WPC 2010

I hear that Adrian Tamas, by far the best Scrabble player in the world, might be joining the WPC in Dallas this year. It`s not sure yet, but I`ll keep you up to date...

MISO 2010 ( Pakistan`s Got Talent )

People love stories. We love it when the unexpected happens. Have you seen "America`s Got Talent"? Or " Britain`s Got Talent" ? I for one love it when someone gets on that stage and shocks the people with an amazing performance. And that`s exactly what Mohammad Sulaiman did this tournament. He shocked the world of competitive Scrabble with his level of play. We all knew he was a good player, but how many of us would have put money on him winning this tournament? I think I know the answer. I remember last year when I met Mohamad Sulaiman in Malaysia, at the Causeway Scrabble Challenge, he was telling me that he can feel how his age affects his play. He thinks slower, acts slower than his younger opponents, and forgets words easily, he told me then. I was amazed by how aware he was of his shortcomings. Mohammad Sulaiman is a very modest player,who loves this game, and who deserved to win this tournament. His extremely good strategy and his consistent level of play won him the tournament. Something tells me that even Nigel was happy to see Mohammad win this tournament. Congratulations, Mohammad Sulaiman!

Malta International Scrabble Open ( The End )

Game over. The final standings for our team are:

26 Catalin Caba (Romania) 12-9 (+157)
30 Dan Sandu (Romania) 12-9 (-212)
34 Mihai Pantis (Romania) 11-10 (+431)

Catalin Caba`s top 30 finish is like a win! He was rated 50th ( I think ) before the tournament. He finished 24 places better than his rating. It`s like having Dan or Mihai win the tournament. Congratulations Cata! As I was saying before, Dan took quite a few scalps in these two tournaments, proving that he is quite a fighter. Mihai couldn`t find his playing mood, and even though he was higher rated than Cata and Dan, he finished last.
Overall, I think the boys did well, and I hope they learnt something from these two tournaments.

Edward Martin vs Mohammed Sulaiman

I was following the live coverage for the MISO and I think the game was winnable for Edward Martin. I`m not gonna analyse the whole game now, but it would be interesting to see what would Mohammed Sulaiman do if Edward Martin played WAE for 24 points instead of CLAW for 18, which also sets up Mohammed for a high score play. Anybody interested in looking into it? I think Ed would have probably won the game.

Malta International Scrabble Open after 17 games

After 17 games, " the three musketeers" are all on 10 wins and 7 losses! Dan is a magnet for stronger players. That explains his negative spread.

20 Mihai Pantis Romania 10.0-7 +542
26 Catalin Caba Romania 10.0-7 +349
31 Dan Sandu Romania 10.0-7 -46

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!

A coincidence

After 10 rounds, Mihai Pantis and Dan Laurentiu Sandu, both average 404.70 points per game! What an amazing coincidence!

26 404.70 6.0- 4.0 +142 Pantis, Mihai (#22/ROM)
26 404.70 7.0- 3.0 +138 Sandu, Dan (#23/ROM)