Scrabble Bubble: July 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Clash of the titans vol 7 (Warsaw, July 30th)

Game 7

won by Wojtek by 675-351
Highest combined score: 1026
7 bingos (Wojtek 5, Bartek 2)
http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=9027

We met in Warsaw for the 3rd time and for the second time I managed to win in this city.
This Clash was somewhat special because:
1. I won it by 7-5 despite the negative spread of -348
2. I came back from 2-5 down.
3. I won all of the close games - including one by 2 points.
4. In our 7th game Wojtek scored 675 points landing 5 bingos: VALIDLY, BEFOaMS, GAPIEST, S(O)ROrATE and (F)AWNIEST. With none of the S's or blanks I still managed to play two bingos myself: DIG(E)RATI and (B)RAUNITE (fitting nicely under 5 letters - just see the picture!)
5. In the same 7th game we achieved our highest ever combined score of 1026.

The Clash is once again in my favor: 4-3.
I'm looking forward to our next Clash played in September.

The STATS:

Games won: 7

Games lost: 5

Spread: -384

Average for: 394.2

Average against: 423.2

Blanks: 10/24 = 42%

S's: 25/48 = 52%

Games won:

2 blanks: 3/3 (100%)

1 blank: 4/4(100%)

0 blanks: 0/5 (0%)

Bingos for: 23 (1.92 per game)

Bingos against: 19 (1.58 per game)

7 letter bingos: 10 (43%)

8 letter bingos: 13 (57%)

Bingos with blanks: 8 (35%)

Bingos without blanks: 15 (65%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 4

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 488

Low game: 316

Highest combined score: 1026 (675-351 for Wojtek)

Game 1
337-494

Game 2

472-372

Game 3

386-495

Game 4

316-384

Game 5

335-435

Game 6

416-373

Game 7

351-675

Game 8

488-361

Game 9

377-375

Game 10

444-361

Game 11

380-370

Game 12

428-383

Thursday, July 28, 2011

PBO - the games

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Game 8

Game 9

Game 10

Game 11

Game 12

Game 13

Game 14

Game 15

Game 16

Game 17

Game 18

Game 19

Game 20

Game 21

Game 22

Game 23

Game 24

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

PBO - report

Veni vidi vici - well at least once in Division B :)

I played a great 1st round in the Saturday afternoon, a horrible 2nd round during the night and a mediocre 3rd round in the Sunday morning/afternoon.

All in all I really enjoyed the tournament and am willing to come back next year. (providing it doesn't collide with football Euro 2012 dates)
It's been my first tournament played on English ground and Peterborough is now the place where I won my first (performance) prizemoney abroad.
I'll be coming back to England in October just 5 days before the start of the WSC 2011 in Warsaw. I'll be playing in the Cock of the North tournament in Coventry.

Here are some random facts / thoughts / lessons from the journey to England:

1. Planes of low cost carriers aren't as uncomfortable as I've heard before

2. Polish products in English shops made me feel ambiguous

3. Peterborough has Broadway and Central Park

4. Still haven't figured out if the Brits walk on the left or on the right.

5. I need to learn more words - otherwise I don't stand any chance of avoiding another top 110 standing in the WSC.

Monday, July 25, 2011

PBO - the stats

The STATS:

Games won: 12.5

Games lost: 11.5

Spread: +194

Average for: 404.4

Average against: 392.5

Blanks: 26/48 = 54%

S's: 52/96 = 54%

Games won:

2 blanks: 7/11 (64%)

1 blank: 4/4(100%)

0 blanks: 1/9 (11%)

Bingos for: 43 (1.79 per game)

Bingos against: 31 (1.29 per game)

7 letter bingos: 28 (65%)

8 letter bingos: 15 (35%)

Bingos with blanks: 22 (51%)

Bingos without blanks: 21 (49%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 4

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 535

Low game: 247

Highest combined score: 901

Friday, July 22, 2011

PBO... here I am

What a day it has been:

07:50 woke up

08:40 left home (0km)

09:12 got on train to Kutno

10:45 arrived in Kutno (70km)

12:26 got on train to Poznan (200km)

14:21 arrived in Poznan

14:48 got on bus to the airport

15:15 arrived at the POZnan airport

15:55 got on the plane to London Stansted (1400km)

16:55 arrived in London Stansted

18:21 got on train to Peterborough

19:50 arrived in Peterborough (1500km)

21:00 arrived at the hotel!

1500 km in 12h - all for 24 games of Scrabble!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

62 hours to go... in PBO

I will be playing in Division B of the Peterborough All-Nighter as the highest rated player (in that division of course)

Not bad for a start. There will be two prizes for each round robin so I may stand a chance of winning something. But it's not the wins or prizes I'm after.

I'm looking for something else - something extreme.

I want to play this game so hard that it becomes indifferent to me - to the point where I won't care about winning anymore but only focus on playing well.

If I have internet connection I'll try to keep you up-to-date with my progress on my twitter page: www.twitter.com/euoi79

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/uk-scrabble/message/77697

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Rafal the Invincible

Source: CentreStar Facebook page

Rafal Dominiczak from Poland has won Division B of the English Open 2011 in Coventry. He took the win in the last round by beating David Shenkin by 451-356.

Rafal finished the tournament on 14.5-6.5 and +1367 and took home 700 GBP.

Well done, pal :)

And in Division A Theresa Brousson of Malta claimed the English Open title by beating Nigel Richards in the last round by 506-472 and finishing one point ahead of the 2007 World Scrabble Champion.
Great job, Theresa!

In less than 3 months I'll be in Coventry, too - playing in the Cock of the North tournament finishing just 3 days before the WSC 2011 in Warsaw.

I hope that some world class players will be there, too!

Clash of the titans vol 6 (Lodz, July 16th)

Just like 1,5 months ago we played in the Staromiejski Park in Lodz. The weather was a mix of sunshine and clouds - 20C - probably the best weather we we've been yet to encounter during our Clashes.

Despite getting 59% of the blanks and 48% of the S's this one goes into history as my second worst performance after WSC 2009. It must have been due to my tiredness with work and is a clear sign for me to do something about it.

Just like in Warsaw two weeks ago we were almost unseparatable as regards the wins and losses: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6, 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, 7-8 and 7-9.

The STATS:

Games won: 7

Games lost: 9

Spread: -220

Average for: 390.3

Average against: 404.0

Blanks: 19/32 = 59%

S's: 31/64 = 48%

Games won:

2 blanks: 5/6 (83%)

1 blank: 2/7 (29%)

0 blanks: 0/3 (0%)