TLW120 - Nomads Results

Peterborough
Mar 29th (6 rounds)
Report from Chris Hawkins
Two weeks previously 32 players attended the 5-point penalty event in Peterborough. This time
round 70 players took part (30 of the 32 from before), possibly indicating people’s reluctance to
try the penalty challenge version of the game in this trial period. Next year’s penalty challenge
event will have a couple of changes to its format to hopefully attract more players.
Division A
Martin Harrison led after rounds 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. What counts though is who is leading after
the final round, and with Martin losing to Austin Shin in round 6, Ben Wilson snuck through
on the rails to finish on top. This was his first A division win, making it all the more special.
The game between Austin and Martin also decided who won the Pete Finley Memorial
Trophy – both players finished on 9 wins (with their results from the 5PP event carrying
forward) and Martin lost by a small enough margin to hang on by 13 points of spread! Well
done to Martin.
Division B
This division was amazingly similar to division A in that Carolyn Emery led for the first 5
rounds, but losing to Yvonne Eade in the final round meant that Yvonne won the division and
Carolyn had to settle for second. Carol Smith won the Combined Event, overcoming Neil
Broom’s one game advantage from the 5PP event in the first round and never relinquishing it.
Division C
This division saw Barbara Barker lead for the first three rounds only for up-and-coming
youngster Tim Butcher to lead after round 4 as the only unbeaten player. However he lost in
round 5 to Peterborough club player Jean Mainwaring. Jean was paired against early leader
Barbara in a winner-takes-all final round, with Barbara ultimately winning and taking the
spoils. Claire Violett won the Combined Event after having led for most of the day.
The day went incredibly smoothly thanks to a huge team of runners and other helpers (too
many to name individually), but also due to the swift co-operation of all the players involved.
Indeed, despite starting 5 minutes late, we managed to finish 15 minutes early!
Peterb’ A
Ben Wilson 5639
Martin Harrison 5619
Austin Shin 5473
Ratings (4th) Paul Bassett
Combined Event:
Martin Harrison* 9 818
Peterb’ B
Yvonne Eade 5493
Carolyn Emery 5394
Dot Taylor 5302
Ratings (6th) Andrew Eames
Combined Event:
Carol Smith 8 293
* Winner of the Peter Finley Memorial Trophy
6
Peterb’ C
Barbara Barker 5435
Audrey Harvey 5254
Gill Thompson 4 495
Ratings (6th) Malcolm Davis
Combined Event:
Claire Violett 8 499
Southampton
Apr 13th (6 rounds)
Report from Alan Bailey
Among the would-be entrants who applied too late to be admitted were
The ABSP’s foremost wordmaster;
The ABSP’s current chairman;
The reigning British Scrabble champion.
Beat that for an exclusive tournament.
At the other end of the scale, a sharp-eyed (i.e. female) early arrival noted a dearth of toilet
rolls. This was given added piquancy when another contestant reported an internal disorder
which might necessitate… well, you can complete the sentence for yourselves. Shamefully,
I as tournament director had not brought spares. Fortunately the Hall Manageress was
contactable and had rectified (?!) the problem before play started.
The 96 places, 4 divisions of 24 players, were filled well in advance. Everyone arrived on
time. There were no cancellations in the last 4 days. Volunteers readily helped set out, and
at the end restack, tables and chairs, for which I am very grateful. A slight starting delay was
my fault in not indicating that I was ready for print-outs. There were no computer hiccoughs
and the final 6th game finished well ahead of schedule.
Besides the more orthodox prizes we decided to commemorate the unlucky date by giving a
prize to the 13th in each division. Respective winners thereof were
Brian Jones in A, Wendy Lindridge in B, Jan Vokes-Taylor in C, Brian Beaumont in D.
Then at the end of the 1st game Kim Phipps revealed that she had celebrated the 13th by
being player No. 13 on table 13, and losing by 13. That was worth a bottle of Full 15
(nearest we could get; vignerons are also superstitious).
Monica Stockwell, Basingstoke, and Andy Gray, Aylesbury, distinguished themselves as the
winners of C and B respectively with 6 wins. 2nd to them on 5 wins were Tanya Robson,
Southampton, and Ros Wilson, Luton. 3rd places went to the 4-game winners with, narrowly,
the highest spreads, Mark Smith and Rita Todd, both from Portsmouth and Southsea.
Their compatriot Vivienne Newman took 2nd place in D, splitting 2 more Luton players,
Malcolm Davis in 3rd and Georgie Burchell the winner. In D, as in A, the 3 top spots went
to the players on 5 wins. Since its inauguration in 1991 the silver trophy for this tournament
has had “P. Appleby” engraved on it 6 times. At the end of round 4 P hil looked to be
heading for a 7th triumph. Whereupon he lost heavily to Gary Oliver, who took his top
spot, but for only 1 game.
In the final round Gary also lost, to the eventual winner and Southampton club-mate, subsiding
to 4th with Phil one place above him. 2nd came Maureen Chamberlain, after a dynamic
day’s work which earned her the Terry Hollington trophy for performance against rating.
Champion for 2008 is CHRIS FINLAY, at exactly the opposite end of the division to where he
had finished the previous year, and indeed at Andover the previous month. Congratulations
to them, and to the other players for a pleasant event.
7