Clash of the titans vol 10 (Łódź, June 9th)

I met with Wojtek for the 10th Clash of the Titans in the place where the series had started 14 months ago - at the Park Źródliska in Łódź.
Despite a very cloudy sky in the beginning there was no rain and the warm weather made the play a Saturday afternoon joy.
This time we were accompanied by a curious spider resting on the edge of the board, a hungry squirrel looking for treats, two pigeons making noise high up in the tree and countless breeds of dogs leading their masters to the walk. At one of the other tables sat a group of friends who noisily discussed some interesting philosophical issues like the end of the world etc. But we didn't care and so we played, and we played...
In 7,5 hours without any breaks we squeezed in 15 games.
I'm happy with my overall performance, though (as usually) not with the final score. Despite getting half of the blanks and the S's and playing more bingos than Wojtek, I still lost the Clash by 6-9.
I will remember this match by some nice words I have played:
SHAIRNS directly followed by TWINKLE(S), DRA(I)SINE, FA(L)LOUTS, ZEoLITE and PA(T)TREss - a new word added in 2012.
And... most notably - both of us had played a word EURO - a good occasion to commemorate the current football event :)

I hope to do better next time we meet in Warsaw or Berlin (during the German National Championship on 7-8 July 2012).

 
The STATS:

Games won: 6

Games lost: 9

Spread: -229

Average for: 401.7

Average against: 417.0

Blanks: 16/30 = 53%

S's: 29/60 = 48%

Games won:

2 blanks: 3/4 (75%)

1 blank: 3/8 (38%)

0 blanks: 0/3 (0%)

Bingos for: 28 (1.87 per game)

Bingos against: 22 (1.47 per game)

7 letter bingos: 16 (57%)

8 letter bingos: 12 (43%)

Bingos with blanks: 14 (50%)

Bingos without blanks: 14 (50%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 4

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 496

Low game: 320

Highest combined score: 901 (456-445 for me)

Clash of the titans vol 8 (Lodz, September 24th)

Our ultimate Clash of the Titans played before the WSC 2011 was special in the fact that the weather was very sunny and warm. 

Just like during our first meeting we played most of our games in the Źródliska Park in Łódź in a very peacful and quiet setting disturbed only occasionally by old men's quarrels, children's shouts, birds' singing, squirrels' climbing up and down the trees and wedding couples taking photos at the chess tables.

The last four games were played in Sycyliana Pizzeria - one of its specialties was a pizza called Good Father.

Very similarily to our last Clash Wojtek managed to play another brilliant game scoring 600+ points with me playing 400+ which resulted in our best combined score ever of 1045. Just like the last time Wojtek played 5 bingos and I only 2. Final score: 639:406.
http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=9494

With exception of the above and maybe a few other games the Clash was tight. I won the first game, Wojtek won the next five, then I won another four and the score was tied at 5-5. In the 11th game I got blown off the earth surface by 224-538 in my lowest scoring game ever.

And the last game went to the wire. In a brilliant and lucky endgame Wojtek outscored me in his last move by 9 points.

And so Clash no 8 went to Wojtek.

The Clash of the Titans thus ended tied at 4-4.

The STATS:

Games won: 5

Games lost: 7

Spread: -445

Average for: 398.2

Average against: 435.3

Blanks: 11/24 = 46%

S's: 22/48 = 46%

Games won:

2 blanks: 1/1 (100%)

1 blank: 4/10 (40%)

0 blanks: 0/1 (0%)

Bingos for: 22 (1.83 per game)

Bingos against: 21 (1.75 per game)

7 letter bingos: 12 (55%)

8 letter bingos: 10 (45%)

Bingos with blanks: 9 (41%)

Bingos without blanks: 13 (59%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 3

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 513

Low game: 224

Highest combined score: 1045 (639-406 for Wojtek)

 Game 1 395-377

Game 2 379-386

Game 3 352-418

Game 4 384-485

Game 5 389-401

Game 6 406-639

Game 7 413-428

Game 8 423-366

Game 9 393-379

Game 10 498-375

Game 11 224-538

Game 12 422-431

the final clashdown

6 months after our first encounter and 18 days before the start of the World Scrabble Championship 2011 in Warsaw I meet with Wojtek for the final 8th Clash of the Titans. It's 4-3 for me, so today's clash will decide if it's a draw or my win.

The venue is still not known as the weather forecast predicts the maximal temperature of 17 C and we're planning to play indoors.

For the first time I'll be testing the tweeting capabilities of my new mobile phone by reporting live scores and game photos through twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/euoi79

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%)

Bingos for: 26 (1.63 per game)

Bingos against: 25 (1.56 per game)

7 letter bingos: 12 (46%)

8 letter bingos: 14 (54%)

Bingos with blanks: 14 (54%)

Bingos without blanks: 12 (46%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 3

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 497

Low game: 285

Highest combined score: 982

Game 1 323-395

Game 2 492-385

Game 3 382-411 

Game 4 428-394

Game 5 379-456 

Game 6 445-340 

Game 7 285-358 

Game 8 410-382 

Game 9 400-375 

 

Game 10 343-433

Game 11 285-477 

Game 12 497-325 

  


















Game 13 427-555 

Game 14 376-384

Game 15 430-401 

Game 16 342-393 

 

Clash no 6

Date: 16 July 2011

Time: 10:00AM-19:00PM

Location: Lodz

Clash of the titans vol 3 (Lodz, May 28th)

Wojtek and I met again in Lodz today. We played 15 games in total. 12 of them were played outdoors in the Park Staromiejski. Two games were played in Pierrogeria (where we drank tea) and one in Nefretete House (where we ate *shawarma).

Staromiejski Park has 20 chess tables and its atmosphere made me think of Washington Square Park. There were chess and card players playing for money and drinking booze. The local players watched some of our games and were asking us about the rules. One of the permanent residents of the park assured us this game has never been played in this park before.

It was something special, but the best thing of all is that I finally won the battle - by 8-7.

In two weeks' time it's the Polish Championship and I'm confident I can do well. Providing I get the right tiles, of course :)
  

The STATS: 

Games won: 8 

Games lost: 7 

Spread: +105 

Average for: 434.9 

Average against: 427.93

Blanks: 16/30 = 53%

S's: 26/60 = 43%

Games won:

2 blanks: 4/5 (80%)

1 blank: 3/6 (50%)

0 blanks: 1/4 (25%)

Bingos for: 31 (2.07 per game)

Bingos against: 28 (1.87 per game)

7 letter bingos: 17 (55%)

8 letter bingos: 14 (45%)

Bingos with blanks: 13 (42%)

Bingos without blanks: 18 (58%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 5

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 0

High game: 568

Low game: 335

Highest combined score: 998 (W: 507-491)

Game 1
L: 335-521

Game 2
L: 339-443

Game 3

L: 364-365

 Game 4
W: 555-353

Game 5
L: 369-522

Game 6

W: 449-386

Game 7

W: 449-411

Game 8

W: 465-432

Game 9

L: 404-506

Game 10

L: 420-487

  

Game 11

W: 507-491

 

Game 12

W: 468-379

Game 13
W: 568-403

 

Game 14

L: 373-426

Game 15
W: 459-294

tomorrow..

... in Lodz - the last Clash of the Titans before the Polish Championship. 

Stay tuned...

Clash of the titans vol 1 (Lodz, Apr 25th)

Game1

L: 367-511

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=8568

Game 2

L: 410-450

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=8569

Game 3

W: 392-369

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=8570

Game 4

L: 382-460

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=8571


[no photo]

Game 5

L: 420-467

[no photo]

Game 6

L: 380-43

[no photo]

Game 7

W: 485-354

I met with Wojtek today and we played 7 games.
First 4 games were played outdoors (on a chess table) in the Zrodliska I park . The last 3 games were played in Cafe Syrena in 66 Piotrkowska Street, Lodz.

Games won: 2

Games lost: 5

Spread: -243

Average for: 405.14

Average against: 439.86

Blanks: 4/14 = 29% (!)

S's: 14/28 = 50%

Games won:

2 blanks: 1/1 (100%)

1 blank: 0/2 (0%)

0 blanks: 1/4 (25%)

Bingos for: 13 (1.86 per game)

Bingos against: 15 (2.14 per game)

7 letter bingos: 5 (39%)

8 letter bingos: 8 (61%)

Bingos with blanks: 3 (23%)

Bingos without blanks: 10 (77%)

Highest no of bingos in a game: 3

Lowest no of bingos in a game: 1

High game: 485

Low game: 367

Highest combined score: 887

My bingos (13):

TONKERS (82)
SQuARER (107)
UN(T)IDIER (65)
LAR(D)IEST (70)
SANTERO (64)
INERTIA (64)
WRA(S)TING (79)
COURAnT (80) 
DETAILE(D) (61)
CORNI(E)ST (78)
ENA(T)IONS (59)
*CAMEDUL(E) (92)
PleSS(O)RS (63) - my most wasteful bingo ever - 3 S's and 2 blanks sold for 58+5 points...

Opponent bingos (15):

ATTA(C)heD (131) - a triple-triple right in time to start the battle

ROUSTED (72)

ItERANT (80)

STODGIE(R) (74)

BETWEEN (83)

HAZElN(U)t (70)

OTARINE (61)

SQuARES (75)
TRUANTs (65)

TRANNIE (73)

REPEATS (72)
BANTeR(E)D (62)

AREOLAS (77)

AVOWER(S) (84)

FEEDiNG (75)

Happy Easter!

The current Polish champion and current Polish vice-champion are meeting tomorrow in a park in Lodz. Stay tuned for more...

The words are here...

Went to the Botanical Garden in Lodz today, and was amazed by the number of plants growing there, which I only knew by their name from studying words for Scrabble.

Here are some of the words I have literally come accross:

HOSTA, CAREX, ACONITE, AUBRIETA, SPIRAEA, ERIGERON, ASTILBE, ACANTHUS, WOODSIA, AJUGA, GEUM and most notably this one:

The King is dead, long live Scrabble

Polish President inearthed, mourning is finished.
Now let's get back to the usual stuff.

Next weekend there's the official Scrabble tournament in Lodz. I'll be taking part in it. Additionally on Friday there is the regular club tournament. This means 18 games of Polish Scrabble during 3 days. Should be fun :)

Scrabble in Boat (2)

...and so I hurried to the Scrabble club directly after work (yes I sometimes have to work on Sundays...).
It all started at 15:00. 6 games a 20 minutes with free challenge.
And it went like this:

Game 1 Grzegorz
W:365-362
Grzegorz bingoed twice, I only once but still managed to squeeze the win.

Game 2 Urszula
L: 305-311
One funny situation in that game -I was facing DEEIRS? on my rack and what came to my mind was DRESIE and I was struggling to find a valid bingo. After the game i found out i could have played aDRESIE and was devastated by the obviousness of that bingo. In the endgame I panicked seeing the clock hand reaching twelve and disregarding the small hand showing me the last minute. I lost with a blank on the rack...

Game 3 Grazyna
W: 364-411
Oh, I was lucky in this game. Grazyna told me she had bingos all the way through and ended plying only one with me always blocking the right spots for her :) What I found especially exciting was her playing ODYMANI on the double-double for 97 points when I stroke back with UBOJAMI with the A extending her bingo into ODYMANIA (whatever that means) for 94 points.

Game 4 Maciej
L: 274-385
No bingos in that game for me. When I tried to play DERBACh it got challenged off because I hooked his phoney *TENT to *TENTA...

Game 5 Jarek
L: 327-390
A nice bingo for me from Z to the TWS - (Z)AMGLONO for 92 with another possibilty to play GALONOM. In the end my opponent bingoed and I found myself with an awkward rack, having to exchange, then he closed the board and it was game over.

Game 6 Adam
L: 355-368
Could have gone either way. Adam went into the lead on the first move and I was chasing him all the way. I caught him in the middle by playing (C)IEŃCIEż for 103. This word is so awkward nobody would ever use it, Adam challenged it but it stayed on the board. When I look back on it, it was a miracle I found it - you just need to imagine facing CEEIIŃ? on the rack and making 100+ points of it. On the last 4 moves of the game I was mirroring Adam's score with 18 and 36 trailing by 1 point. He played out with 10 points got 2 points from we and won by 13. I wasn't a bit sad...

I'm quite happy with my performance. I beat one strong player again and spotted some nice bingos like SZWALN(I)E meaning LATHES which is a word you immediately associate in Poland with LODZ as this city used to be the main textile production centre in Poland.

More about Łódź:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81%C3%B3d%C5%BA

My bingos:
GnIDZIE, SEdANIE, SZWALN(I)E, UBOJAMI, (Z)AMGLONO, (C)IEŃCIEż

So only 1 bingo / game
50% blanks

Scrabble can be fun!

Yes, that's true! If you play it in your native language in the club with no need to prove anything to anyone - especially yourself. If you don't care about winning or losing, about the ratings, spreads, high scores, numbers of bingos etc. You play Scrabble for fun and that's what all games should be about.

I've just come back from the Scrabble club. I have played my first ever club tournament and I feel great! I placed 2nd out of 10.

Game 1 Andrzej
W: 382-287
2 bingos: STYLOWA and WAB(I)oNYM


Game 2 Kuba
L: 321-400
1 bingo: GrUNCIE


Game 3 Grazyna
W: 427-264
3 bingos: UB(R)ANIEM, W(Y)PNIESZ, ŚWIETNI


Game 4 Radek
W: 376-274
2 bingos: UTRACIE, NAGI(Ę)TEj

Game 5 Grzegorz
W: 382-285
2 bingos: BONANZO, RYCZA(Ł)Em

Spread +378
for 378 - against 302
2 bingos per game


I actually made some use of my English Scrabble vocabulary by playing ATONIO and BONANZO.


NB:
I was willing to go to the Rammstein concert in Lodz today but I decided to save money this month and passed on it. As it turned out on the day of the concert I went to the Scrabble club. The building was exactly opposite the Atlas Arena where Rammstein was giving its concert today. When I came there I found it impossible to park my car and I almost gave up but somehow found a parking space. Later when I got out of the club I could here the distant sound of "Engel"...