The Association of Premier Scrabble* Players JOEL SHERMAN WINS
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The Association of Premier Scrabble* Players Issue No. 57 NEWSLETTER December 1997 JOEL SHERMAN WINS WORLD TITLE American Joel Sherman is the 1997 World Scrabble Champion. In a battle of New Yorkers, he defeated stand-up comedian Matt Graham 3-1 in the Final. It was a sweet success for Sherman, who had reached the Final in 1995, only to be defeated by Canada's David Boys. One little-known fact about Joel is that he's a member of die APSP! He joined in 1995, when the World Championship was held in London, and has retained his membership ever since. So we can offer our congratulations to one of our own members! For the first two days the tournament had been dominated by the UK team. At one stage, the top four positions were occupied by UK players. But as the pressure mounted the Americans made their move, with Graham winning 13 successive games to secure his place in the Final. The top UK finisher was Mark Nyman in 5th place, with Russell Byers (7th) also achieving a top ten finish. You can read a full report, including Mark's own account of the event, on page 4. ANDY COOK IS NATIONAL CHAMPION The rise of Andy Cook continues unabated. Within three years he's risen from the ranks of the "who's her to become the UK's National Champion. In the Final he defeated Jackie McLeod, 3-0. Andy's winning prize included an expenses-paid trip to Washington DC to watch the World Championship. Not bad for a weekend's Scrabble! The Intermediate title was won by 21-year-old Paul Chadwick, with a magnificent record of 9 wins and 1 tie in his ten games. Teenager Lewis Mackay came in a very creditable eighth - obviously both are names to look out for in the future. There's a full report of the NSC on page 13, and we also have an annotation of the decisive third game. Plus lots, lots more! Important Notice: It's time to renew your APSP membership for 1998. You'll find a renewal slip enclosed. Please fill it in and send it off NOW! There's also a questionnaire. We'd very much appreciate it if you could fill it in, and return it with your renewal slip. VRABBO* n .1 reKMnrd tucfv mail <>l LW.Stx.-u 4 Snm PtC. InlieU. Mdd«, tngbnd In this issue APSP News 2 A Committee response to last issue's Scrabble Soapbox 2 Events and Ratings 4 1997 World Scrabble Championship 4 1997 UK National Scrabble Championship 13 Other UK events 17 Ratings list at 23rd November 1997 22 Improving Your Scrabble Skills 26 Annotated game: Andrew Cook v Jackie McLeod 26 It's your move 30 A couple of end games 32 Word Play 33 All 1 want for Christmas is a consonant 33 The history of Scrabble dictionaries 36 Puzzles and Teasers 37 The Nunn Challenge 37 Solution to Incremental Hooks puzzle 37 Scrabble Soapbox: Widening the Dictionary Debate 38 Some Fun for the Festive Season 41 The right track 41 A Christmas event at the APSP 42 Readers' Letters 45 Answers to puzzles 47 Tournament Details 47 Forthcoming Events 48 APSP News A Committee response to last issue's Scrabble Soapbox Martin Fowkes responds on behalf of the APSP Committee. I would like to reassure Terry Hollington and any other worried members, that the Committee has not made any definitive decisions about a combined OSW and OSPD dictionary. What we have done is made a decision to discuss the matter. We would be failing in our duties if we did not give the subject serious thought, as SOWPODS events are now taking place in the UK and will undoubtedly increase in number. The Mind Sports Olympiad offered the largest prizes ever seen here and this event looks likely to take place again next year. Whether we like it or not, there is an increasing demand for a unified dictionary. Introducing the additional OSPD words with the next OSW is one proposal being considered, as it is obviously a logical one. However this does not mean that other proposals cannot be consid ered. One option is of course to do nothing. You will see that the enclosed questionnaire gives you an opportunity to air your views on the matter, so please take the chance to tell us what you think. Not all Committee members are keen to learn OSPD words, and I would like to stress that Committee meetings are conducted in a very democratic manner. Therefore please add your views to the debate. All dictionaries are different and no doubt all contain words some of us would define as "rubbish", but it does get very subjective. I have my own pet hates C'phs" and "mininigbies" for a start) but we have to go by what is in the dictionary. If we don't agree with the inclusion of certain words then we should write to Chambers as Graeme Thomas pointed out before. Obviously a unified dictionary would have to contain everything from OSPD (including the "rubbish") or it would be useless. I am not aware that the Committee has told its members that "the APSP Committee apparently knows best", as Terry stated. We do value members' views, so please make yours known. We do also consider the effect of any changes we make on clubs and non-members as well. This is a difficult topic, and we do want to get the best solution for all. Ed: See "Scrabble Soapbox: Widening the Dictionary Debate" on page 3Sfor some more members' opinions. I— APSP Advertisement Announcing! A new Scrabble digital timer: The Premier Countup Timer £ 29.50 Fed up with straining to check your time usage? Fed up with losing games because you had no idea whether there was one minute or 10 seconds left on your clock? Fed up with those awkward disputes over how many minutes excess time you or your opponent has used? Then why not replace that chess clock with an electronic digital timer? The specially designed Premier Countup Timer is approved by the APSP. It is robust, sturdy, easy to operate and features large easy-to-see digital displays at a comfortable playing angle. The timer counts up in minutes and seconds from zero to 25 minutes (and beyond) and is available at a price similar to that of the traditional chess clocks. It runs on four LR06 or equivalent batteries. With care, and depending on quality of batteries, this could give up to 1000 playing hours. The timers will be available at APSP tournaments. Alternatively you can order by mail directly from Margaret Browne (Premier Books). Quality alkaline batteries can be supplied for an additional £2.50. If ordering by post there is an additional charge of £3.50 for insured Securicor delivery. For any number of timers to same address, please make cheques payable to: "Kingfisher Sales" - £29.50 + £3.50 delivery (+ batteries £2.50 optional). Dollar or sterling cheques, or credit credit cards are accepted. Give card details including type/expiry date. Sales in New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canada through Jim Homan, Cygnus Cybernetics. Send to: Premier Books, 65 High Town Road, Luton. LU2 OBW or phone... 01582 611991, or fax... 01582 611911, or [email protected] Events and Ratings 1997 World Scrabble Championship Sit back and relive tlie excitement of the recent World Championship, with an on-the-spot report from Mike O'Rourke, written from the perspective of an unashamedly biased UK supporter, a game-by-game account of the Final, and Mark Nyman's own reminiscences of an event in which he was so close to emulating his 1993 triumph... We'll keep the red shirts flying here... It was good of the organisers to arrange a surprise birthday party for me at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC on November 20. Okay, so it was billed as a reception for the competitors in the World Scrabble Championships, but it was still one of the most exciting parties I've attended. A prefect prelude to the biggest Scrabble event in the calendar. Members of the UK-Scrabble (Internet) mailing lists were treated to unrivalled luxury in the commentary that accompanied the event. Having returned home and read the reports I actually learned things from the Internet that 1 was unaware of sitting 10 feet from the play! However, here are some of the salient details from the British perspective. You'll forgive my lapsing into the American vernacular which called us "The Brits". Fashion note: Spears had generously kitted out the British team with distinctive rugby shirts to give the team a sense of identity. Hence, the English players all wore a scarlet shirt with the three gold lions motif, the Northern Ireland player, Nuala Clenaghan, had a white shirt with shamrock motif, and the Welsh players had green shirts. Unfortunately there was no Scottish player so blue shin and St Andrew's flag were noticeably absent. Apart from the American team members, some of whom wore a grey fleece type jacket, no other team displayed such a distinc tive team design. It was also noticeable that the British team was far more cohesive and spent a lot of time together. The twin flags denoting the opponents' nationalities added to the colourful sight which greeted the spectators. In fact it was only the flags and the extra note of tension in the player's faces that marked this event as different from any other Scrabble tournament.