Expected: 4.2 wins, Actual: 8 wins. _ Rating change: 1525 to 1637 
SUMMARY:
| Opponent | (my)
| #
| W/L
| My Score | Opp.
Score | Diff. | My Bonuses | His/Her Bonuses |
| Murray | sss | 1 | W | 401 | 323 | +78 | genties(bogus!!) CURLIES | - |
| Selena | ??ss | 2 | W | 480 | 309 | +171 | UNCOATED FARRIER VAGINAE | -
|
| John | ??sss | 3 | W | 470 | 409 | +61 | HANDSOME ROUGHIES NASTIER | LEATHER ANODISE |
| Blue | ?s | 4 | L | 375 | 461 | -114 | DIATRIBE RENTABLE | FATNESS REPAINT |
| Allie | ?ss | 5 | W | 373 | 321 | +52 | SORBENT | SAUNTER |
| Shirley v E | ss | 6 | L | 296 | 381 | -115 | - | BITSIER |
| Karyn | ssss | 7 | W | 446 | 358 | +88 | LARGESSE TEASHOP RATINGS | REPLATED |
| Murray | ss | 8 | L | 329 | 437 | -108 | REFUTING | WEANINGS RELUMES |
| Selena | s | 9 | W | 381 | 351 | +30 | GRANDEES | SECEDES |
| John | ??sss | 10 | W | 477 | 383 | +94 | DRAPERY GRANITES SPLURGED | ELEMENTS |
| Blue | ??ss | 11 | L | 337 | 375 | -38 | DEPARTS ACETINS | - |
| Allie | ss | 12 | L | 295 | 395 | -100 | TREASON | INANEST |
| Shirley v E | ?ssss
| 13 | W | 386 | 381 | +5 | HOSTAGES ENAMORS | VOLPLANE |
| Karyn | ?s | 14 | L | 333 | 535 | -202 | TREATIES | ROARIEST |
Seeded 8th out of 8, and needing only 4.2 wins out of 14, this was an ideal spot. And very nice to be able to visit Christchurch again, after the dreadful battering those folks have had.
The tournament venue, the Woolston Club, was absolutely glorious, and my accommodation at Haka Lodge ($26/night, just 10min walk away) was also very pleasant.
Guess I've been "unwinding" - last tournament I never even kept my scoresheets, let alone posting on a web page. THIS time I DID keep scores, but I decided to play faster - less time for thinking/sweating over turns, AND more time for smokes/breaks between games. Seems it worked wonders!
Game 1 
Murray Rogers (Nelson)
Not one of Murray's better games! We both found out only long after the game that my 3rd turn 'genties' was garbage. I'm a bit rusty, and figured EEGINST was so good it MUST make SOMETHING, and genties seemed the only likely choice. But I was confusing with EEGINRT making GENTIER. Anyway, maybe too early in the day, but he allowed it. Tut tut!
A few turns later his TWS ReVENTE(D) would have drawn him level. I could see it also made (at least) VENTuRE(D) but I still felt a challenge was in order. Yay! off came his bonus - and the blank was finally played 8 turns later, for a paltry 16 at the end of his bonusless game.
He later said he'd had FeSTERE(D) the turn before his failed try, but hadn't seen it till after he'd dumped the FE somewhere.
Game 2 Selena Chan (Christchurch)
I challenged off her first-turn speculative 'unbow', then later also 'vutties' that she'd had a vague idea might be ok. Meanwhile I got good tiles, and had a good run. :)
Game 3 John Baird (Christchurch)
Memorable!! He seemed to start with 'leath' that I'd never heard of, and didn't like. But then he continued, to add ER too. Well, I thought how can you be a LEATHER if you can't even leath ?! But fortunately sanity prevailed and I begrudgingly allowed his 72, while I swapped 2. Oh dear, did he get lucky ? - drew ANODISE straight from the bag, for a 149-nil handy lead. Arghhhh
But, I hadn't swapped just to fill in time - I came up with HANDSoM(E) which left H between 2 TWSs, but I figured still a bonus behind I'd be needing an open board. I then drew EGIORSU, which I figured would go beautifully thru that H, but hey, forget it - it wouldn't stay free.
Well, BLOW ME DOWN - what's he do next? - shoves down bonus #3 - GRAPIER, again just straight out of the bag! But really good for me, as he'd had to forgo the big H spot to get it - and also he'd had to hook it onto ANODISE - so I challenged off 'anodiser', THEN played my triple-triple for 167 - a lead of about 90 - and never looked back.
John later said a quiet GRAP(H) for 42 would have been infinitely better for him! LOL.
Game 4 
Blue Thorogood (Christchurch)
After 9 turns I still led by 5, but that's when my good tiles dried up, and he powered on to comfortably end 86 ahead.
Game 5 Allie Quinn (Whangarei)
Great to have someone from the far north join us - and especially Allie who I last played at the Masters around 1990-ish.
A low-scoring and fairly uneventful game, but I was always reasonably ahead.
Game 6 Shirley van Essen (Christchurch)
Disaster! Fairly level midgame and my rack was building well toward a bonus. I dumped a surplus S with SNAG for 26, then drew Q, making EIQRSST. Durn, but Q(A)TS left a promising EIRS, and THAT'S when I accidentally overdrew. Shirley picked 2 tiles from my rack, and yes, one of them was my last S (after I'd just carefully 'unloaded' 2 surplus ones!).
Game, set, match. :-( (And only game of tournament where I got NO bonuses. BooHoo)
Game 7 Karyn McDonald (Dunedin)
She bonused on Turn 1, but I did likewise on 3 AND 4 (including the only word that AEHOPST makes, which survived her challenge). A while later I played HAA - she wrote score down, I drew new tiles, then the penny dropped, and she said Challenge. I protested, and adjudicators sided with her - but they've since apologised, they got it WRONG. I think the rule says basically as soon as you've even STARTED to write opponent's score down you've waived your right to challenge.
Oh well, can't be helped. We carried and and she gradually got the upper hand, but she carelessly(?) left a huge bonus hook open, so at the last minute I obliged with RATINGS, catching her with CEFITY? for an extra 28 points (and surely a deserved win! lol)
So, Day 1 ended, and I had 5 wins, already over my total expectancy of 4.2 wins - roll on Sunday!
Game 8 Murray
Well, I gotta hand it to him - he caught me a beaut! I had an early bonus, then was glad to find the board becoming "bonus unfriendly". But he managed an unlikely WEANiN(G)S, which survived the challenge, then next turn he hooked RELUMEs onto the front of ECCO that he'd played earlier. I could barely believe it - SECCO!?? - and as bad or worse, RELUMES!??
I probably HAD known or seen S-ECCO once, but completely forgotten, and RELUMES I'm sure I'd never heard of (nor of plain 'lume'!) - so I jolly well challenged both. Hmmm, 10 more points for Murray, and game over.
The worst part is that I had BANGERS on my rack when he'd played ECCO, but I figured at that time there was no place.
He said afterward that he suspected I may not know S-ECCO (or R-ECCO) which is why he set that up. He wuz right!
Game 9 Selena
Main point of interest was that I got 1 S, Selena got 3S's and both blanks - but - I got far 'luckier' tiles than she did! About halfway thru I realised there were only 3 E's to come, AND (hell!) there were SEVEN I's to come. Well, turns out from there on she got 5 of those horrible I's, and NO more E's - while I enjoyed a pleasant spread of 3 E's and a couple of I's. Those E's were well spent too: CHARGE-53, GRANDE(E)S-61, NEARLY-35. A comfortable win in the end, but understandably frustrating for Selena.
Game 10 John
He should be shot! Halfway thru, trailing by about a bonus, he played EL(E)MENTS along the bottom row. As he played it I saw it was actually EL(E)EMNTS and was ready to strike, but HE noticed too, just in time, and corrected it. Fine ... no problem... but only much later in the game, during some casual reflection, I had to ask - WHY had he not played it as (E)LEMENTS to reach across from one TWS to the other ? That would have scored 83 instead of the 63 he actually got. (He can't answer that - just one of those 'blind' moments, I guess)
Later I was annoyed to find bLUDGER on my rack, but no places for 7's, only 8's. But then I was pleased to hit upon an 80-pointer using those tiles down from a free S, and that sealed the game.
Game 11 Blue
My 2nd ignominious "get sucked in" experience of the tournament. On turn 3 Blue played KORUN for 30, just one off the bottom row. Here I was sitting with ADPST?? (!) - which drove me half-crazy trying to find even one bonus, but I finally found DePArTS. But - would KORUN take an S ? I'd never heard of KORUN in my life, and I was quite doubtful that Blue would play it there if it did. But hey, had to take the gamble. Ulp, lost it. THEN Blue stuck something along there, making KORUN-A. Oh, nooooooooo - sure I know Koruna, Czech coins, from my stamp-collecting days! DOH - my departs would have fitted perfectly if only I'd placed it "right".
Game over.
Game 12 Allie
Her turn #2 was WILTeRs. I challenged. Off it came - but still depressing knowing she had 2 blanks! I then tried to make the board as prickly as possible for bonuses, and was delighted to actually hold her off for SIX turns, until finally INanEST came out. But during that time I'd swapped 3 times, and my other 5 turns were all under 20, so I was 100 behind. But MY bonus had finally arrived, sadly a low-scoring one, so I was almost back in the game. THEN I found QUAINT, with Q on a DLS and whole word doubled - for 50. But I noticed QUAINT could ALSO go elsewhere, as a TWS! A count showed this was 48, but I figured better to block the TWS spot rather than the other less dramatic place, so I did (vaguely noting as I did that if ever I got an LY I could extend it to the NEXT TWS for a zillion!)
Oh, what a BUFFOON - as shown when Allie whipped ER onto the end of my play (even before the ink was dry) for 51. If I hadn't made that blunder I still might well have lost, but I hate to just GIVE games away.
Game 13 Shirley v.E
4 S's and a blank helped me to an early lead, then she came up with VOLP(L)ANE. "WHAT?" I thought. What kind of kinky word is THAT supposed to be. Off to the challenge table like a shot - and, oops, back again as if I'd BEEN shot. I asked her later - I think she said that's a "normal" word (i.e. not a kooky "Scrabble" word as such). Well, I can only say her 'normal' aint the same as MY 'normal'.
Anyway, game went down to the wire, with the difference in single figures for the last few turns. Near the end I had EIINT, and I figured she KNEW I had those, as she (like most in A-Grade) tile tracks. She had 4 tiles, but I had no idea what they were (though not S, blank, QZXJ). Scarey! ..... I still had plenty of time, and considered a quick tile count, but hey, couldn't be bothered.... so I just did my best with what *I* had, and that actually turned out sufficient.
Game 14 Karyn
She began with RALLIES. Well, often one can overcome an early bonus, but I guess MORE often one can't. I didn't. Never got a look in. IF I'd settled for "losing by a small margin" I might have almost finished the tournament in 2nd place, on spread, but I deliberately ignore 'spread' - WINS are all I'm ever after, and this sure wasn't one!
So, happy with my 8 wins - interestingly none against Blue (neither did anyone ELSE against him either), 2 each against Selena and John (who finished in the bottom 2 spots), and split 1-1 with the other 4 players.
CHALLENGES and BOGUSes
Upper case = valid words, lower case = crookies
MY words challenged: ORFS REDUIT TEASHOP BORONS - ork yoda drut haa refutings koruns unciates owf teniates vaner*
OPPONENTS' words challenged by me: URES REO ENES BITSIER* REPLATED WEANINGS SECCO RELUMES BOHO VOLPLANE GRAPIER* ROARIEST* - revented unbow vutties anodiser wilters
MY boguses NOT challenged: genties poofed
OPPONENTS' boguses NOT challenged: duat
* shows words/challenges made under special circumstances, e.g. desperation!
| Christchurch * 29-30 October, 2011 |
| . | NAME | CLUB | WINS | Spread | AVE | Bonuses | New NZ Rating
| Rating Change |
| 1 | BLUE Thorogood | CHC | 14 | 1677 | 469 | 33 | 1976 | +46 |
| 2 | ALLIE Quinn | WHA | 8 | 194 | 391 | 21 | 1724 | -11 |
| 3 | IAN Patterson | DUN | 8 | -40 | 384 | 21(25!) | 1637 | +112 |
| 4 | MURRAY Rogers | NEL | 7 | -199 | 374 | 10 | 1693 | -31 |
| 5 | SHIRLEY van Essen | CHC | 6 | -321 | 373 | 15 | 1620 | -6 |
| 6 | KARYN McDonald | DUN | 5 | -129 | 395 | 18 | 1553 | +18 |
| 7 | JOHN Baird | CHC | 5 | -435 | 362 | 15 | 1626 | -69 |
| 8 | SELENA Chan | CHC | 3 | -747 | 366 | 15 | 1511 | -59
|
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