A quick look at the Scrabble Association calendar of events will show that May is the only month with 2 mini tournaments, just 2 weeks apart, and what a good time too! The Jurong Green Mini traditionally occurs right after NTU finishes its exams, and a Bishan Heights RC Mini would take place 2 weeks later.
This time, Aaron, Chun Kin, Gabriel and Kai Yuan were raring for some scrabble after exams, and participated in this Jurong Green Mini tournament. There was also a surprise appearance by alumni Edward Pariwono, injecting some flavor into the monotony of working life.
The top 8 rated players made it into Division A, and played 7 rounds round robin followed by 2 rounds king of the hill, while the other 15 players were combined into Division B/C, which I believed followed the format of 6 rounds Australian Draw and 2 rounds KOTH. There were 8 new players, but they were by no means free food for the veterans, as they had all done some extent of word study, and since they were all wearing school uniforms, I assume they all came from Nanyang Girls' High Scrabble Club or something.
Aaron had a great start in Div A, winning his first 5 games by sizable margins, starting off with a +311 win over Sky in Round 1, propelling him to 1st place immediately after round 1, and leading the pack all the way even after a loss in round 6. However, disaster took place, and he lost rounds 6-9, and finished 3rd in the end. Or, if you look at it in a positive light, one could say he was so ownage in the first 5 rounds, that losing the last 4 'only dropped him to 3rd place', 307 spread points ahead of the next closest competitor. :O
After the vicious beating by Aaron in round 1, Kai Yuan played many close games, losing most other games by less than 100 spread, beating GM Andy by just 6 points, and in Round 6 and 8, won the critical games against Gabriel and Poh Ying Ming, elevating himself from 8th to 6th place, with one round to spare. Sky didn't even play the last round, as he had a dinner appointment, yet made 6th place with a comfortable spread margin of 299 points, and when someone doesn't need to play the last round and still does better than others, the term "too good" seems appropriate here :P
Gabriel experienced his first tournament in Div A, and it was definitely exciting for him, as 5 out of his 9 games were so close it came down to the endgame to determine a winner. Despite finishing 8th out of 8 players, he managed to score 2 wins over NMs Jian Rong and Victor Gwee, and earned his second Master star, leaving him one away from his Master title.
On a side note, he also got to experience the awesomeness and full power of a GM with luck, as GM Marlon played 3 bingos consecutively on moves 2 to 4, jabbing with tARdIVE (which has no back hook), following up with an uppercut TOADFISH, and then finishing off the combo kill with MACHETE. GM Marlon showed that this was by no means a fluke, as in a later game, he decimated another player with 3 bingos in a row, and 6 bingos total: SIMARRE, TEGUMINA, WEAPONED, UNBOILED, ECHOISED and one more I can't remember. WWWWWWICKED SICK!!!!!
In Div B/C, Edward showed that his skills were still sharp, as he finished in 3rd place with 5 out of 8 wins, losing only to the 1st and 2nd placed players. With a couple of big wins, Edward had a dominating spread, finishing a whooping 475 spread points ahead of the other 5-pointers, and achieving high game with a score of 568.
Chun Kin had a slow start, losing his first game to one of the NYGH newcomers by just 9 points, due to a power-tile-on-triple-letter-cheapo near the end of the game, if i remember correctly. The NYGH girls turned out to be dancing hunk's nemesis, as another one took round 3 from him. However, Chun Kin recovered well to climb the ladder steadily, winning 4 out of his last 5 games to finished 5th, also with 5 wins. He also managed to even the scores in Chun Kin vs NYGH, winning 2 other NYGH players as he ascended.
Do note that the next mini tournament, as mentioned above, would be the Bishan Heights RC Mini on 26 May (Sunday), and the biggest local event would soon follow on 27-28 July (Sat-Sun)
