What happened in Vegas - Revealed

[Paul Y Kalumba]

Hi All,

 

I am finally back in Zambia.

 

Around the time we played our Nationals, thieves had broken into my Lstone Branch. Luckily some people were arrested and we have been attending court. This whole debacle disturbed my MSI preparations to an extent that I played zero games after our nationals.

 

As I was leaving for Las Vegas, I told myself that this would be holiday more than it would be scrabble.

 

I played in a 7 round prep tourney (AKA Early Bird tourney) with 3 other players. Out of 7 games, I only managed to win 2! Well this was the form I was in. But this prep really helped me to get in gear for what was to come.

 

And this is what happened in Vegas!

 

Round 1

 

I am paired against Wenwa Akinyi of Kenya. I play the first move (FIXIT) and I watch Akinyi drop SLiTHERS through the (i) which I had just played and I begin to chase. While I try to chase, I am suffering for picking double U then triple I and all that nonsense. Then I pick OUTNAME. I also see a hanging R. I toy with the idea of playing ROUTEMAN, but because I am trailing, I develop cold feet and go for the more certain OUTNAME for 65pts.Akinyi drops LOAMIEST and I immediately reply with ENGINER. Akinyi plays ZERO then AJAR and she takes the game 419-390.

 

Round 2 Again Against Wenwa. We had a double round Robin.

 

Before I could recompose myself from the first loss, Wenwa takes off like a Jet. I play 14, 21, change tiles, 03 in my first four moves. As I struggle, Wenwa drops DELISTED and leads 162-38. I play ZONK and JAY for 45 and 51pts but Wenwa drops UNDERAGE into the TWS. My gods look on me and I retort with MIDLINES and soon drop tREADING to nearly catch up. At this point I track Wenwa, and thanks to tracking, I see her AAABHLS rack. I manoeuvre the end game and I take my first game by 3pts 456-453.

 

Round 3 - Against David Whitely

 

I have not met Whitely before and so I play with confidence. Little do I realise that I am playing  a highly rated player. He opens with HOBNUT and in a move I drop BEATING. I drop NERINES and he drops VALOROUS and HOLISTIC. However what kills me in this game are challenges. The tourney had a 10pt penalty per word challenged. I gave away 30pts by challenging GOIER, VALOROUS and RIAD.He scored 26pts with RIAD in a tight endgame. I thought he had transposed the I and A so I challenged. I lost 414-420, by 6 points. I could have avoided challenging VALOROUS and GOIER, but all is now water under the bridge.

 

Round 4 - D Whitely

 

I open with RULINGS. He soon catches up and we trade equal punches till towards the end when I play natural bingos LONGING and BIRDIES back to back to steal away the game 434-332.

 

Round 5 - Robins Magaki

 

Was nice to see this Kenyan brother after a long time.

 

He starts the game and I drop InTOMBED and the brother is in chasing mode. I drop AQCUIRE for 92pts but he retorts with PALIEST/ACQUIRES for 93pts. He drops OUTSOAR and I give 10pts tuition fee. I play ZINE, MONKEY, NEXT to take the game 462-429.

 

Round 6 Magaki

 

The man drops STERILE and I play EXULTANT and BRACINGS soon after and I lead most of the game. Before playing my last move,  we are standing at 314 each. There is 1 tile remaining in the bag. I track  and I see MPIONERS. I am holding EUOI and 3 other vowels. I reckon that he could finish with IMPOSER or he could play ROJI for 42pts and win. I gamble to block  ROJI and he goes out with IMPONES. Had I played EUOI, I would have blocked his bingo and I would have taken the game by going out first. The last letter in the bag was R and therefore I was blocking a ROJI which he did not have. Very painful loss. 435-355. I also give a 10pts for IMPONES. It was the last move and very painful and simply challenged!

 

Round 7 - David Eldar

 

As most of you may know, D Eldar is a former world youth Champion and he has claimed many titles. We met in London 2005 WSC and I won. He had to correct my misbehaviour of years ago. He opens with TALARIA, he drops OX BONNIES (plus 10pts) and Hejira. I play FEDORAS, ROUNDEST AND VINERY but I go down 511-402.

 

Round 8 D ELDAR

 

in 3 moves he drops IDEATUM for 91pts and he opens a lead of 146-35. I soon drop UNGLOVES and get a 10pts tuition fee. This annoys Eldar who drops CRAWLER, ETESIAN, LINTERS, JEFE AND EQUIPE. My RIZ and VOX did little to help. I am molested to a 561-367 loss. I end the day with 3 wins, only ahead of Paul Spies of SA. 

 

I go playing with wifie in the evening.

 

DAY 2

 

Round 9 - Paul Spies

 

Paul Spies is a South African whose primary aim of being in Vegas was to play in the World poker series. I told myself I was going to correct my negative spread on this guy! How wrong I was. I nearly lost both my games against him.

 

Spies takes off with an early lead from power plays. I chase on while holding a blank and trying to clean my rack. I drop INtERNET to catch up but the guy drops POLITIC and I begin to sweat. I drop AIRPORTS and the guy plays OpAQUE for 72pts. With 2 moves to go we are standing at 421-398 in his favour. He picks the last 2 tiles in the bag while I have 7 on my rack. His last 2 tiles are K,S. I scan the board and I see that he can go out with YEsk. I block that point and score 10 pts. He is forced to dump the K on the only spot available Ki for 6pts. I then drop LAW for 36pts to steal the game. I stole this game 444-427.

 

Round 10 - Paul SPIES

 

Spies again takes lead with RELENTED, through my L.  I play RELINES and the guy drops OILIEST. After some power play, I reduce his lead to about 20pts. He notices that the game is going towards the end and the Q is not yet out. He blocks the place for a Q but I drop SHEQEL. The guys gives me 10pts tuition fee.  The guy drops SADNESS but  I drop TAXON, WIZ and JOW to grab the game 456-431. I was lucky to have won both games against this man. I literally prayed for God's help in these 2 games. How was I going to explain a double loss to a South African no one has ever heard of?

 

Round 11 - R Magaki

 

He opens with ZANTE and I retort wit FIBULA. The man drops Drifty for 43pts CHUNK for 42pts, ENQUIRES for 87pts NAIVEST for 82pts. My ZOWIE and CARDIES do little to help and I go down 505-342.

 

Game 12 - Wenwa

 

I play DILATING and ATRESIA while she plays UNATONED and BISTATE and I give 10 pts for each. I however win 447-414.

 

 

Game 13 - Paul Spies 400-350 win for me

 

Game 14 - Wenwa Again

 

I win 445-400. Somehow I forgot to record what bingos we played. From the scores, she must have scored 2 bingos for 66 and 80 pts. She was leading 400-329 when I dropped 116pts in my last move.

 

Game 15 - Wenwa Again

 

I win 452-368. I must have been fatigued as I only have the scores, no story to tell.

 

Game 16 - R Magaki

 

I am standing on 9 wins while Magaki is on 8. He desperately needs this game. On board 1 Eldar leads with 10pts while David Whitely is on 10pts with lesser spread.. I also badly need to win to get a possible number 2.

 

I pick DODGESS. I nearly play DODGES but in mid-air I notice I am holding a bingo. I drop GODDESS. I pick CANDIES and I drop CYANIDES through his Y. He plays ORBIEST, MOXA and QIS and I annihilate him with EVOLUTE, ELECTING, DURATION, GAZE and HAJ to win 573-379. The tile gods really smiled on me in this final game.

 

I finish joint  10pts with David Whitely but I settle for 3rd position on account of inferior spread.

 

I am awarded a Bronze medal for my 3rd finish.

 

It was great to walk to the podium and have a medal awarded to me. I never expected to be in the prize bracket at all.

 

Regards,

Paul Y Kalumba