2010 - a look back

It's been a good steady year. 

Just as I have wished one year ago. 

Thanks God for that :)

In 2010 I haven't played any live Scrabble tournaments in English but it's bound to change in 2011. 
In March I'm playing in Mannheim and then in June I'll be trying to defend my Polish Champion title in Warsaw or Poznan. 
And then if I win I may go to the Worlds again - assuming it's not in Australia.
Happy New Year to all Readers! 

http://literaxx.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-look-back.html

Xmas again

(c) by http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+scrabble_serenity_prayer_christmas_stocking,485979383

WESPA.ORG

No idea how long it's been around in its refreshed form but I love it anyway!

The www.wespa.org site provides information on latest Scrabble events as well as upcoming tournaments. 

And it now has the best thing of all - the ratings tool (developed by an Australian Edward Okulicz).

Thanks to its archive function it enabled me to learn that Wojtek has played the current World Champion in Melbourn back in 1999. I now also know the current head to head balance between Nigel and Pakorn. 

Just check it out and you won't regret it:

http://www.wespa.org/ratings/index.shtml

Everybody knows

The Scrabble world has welcomed the recent news from Johor Bahru.

Nigel Richards has won the inaugural Tournament of Champions winning 19 out of 27 games with an impressive spread of  +1415 leaving behind David Boys (17 and +518) and Panupol Sujjayakorn (16 and +692).
I guess there's no more guessing about who stands the best chances of becoming the first ever Scrabbler to win the World Championship twice.

Causeway 2010 results

The news from Johor Bahru has just came in that Panupol Sujjayakorn has become the new Causeway Champion A.D. 2010. This proves that the 2003 World Champion is still not to be written off and stands a good chance of repeating his success in the Tournament of the Champions taking place Dec 7th - Dec 9th.
On the contrary the first ever 1991 World Champion Peter Morris has shown that he's no longer a force to be reckoned with - he took the penultimate 49th spot winning only 11 out of 45 games.
It's great to see Mikki Nicholson confirm his magnificent form. After winning the UK National Scrabble Championship just over a month ago he took the 2nd spot in the competition leaving behind the likes of Nigel Richards (5th), David Wiegand (7th) and Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (13th).
And now to the surprises:
1) Mohammed Sulaiman - this year's 2010 Malta Open Scrabble Champion  has finished last with 11 wins and -2564. How on earth did he manage to win in Malta in the first place?
2) Peter Kougi - the guy I have beaten in the 1st round of the last years World Scrabble Championship 2009 in Johor Bahru and last year's 2nd in the Causeway Open division has placed 40th with 18.5 and -583.
3)  Helen Gipson - my Zyzzyva guru finished 38th with 19 and -786. I'm eagerly awaiting any updates on this performance in her blog.


Let's take a deep breath and get ready for the creme de la creme of World Scrabble - the Tournament of the Champions. My bet:
1. Panupol
2. Nigel
3. Pakorn

Causeway 2010

I was hoping to return to Johor Bahru this year but:

1. didn't manage to collect enough cash

2. German Open in Mannheim showed up in the calendar and I decided to go for the cheaper European option.

But maybe I should have gone there after all, because:

1. in Johor Bahru it's +32 degrees Celsius with no wind

2. in Lodz it's -13 degrees Celsius with strong wind

Anyway, I'm happy to see after Round 9 Nigel in the 1st and Brian Cappelletto in the 2nd place. It would be nice to see a SOWPODS tournament being won by an American...

http://www.causewayscrabble.com/stories/frontpage.html