21/22 Jul 2012 - National Scrabble Championships 2012

The National Scrabble Championships took place over 21st and 22nd July for Division A and B, spanning 16 rounds, something like a 2 day field camp for the brain. Division C played an intensive 8 rounds on 22nd July, conditioning them for when they would ascend to higher divisions.

While I am unable to fathom the mechanism of the 'Team Prize', it was somehow won by NTU, undoubtedly due to the contributions of our champions, Kian Boon from Division A, and Jeya from Division B. Xing Long also achieved 2nd in Division C, with Gabriel taking 4th in Division B.

NTU also very encouragingly sported a relatively large turnout this tournament, with Sky and KB as the regulars in Div A, Gab and Eugene being the regulars in Div B, Jeya being the irregularity in Div B that will ascend to Div A soon (=P), and Xing Long, Jinghan, Tommy, and Ramona making their forays into Div C.

Kian Boon took the title of National Champion in Div A by a score of 13 wins out of 16, losing one of his games by just 1 point. Sky had a respectable score of 5 wins in Div A, even managing to defeat 2 GMs.

In his first tournament in Div B, Jeya won with a score of 13 wins out of 16 as well, losing 3 games in the first day, but coming back with a perfect score on the second. Gabriel was neck to neck with Jeya until round 14, both leading with 11 wins then, but fumbled in the last 2 rounds, losing both and settling for 4th place. Eugene scored 7 points for this tournament, though he managed to win the 2nd placed player, and also managed to enjoy an epic game (by div B standards), where both him and his opponent scored 3 bingos each, though he lost that game 527-431.

In Div C, Xing Long was 2nd with 6 out of 8 points, losing twice, but only to the one player who was the Div C Champion. Tommy from hall 7 did well with 5 wins out of 8, achieving 7th place in what I believe is his first tournament. Ramona also finished her first tournament with 4 out of 8, taking 13th place. Jing Han also achieved 4 out of 8, though it seemed he was fated to be brought down by friendly fire, having played both Xing Long and Tommy. Interestingly, in his 3rd round, his opponent was also called Jing Han, and this time, our Jing Han won the encounter with his evil twin.

The next tournament would be the Jurong Green Mini held on 12 Aug (Sunday). It's the day before Semester 1, so if for no other reason, we should play to enjoy ourselves before school starts!