Malta International Scrabble Open ( Day 2 )

It looks like Dan Laurentiu Sandu will return home with a bag full of scalps. Yesterday, he won his game against Femi Awowade, a very good Nigerian player who played the King`s Cup final in Thailand twice. I had three chances to beat Femi, but I lost every time. I was happy to see that another Romanian managed to beat him. Dan also took Sam Kanthimakhi`s scalp, another very good player from America. Mihai didn`t take any scalps, but managed to get his average up to 422 points per game, which is quite a decent average. Helen Gipson was back for revenge, and beat Mihai 588-402. From the score, I`m guessing it must have been one hell of a game.
Cata is having a very streaky but consistent tournament. A top 40 finish would be a very good result! Mohammad Sulaiman, a good friend of mine, continues to impress. I really don`t like playing against him. He has a gift for blocking his opponents` best plays. He might not have the best word knowledge but his strategy is very good. I hope he keeps it up! One more day to go. Good luck!

Malta International Scrabble Open 2010 ( Day 1 )

Yesterday, before I fell asleep, two questions were haunting me: " Will my Romanians have a good start", and " Will Nigel Richards drop any games the first day"? I got my answers in the morning! Mihai and Dan are both on 3W-2L, while Cata is on 2W-3L. We even had a 100% Romanian match in Malta yesterday.Dan played against Cata. It was 390-322 for Dan. Unfortunately, my team is struggling to score over 350 points per game. It`s almost impossible to win games like this. I remember Mihai`s average was somewhere around 410. I`m still waiting for him to find his playing mood!
With only one exception ( Paloma Raychbart ), Nigel`s opponents gave him the respect he deserves, and refused to score more than 350 points per game. I must admit that I overlooked Paloma`s APOSTASY when I examined their game! I also overlooked POTASSA and SAPOTAS! But then, that`s one of the many reasons why I`m not in Malta now. My Scrabble tiles are...rusty!

MISO 2010 ( Predictions for team Romania )

Malta International Scrabble Open is even tougher than The European Scrabble Championship! There won`t be many "easy games". If Mihai and Dan manage to find their playing mood, I think they can finish in top 20. if not, I predict that Mihai will finish 23rd and Dan will finish 28th. Of course, I hope I`m wrong and they both make the top 10! I also hope that Cata will finish top 5 in his division. Good luck!