOR/MONTARIA against Sng.

The date chosen for the same cup for Year 2002 is the weekend of the 19th and 20th January 2002. Since Chinese New Year 2002 is in February there will be no clash.

[Since Siu hean is such a quick player, he gets to watch a lot of games, the following are his observations of some].

Quek's play of CHAO at 1L with four overlaps including RENATURE to CRENATURE was very nice. I think it was 49 points.

Dylan's miss of ADVISEMENT. This was only noticed because Gan was spectating with pocket lexpert.

Tony's DIOLEFIN (which he later extended to the phony DIOLEFINE) and ZONULETS. Tony deliberately not playing OUTSNORE at h7. I did in fact have a D.

SA acquired some new members, a useful side benefit of the Cup being a members-only tournament. We welcome Yeo Kien Hung, Andy Kurnia, Dylan Sharma (who has finished his studies in Australia), Emy Yap (our second foreign member now) and Sng Tze Cheow, and hope they will find membership rewarding.

Tony's comments as follows:-

I played 33 bingos -- Some good ones -- TOLeRATES thru ES, IgNATIA, DIOLEFIN vs Quek
BALLONET vs JP
DEICIdE vs Dylan
HOTELMAN, DECURVEs, FLAVOnES vs Ricky
SERAGLIO vs Gana
DECOKES, ZONULETS vs Cheah
Opponent's -- Ricky's DEWANIS
Cheah's wHITEFLY
JP's REFAShION thru RE
Quek's COEDITEd
Emy's ESQUIrED

Thank you Siu Hean and Tony for your contributions.

Incidentally Tony won it in 2000 (19th and 20th February) by a 4 game margin. The standard of play in this tournament was very good indeed. The youngster Goh Jiang Pern was intense and grumbly but he has a knack for spotting bingos as sharp as a seasoned Scrabbler. My comments about his play is that although he is moaning and groaning, he has something up his sleeves! So watch out! Jiang Pern played REFASHION against Tony in one of the final games. However, he lost that game to Tony because he was stuck with the Q at endgame. He played the phoney MACRoING which I challenged off but with an A that was on the board he managed MACARoNI for the next turn (I kicked myself for not blocking). Soon after, with that same G that he couldn't do anything about earlier, he slammed down GAROTTED. I lost that game by a mere 7 points. Ricky Purnomo is another intense player, full of concentration and is willing to play words that could be phoneys. Never mind that, he won the last game against Cheah Siu Hean to pip Tony for second place. He played a non-challenged word twice to win by a few points. He was terribly apologetic about it after the game. In my game with Dylan, he was unfortunate to hang a K on the triple word line. With my AEGIST? I put down GAwKIEST for 158 points! That got the high score for the tournament. Another niner that I spotted was the one when Tony couldn't play his AEQUORIn against Siu Hean. Tony played EQUATOR with the R on the triple triple line for lack of a spot. Siu Hean calmly laid down STRANGle immediately for 131 points. All in all a very nice weekend for me. I drove in from Johor, very easy now that I know all the toll charges, the use of cash cards, queues and laws of Singapore. With the latest ruling now, Malaysian cars are allowed into Singapore anytime after 7pm on weekdays and anytime during the weekends for only a $S1 toll fee. Siu Hean bought lunch for both days, maybe he knew he was going to win...

Results Division 1

1. Cheah Siu Hean
2. Ricky Purnomo
3. Tony Sim
4. Dylan Sharma
5. Quek Sim Ho
6. Goh Jiang Pern
7. Emy Yap
8. M Ganapathy

Results Division 2

1. Tan Tiam Chai
2. Sarah Law
3. Theng Wai Mun
4. Andy Kurnia
5. Peter Tay
6. Sng Tze Cheow
7. Yeo Kien Hung

A total number of 5 children participated in this event. Although it was just a handful, they had fun learning techniques and scoring moves from the volunteers in the form of Jocelyn Lor, Nigel Richards and Emy Yap. The competition lasted for 3 hours, each child has now gone home with the knowledge of a lot of brand new words, because all of the top 3 prizes were presented with "The Elm Word List". Winner for the event was Jasmine Jade, 12 years old. Now they have fresh new techniques they could use to beat their moms and dads in the game. MPH Bookstores hopes to organise more competitions of such nature in the future.

Lower Lobby,
Park Royal Hotel,
Jalan Sultan Ismail,
KUALA LUMPUR

Cost:

RM40

Eligibility:

Open to all Malaysian citizens only.

Format:

16 games, 8 games each day First 12 games King of the Hill without repeat to decide each grouping of 4 players.

Game 13 & 14 semi-final within each group of 4 with ‘1’ plays ‘4’ and ‘2’ plays ‘3’ with the group finalists decided on spread.

Game 15 & 16 final within each group of 4 where the two semi-final winners play for first and second and the other two players play for third and fourth within the group.

Times:

Saturday:

8:30am Report for registration
9:00am Games 1 to 4
1:00pm Lunch
2:00pm Games 5 to 8
6:00pm End of days play

Sunday:

8:30am Report for registration
9:00am Games 9 to 12
1:00pm Lunch
2:00pm Games 13 to 16
6:00pm Prize giving ceremony

Prizes:

Trophies for the top places.

RESULTS

Final standings after 16 games

1. John Lam
2. Kong Chock Heng
3. Pui Cheng Wui
4. Mohd Ali
5. Cheah Siu Hean
6. Azmil Aziz
7. Tengku Asri
8. Chim Wai Main
9. Emy Yap
10. Kenrick Ng
11. Ong Yeam Chin
12. Leonard Wong
13. Tan Jin Chor
14. Jocelyn Lor
15. Krisna Kumar
16. Jerry Jang
17. Yeap Gim Sai
18. Zain
19. Lim Shalyn
20. Michael Wong
21. Sandy Tsen
22. Ayob
23. Thomas Tan
24. Paulette Yeoh
25. Vannitha Balasingam
26. Zamri Majid
27. Warren Lau
28. Tan Khee Chiang
29. Mohd Salahudin
30. Sithambara Kuhan
31. Jackie Cheah
32. Yow Kah Loon

It seemed a lot of players had put in a lot of work in preparing for this National Championship. As the result tells, John Lam's effort paid off and now is our new National Champion for the Year 2000. Congratulations to you John!

I saw a PRUDENCe play by John Lam towards the end of the second game of the final that clinched the title for him. It was a closed up board at that stage. Kong later set up a hanging E over the triple word for John to ZEDS for another 68 points.

The format of play which is a grouping of 4 players after 12 games gave opportunity for some to sneak into a better group while trapping others in lower groups. Mohd Ali Ismail played well to get into the first group after beating Leonard Wong in a crucial game. Pui was paired off with John Lam in the 2-3 playoff, best of 2 games. John won both the 2 games to qualify for the final with Kong Chock Heng who won against Mohd Ali Ismail in the 1-4 playoff. Chim Wai Main would have been 22nd in this competition in the normal KOTH format but was ranked 8th instead. Ali ended up 4th instead of 9th. John Lam would still be Number 1 in the KOTH format, so that's good. Cheah Siu Hean would have been 3rd instead of 5th and Emy Yap would have been 5th instead of 9th. To see how each player's performance differs from the results compare the ratings output with the tournament results. One thing to learn from this type of format is that it definitely skews the results!

Kenrick Ng did well again in this competition to jump 7 position to 19th in the ranking after this championship. He would be 8th instead of 10th position on the KOTH format. Nevertheless, he is climbing up fast.

The Malaysian Scrabble Association wishes to thank Nigel Richards who ran the tournament with a skeletal staff due to the hols. Let's hope he will run more tournaments in the future.

The organisers tried to keep complete sets of four to avoid there being any byes and fortunately, to one person's delight, they managed it without needing to refuse anyone. In future I appeal that everyone submit their registration with their entry fees before the closing date to ensure their participation. It allows the organisers to prepare well for the competition, print the right amount of stationery and to run the tournament as smoothly as possible (without byes).

There will be an Annual General Meeting on the 3rd of February 2001 at a venue yet to be confirmed. Members of the MSA will be given written notice by e-mail or otherwise.

25 November - 26 November 2000
8.15 am - 6.00 pm
Hong Kah East Community Club
No, 6 Jurong West Avenue 1
Singapore 649520

Registration : 8.15 am - 8.45 am
Commencement : 9.00 am SHARP

PRIZES

Category A - Master (Sat & Sun, 8 Games each day)

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 4th Prize 5th Prize 6th Prize 7th - 8th Prize

: S$450.00 + Trophy : S$350.00 + Trophy : S$250.00 + Trophy : S$150.00 : S$100.00 : S$75.00 : S$50.00 Each

Category B - Intermediate (Sat & Sun, 4 Games / 8 Games, Start @ 1400hrs on 25/11/00)

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 4th Prize 5th Prize 6th - 8th Prize

: S$250.00 + Trophy : S$150.00 + Trophy : S$100.00 + Trophy : S$75.00 : S$50.00 : S$30.00 Each

Category C - Recreational (Sun, 6 Games)

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 4th - 8th Prize

: S$100.00 + Trophy : S$75.00 + Trophy : S$50.00 + Trophy : S$20.00 Each

Category D - Visually Handicapped (Sun, 6 Games)

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize

: S$100.00 + Trophy : S$75.00 + Trophy : S$50.00 + Trophy

NOTE: Prizes are subjected to changes

Eligibility
Category A, B & C - open to Singaporean & Foreigners
Category D - open to Visually Handicapped only

Note: Players ranked under the master are not allowed to play in other categories. Those in the intermediate ranking are allowed to participate in the master category only. Based on current category ranking which are available upon request. Player's names not listed in the master & intermediate sections are deemed to be under the recreational section.

Registration Fee (Inclusive of GST)
Category A : $25.00(Non-Member)/$20.00(Member)
Category B : $20.00(NM)/$15.00(M)
Category C : $8.00(NM)/$5.00(M)
Category D : $8.00

Members of Hong Kah East Community Club Scrabble Club are to present their membership card during payment. Payment by cheque, please issue to Hong Kah East Community Club Management Committee

Closing Date : 20 November 2000

For more information and entry forms please contact:
Hong Kah East Community Club,
No 6 Jurong Ave 1,
Singapore 649520
not later than 20th November 2000.

RESULTS

Results after game 16

Rank Player            Wins     Mar
-----------------------------------
  1  Nigel Richards      15    1662
  2  A Ganesh            11     616
  3  Michael Tang        10     487
  4  John Lam            10     453
  5  Tony Sim            10     444
  6  Thong Liew Kee       9.5   103
  7  Gan Cher Siong       9     386
  8  Simon Harinv.        9     296
  9  Joe Mohd             9     176
 10  Goh Jiang Pern       8.5   274
 11  Chim Wai Main        8.5    -7
 12  Quek Sim Ho          8     185
 13  Eugene Goh           8     -99
 14  Kenrick Ng           8    -390
 15  Emy Yap              8    -398
 16  Alex Tan             8    -422
 17  Dylan Sharma         7     -96
 18  Cheah Siu Hean       7    -106
 19  Sean Jalleh          7    -190
 20  Anthony Chua         7    -315
 21  Sanmi Odelana        7    -617
 22  Jocelyn Lor          6.5  -247
 23  M Ganapathy          6    -276
 24  Tan Tiam Chai        5    -494
 25  Teo Siang Loong      4    -386
 26  Sarah Law            2   -1039
HIGH GAME: Nigel Richards    569
HIGH WORD: Cheah Siu Hean    163
            "GYROLITE"

This tournament saw the predictable happening again. Nigel Richards seemed to just join a tournament and take home the money! That simple for him. His play is breathtaking. The average score for him in this tournament is 471 over 16 games. Only one game below 400 and loads above 500. I wish to appeal to international players to give him a fight!

Ganesh took the last game from Nigel to gain 11 points to put him into second position. Both of them took less than 20 minutes for this game and had a chance to stroll around looking at other peoples' play, particularly Michael Tang whom came out of nowhere to emerge third. Michael has been travelling extensively and had complained of not having enough practice. He did very well indeed, and bought us all a round of drinks later in the night.

Siu Hean on the other hand has other things on his mind. His exams is coming up soon and he ought not be there. He was 18th position after the last game losing games h