TLW96 - Nomads Results

Exeter Easter Weekend
9-12th April
Report by Andy Davis
Despite losing its status as an ABSP-organised event, this tournament seems to fill up earlier
each year. 106 players took part in the main competition, and at least a dozen more were
disappointed to have got their entry in too late.
The event took place in the presence of
Josh Whitehead, the chap from Channel
4 who is making a documentary about
Scrabble players. There was also an
international presence this year,
including three ladies from Malta, a
gentleman from Ireland, one from the
USA (easily beating the record for the
longest distance travelled to get to
Exeter), and a temporarily UK-resident
Canadian.
Our very own newsletter editor took the
Isca A title, a mere 2 points of spread
ahead of Ross Mackenzie. There were
no prizes for brilliant plays, but if there had been, then Ross would surely have claimed
one for his superb play of AEROPHONES around PHO (albeit with 2 blanks on his rack).
Peter Ashurst strolled to victory in the B division with the only unbeaten record in the Isca
tournament. A moment sure to raise smirks amongst those with a juvenile sense of humour
(such as myself) came when Josh Whitehead, when playing a sweet, elderly lady, placed
down a certain 6-letter word beginning with F, ending with R and containing a K.
Tragically, his cameraman had put away his equipment for the evening, so this moment will
not appear in Josh's documentary.
Isca A
A. Webb 5 464
R. Mackenzie 5 462
D. Dennis 5 288
M. Chamberlain 5 41
12
Josh Whitehead
and camera
Isca B
P. Ashurst 6 525
J. Parker 5 353
J. Adams 5 275
T. Lewis 4 321
Stu Goldman
American visitor
Exeter A
P. Appleby 15 1501
B. Smitheram 15 1217
N. Ball 13 1137
W. Kelly 13 343
A. Davis 13 309
Exeter D
J. Parker 13 675
E. Smith 12 240
J. Williams 12 201
D. Taylor 11 273
J. Lyes 11 137
Exeter B
S. Holden 15 899
H. Greenaway 14 743
S. Simonis 13 402
D. Simonis 13 391
J. McLeod 11 490
Onto the main event, then. Things ran smoothly for the most part. Three divisions had 22
players, and were played as an incomplete round robin with king-of-the-hill (KOTH) in the
final round. Division A had perhaps the most interesting conclusion. For a while, Brett
Smitheram threatened to run away with the event, but he slipped up towards the end of
day 2 with defeats against Wayne Kelly and Roy Miller. As fate would have it, Brett met in
the penultimate round the only player who could overtake him - Phil Appleby. Brett won
this game, meaning Phil had to beat Brett in the final KOTH by 56 points. Phil did so in
style, winning by nearly 200 points to take his second Easter A division title.
The B division did not have such a close finish. Stewart Holden was the only player to have
won his division before the final round. In this division, there was an interesting battle for
third place, which resulted in Sandie Simonis beating son Daniel to overtake him and take
the 3rd place prize.
13
Exeter E
V. Plewes 15 1131
C. Strawbridge 15 752
K. Carson 13 619
J. Rees 13 451
C. Osborn 12 299
Exeter C
A. Childs 14 1101
J. Hiley 14 961
M. Conway 14 317
D. Beasley 13 138
S. Balment 12.5 861