One further mishap, which I didn't observe but which I was informed of later by our esteemedChairperson, involved one highly respected female player and some defective knicker elastic. Thefood, which was particularly good this year, may have been a contributory factor. Apart fromthese problems, the tournament went very well.For the first time ever, we had a SOWPODS division in addition to our usual three. This helpedtake the player total over 100 again after a slight dip last year.It was pleasing to see that the SOWPODS division was not made up exclusively of the veryhighest rated players, which has sometimes been the case elsewhere. On this occasion, the likesof Raymond Tate, Nick Deller and Mike O'Rourke bravely squared up to the big hitters, whoincluded Andy Davis, David Acton, Terry Kirk, Di Dennis and Evan Simpson. Helen Grayson and DiDennis led after rounds one and two, but David Acton took over in round three and was theovernight leader, despite losing to Andy Davis in round six. Terry Kirk was second, also on 5wins, having tost only to David.On Sunday, David charged on relentlessly, while Terry stuttered slightly with a draw against DiDennis. Andy Davis, although holding third place, was effectively out of the running after a roundeight defeat by Peter Preston. Going into the tenth and final round, David was on eight wins,Terry on seven and a half. As the SOWPODS players had earlier voted to make the final roundKing of the Hill, they were paired against each other. The key moment came when David bled topluralise FEW and had It challenged off. Terry took the game by 43 points and with it the title.Meanwhile Andy Davis gained revenge over Peter Preston to dinch third place. Messrs. O'Rourke,Tate and Deller filled the last three places, but were not disgraced, winning two and a half, threeand four games respectively - no mean feat In such Illustrious company.Adjudicating for the SOWPODS division was an interesting experience. I alternated betweenamazement at plays like LAARI, WOOLD, THRAWN, GUIMP, ANANKES and BIVTA (all but LAARIin OSW, incidentally) and astonishment that words like FUTZ, JEON, JINS, MIB, NAW, UTA andVIG were being challenged. Even I can remember these from 1993!Division A was inevitably weakened by the existence of the SOWPODS division but, with playersof the quality of Nell Scott, Paul Allan, Joyce Cansfield, Jackie McLeod and Martin Fowkes at thehead of the list, it could hardly be described as a pushover. Graham Wakefield and WilmaWarwick were the early leaders but Martin Fowkes took over in round three and saw off hisclosest challenger, Rob Dowse, In the next round to open up a gap at the top. Paul Allan led thechasing pack and in round six toppled Martin to hold the overnight lead. Neil Rowley completed agood day's work by beating Chris Hawkins to complete a trio of leaders on five wins out of six.On Sunday morning Neil fell to Paul, while Martin's win over Lewis Mackay kept up the pressure.In round eight things got very interesting, with Paul and Martin both losing, to Rob Dowse andAlan Sinclair respectively, leaving these four all on six wins. In round nine Sod's Law struck. Anadjudication error was made and, naturally, it was in a crucial game and probably affected theresult. Paul Allan, playing Alan Sinclair, challenged a three word move involving PODA. It cameback ticked, incorrectly, and wasn't rechaltenged. Alan won the game. Martin and Rob also won.The final pairings saw Rob and Alan drawn together, while Martin faced Joyce Cansfield. Robstormed home In the deciding game by 169 points to take first place. Despite losing to Joyce,Martin held on to third place, while Paul Allan beat Margaret Burden to dinch the runner-up spot.Division B saw seven different players hold the lead at various times. On Saturday It was PhllippaMorris, Cathy Anderson, Maureen Rayson, Cathy again, and again, then Lorraine Gordon, whobeat Cathy in the final game of the day to stand alone on six wins. Cathy was at that point insecond place. Sadly, Lorraine took no further part in the tournament. However, the next three,Kate McNulty, Peter Ashurst and Liz Barber, were to be very much Involved the following day.The absence of the Gordons meant that several players had to be given byes on Sunday. KateMcNulty, managed to go top of the table after being awarded her first (bye) game. She then40
played Peter Ashurst In round eight but Peter won to become the sixth player to hold the lead. Inround nine, Peter was beaten by Liz Barber who made it seven different leaders. Janice Beaseand June Edwards joined Liz and Peter on seven wins. In the final round Liz beat Janice and Junebeat Kate. Liz just held off June on spread to win the title and Tom Wilson beat Peter Ashurst totake third.Unlike the other three divisions, Division C turned out to be something of a procession. GordonCox led after round one, but Paul Pye took over after round two and was never headed again.Overnight, he was alone on six wins with Christine Nicholson on five and the chasing pack onfour.On Sunday Paul didn't have it all his own way, losing twice in succession in rounds seven andeight, to Fred Burford and Jessie Tollick. However, victories over Violette Little and Gordon Cox Inthe last two rounds took him safely home. After the second of his two defeats, Barbara Hill,Jessie Tollick and Marjorie Lefley were all on six wins along with Paul. Barbara and Marjorie keptthe heat on with wins in round nine, but Marjorie lost in the final round and while Barbara wonagain, Paul hung on to take the title by 51 points of spread. Irene Woolley won her final matchto move through into third place.All in all, it was an eventful but still enjoyable and highly memorable tournament. I hadn't beenpleased about missing a Sundertand home game, but a 0-0 draw with Sheffield United made merealise I'd definitely been in the right place. We were already home and dry as championsanyway, so who cares!Words I didn't know included BEVUE, PEAVY, HEEZE, PROTEASE, VIGIA, FAVELA, ATHEISED,RICIN, PARURE, INSANIE and CRIMEN. And that's just from the words which were challenged -there were probably many more I didn't know that weren't.My particular thanks go to Laura, who was very nervous about taking control of the computer forthe first time but did a brilliant job, despite her one mistake. Thanks also to the team of runners -Ian, Stuart, Richard and Yvonne - and to Graeme.Thanks also to Chris Hawkins for organising the Speed Scrabble event. My first ever attempt at itended in a defeat by Lewis Mackay. I felt a lot better when he went on to win the final.Next year really is the thirteenth Durham tournament. If we don't turn up, you know why.SOWPODS Division APosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1Terry Kirk8.55981Rob Dowse86432David Acton86852Paul Allan77123Andy Davis73423Martin Fowkes73964Di Dennis5.5-1454Alan Sinclair71495Graeme Thomas51545Joyce Cansfield6.5-68Division BDivision CPosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1Liz Barber85461Paul Pye84402June Edwards84682Barbara Hill83893Tom Wilson75413Irene Woolley75674Moya Dewar74194Fred Burford73885Ian Bum72915Mariorie Leflev7188
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