The Mind Sports Day had Scrabble players and Weiqi players competing in the same venue and it was interesting to see how the two different tournaments were conducted! Scrabble announcements were made in English while those from Weiqi were made in Mandarin. The Weiqi judges also had big name tags written in Chinese clearly pinned on their clothes to specify their role and they looked quite cool!
Game 1: vs Eugene
Eugene is from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. I have beaten him twice before, so I thought it will be an easy game but it turned out to be a very close game. Both of us opened with a bingo and added the second bingo during the game. I caught his BDTV in the end for 20 points when I finished first but it was not enough to beat him.
New words learnt: -
My Bingos: RUINATES(61), METRICS(67) Opp Bingos: LEOTARD(68), ERASION(84)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: ANNOUCED*, UI*(10)
My High Moves: QADI(34), FAT(35), CRAZE(32) Opp High Moves: HELP(37), YOURS(37), VEX(32), MOP(31)
L 405-416, -11. 0W 1L (Accum spread -11).
Game 2: vs Zainudin
Zainudin is from Ngee Ann Poly. He had two blanks at the start but phoneyed with SPOUNGE* that was challenged off and this allowed me to score with CREEK(32). He bingoed later but I was able to score consistently to beat him.
New words learnt: -
My Bingos: ENDITES(83) Opp Bingos: SPONGED(83)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: SPOUNGE*, GRAIT*(24), HAI*
My High Moves: CREEK(32), AX(52), QUIST(53), ERA(31) Opp High Moves: ZO(35), WOED(32)
W 469-341, +128. 1W 1L (Accum spread +117).
Game 3: vs Winston
Winston is from Ngee Ann Poly. I had a few places to put my bingo TESTERS but chose a place that allowed my opponent to score big with EXITS(50) in his next move. Later, I also played a move that allowed him to score big with ZEE(49). Maybe I could have won if I didn't make these two mistakes.
New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TESTERS(76) Opp Bingos: SOGGIER(74)
My Phoneys: BOYR*, UNSURGE* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: BROWN(32) Opp High Moves: EXITS(58), ZEE(49)
L 335-402, -67. 1W 2L (Accum spread +50).
Game 4: vs Catherine
Catherine is from HDB. I had one bingo and she had none but she scored very consistently to win.
New words learnt: -
My Bingos: UGLIEST(69) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: LUN* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: WYES(38), ABLER(33) Opp High Moves: TAX(33), DENS(34), JEW(38), GAILS(30)
L 326-361, -35. 1W 3L (Accum spread +15).
Game 5: vs Linda
Linda is from Ngee Ann Poly. She bingoed late in the game to beat me as I did not close up the board earlier on when I was leading.
New words learnt:
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: SCOWLER(104)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: AUN*
My High Moves: ZEE(40) Opp High Moves: -
L 296-383, -87. 1W 4L (Accum spread -72).
Game 6: vs Zainudin
Zainudin is from Ngee Ann Poly. None of us had a bingo but I was able to score more consistently to win.
New words learnt:
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: THYE*
My High Moves: SHONE(41), ADS(35), STARK(34) Opp High Moves: -
W 338-263, +75. 2W 4L (Accum spread +3).
Game 7: vs Chew Chuah
Chew Chuah is my colleague and he has already won the tournament by winning all his games in the previous rounds. Our scores were very close until he decided to play CURVE with the E next to the TWS lane and I had ADENUW? on my rack. I saw UNsAWED but was not sure of it and played DAWN instead for 44 points instead. Later, I bingoed with NUTRIENT(74) and maintained my lead to win.
New words learnt: MOUE
My Bingos: NUTRIENT(74) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: SLIB*
My High Moves: PEW(30), DAWN(44), LOVER(32), FAXED(46) Opp High Moves: MOUE(33), ZOO(32), GUESTS(330, YEA(30)
W 424-348, +76. 3W 4L (Accum spread +79).
Finished the tournament with 3 wins and 7th position. Thought I could have done much better but it was fun playing with old friends. Hope to see more new players in the upcoming Nationals!
