1 Peter Kougi (AUS) 0
W: 419:401
A close game with 2 bingos each - TRiUNES (72) and RE(F)USION (72) for me and TRIGGE(R)S (66) and ETERNAL (66) for Peter. I got a Q pretty late in the game and was considering exchanging it but instead kept it and surprizingly this tactics paid off. I managed a nice two move outplay LENSE - opening a second place for the QI and then played out the QI to get 7 points from Peter and win by 18 points. Lucky finish and a great start of the WSC for me :)
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2 Geoff Thevenot (USA) 1907
L: 410:498
Could I have won this game? No.
11 moves in all. My weakest move worth 33 points. Only one bingo - NITROSO (72) for me, 3 bingos - BREVETS (113), LEGATOR (78) and ADoPTI(O)n (72) for Geoff. A good game for me - yet lost by 88 points.
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3 Michael Tang (Malaysia) 1697
L: 337:443
Another unwinnable game. This time with Michael Tang - the tournament organiser extending his lead comfortably from the first move. 3 bingos for Michael: EXOR(C)ISE (69), AB(U)TiLON (72) and sETTLOR (67). 1 bingo for me: AU(D)IENTS (60). I missed VINEWS down from A8 and ADZE right from O15 but they wouldn't have done the trick anyway...
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4 Hubert Wee (SIN) 1972
L: 390:543
A close game until the middle when I played a phoney *ANEURINE which quickly got challenged off the board. 4 bingos for Hubert: FrACTAL (70), EPI(D)OTIC (79), (I)NsOULED (77) and URBANER (83). I got two: WURLIES (78) and RETINES (70). After quackling the game it turned out I missed a bingo WHE(R)RIES (which I didn't know), a strong double-double RE(C)HEWS and having EEHIMNU on the rack there was an open L on the board ready for HE(L)ENIUM (which I didn't know).
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5 Theresa Brousson (MAL) 1950
L: 356:468
First game with some mistakes for me. Theresa went into the lead on move 1 with FLoKATI (73) followed by DOM(I)NION (77) on move 2. Having ADEEJUR on the rack I missed easy A(D)JURE for 66. Later I let Theresa off with the phoney *BORTING. Near the end holding SOUTIES on the rack with an open T on the board I didn't take enough time to consider the possibilities. Maybe I could have come up wth TOUSIES(T) for 77 then. To sum up: 3 mistakes in one game against a high-rated oponent is 3 mistakes too many.
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6 Marc Roddis (SWE) 0
W: 457:399
The first game I was confident I could win was with a nice guy from Sweden - Marc. My first move ABALONE (79) meant I went into the lead and never gave it up. On move 4 I played JAUNT(I)eS (101). Two bingos were enough to score 450+ points and win by 58.
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7 Leslie Charles (Trinidad and Tobago) 1764
L: 438:498
A decent game for me yet again with a few unforced errors. One of them was playing M(E)AT (22) short of 3LS immediately countered by Leslie with GIRLY for 52 points. Also playing PENTICe (80) instead of NePOTIC (100) and opening double-double line for Leslie who played DESTInE (85) there. Those mistakes made me lose the game despite my playing 3 bingos: PENTICe (80), BOATELS (72) and DOOLIES (73) and scoring heavily with QUINOA (53). Leslie's DESTInE (85), EREM(I)TIC (76) and SERENED (81) plus three other 50-like moves made him win the the game by 60 points. Leslie remembered playing Wojtek in 2007's WSC in Mumbai and asked me to greet him, which I do :)
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8 Allen Oyende (Kenya) 1872
W: 457:441
It was a lucky game against a better opponent. I challenged his bingos GO(O)DTIME (85) and GUnWALES (67) and yet managed to win thanks to my bingo RESOLES (71), my only nine-timer in this WSC - gRE(E)NIER (118) and the Q which my opponent drew as the last letter from the bag and couldn't play out. Every dog has his day. My 1st WSC day started and ended with a win. Overall record: 3-5 with a spread of -417 in 88th place.
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9 Ayorinde Saidu (Nigeria) 2003
L: 374:417
I slept very well this night, I got up at 7:00 and went outside the hotel for the first time since coming to Malaysia. I made some nice photos of the Johor Strait and the Causeway and tried to relax. When I came back to the hotel I took a shower and went downstairs to start the second day in high spirits. My opponent was rated 2003 but I didn't care. I got nice racks which helped me play rE(T)ICULE (62) and ADO(r)ABLE (62) on two consecutive moves. After that I got EMNOSTU on the rack and figured out UNSMOTE was a valid word. Yet it was not to be. Instead of playing it by extending RETICULE with an S my mind told me *TEM(E)NOUS would win this game by closing the board completely. Off it went (actually TEMEROUS is the right spelling), on came sTON(E)RAG (68) from my opponent blocking this space and me kicking myself for losing a won game. Yet I fought back to tie the game at 365 each on move 12 by playing ESLOINS (65). I emptied the bag and found myself with DRFTQ on the rack. I ate the Q and lost by 40 points. That's Scrabble.
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TEMEROUS = rash (acting without forethought) eg. "Bartosz's temerous play of *TEMENOUS cost him the 9th game
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10 Waseem Khatri (Pakistan) 1694
L: 321:553
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11 Dielle Saldanha (Canada) 1832
L: 309:417
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12 Suanne Ong (Malaysia) 2007
L: 398:512
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13 Rodney Judd (Pakistan) 1787
L: 336:400
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14 Anthony Gomes (Qatar) 1313
L: 370:436
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15 Cecil Fernandes (Oman) 1544
W: 373:362
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16 Ralph Lobo (United Arab Emirates) 1868
W: 459:357
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17 Vannitha Balasingam (Malaysia) 1893
L: 432:446
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18 Ricky Gonzalez (Saudi Arabia) 0
L: 349:455
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19 Wardomo Geamsakul (Japan) 1397
W: 415:309
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20 Patrick Mulemena Mpundu (Zambia) 0
L: 390:445
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21 Rohaina Tanveer (Kuwait) 1575
L: 381:425
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22 Michael Quao (Ghana) 1969
W:510:438
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23 Charnrit Khongthanarat (Thailand) 1902
L: 377:552
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24 Chris Abordo (Philippines) 1790
L: 326:413
