CIMB Junior Scrabble Circuit (Selangor) 2011

16 April, 2011, Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah, Parcel G, Presint 1, Putrajaya

By Looi Yih Feng

This is my first time at the state inter-school as I was unable to attend last year due to illness. As for this year’s competition, there was the absence of the title holder, Jagan Narayanan and William Kang who was last year’s runner-up. Both of them were unable to attend due to personal issues. However that did not stop them from participating in the Junior Scrabble Circuit as they went to Pahang and
dominated all the way. With the absence of these two experienced players who were also WYSC 2010 representatives, the title was expected to be claimed by the other two WYSC 2010 representatives, Looi Yih Feng and Vinnith Ramamurti, both of whom represented SMK Seafield. On top of that, players such as Wong Han Wey and an ex-WYSC reserve, Chang Ching Yet were expected to be able to claim the coveted title.

Game 1: VS Hafeez Bin Alias
As all the games are considered important since every point counts so all the players knew they had to give their best. My first game was against a first-timer who had a keen lust for scrabble. Mostly due to his lack of experience and word knowledge, I was able to win the game through bingoes: DAIDLES, OTARINE and garner a huge spread of 458 to take the lead. Many other experienced players
also pulverized their defenseless victims with vicious words.

GAME 2: VS Vinnith Ramamurti
Since both of us had high spreads of 400+ each, it was already expected that both of us will meet at the first table to battle it out to see who gets the lead. At the beginning of the game, my opponent played a phony, PUHS which was challenged off and that gave me a big opportunity but I wasted the chance. I made a mistake of opening up through the word ACTED which allowed him to play ZEX for 49 points. Later on, he binged PROTEANS which was a double-double (placing a word on two DWS simultaneously) to earn a huge score of 90 points. However, I was able to catch up with FISTIER that scored 87 points. After those bingoes, Vinnith had a lead of 62 points which I needed to overcome but my hopes were sort of dashed when he played another bingo OLEINEs for 77 points. Luckily I was able to play QUEEN for 48 points to bridge the gap. Chances of winning were slim as he led the game by 78 points but luckily I drew the blank and my opportunity for a bingo had arrived. As he opened VAS , I managed to play aILMENT for 83 points by hooking the blank to form a VAS. Sadly, I was unable to snatch a win as Vinnith sizeable lead was able to cushion the bingo and allow
him to pip me by 11 points.

GAME 3: VS Kuhan
After a sad second round loss, I knew that I had to win all my remaining games in order to have a shot of landing a top three finish. At first I thought this opponent was quite experienced as he managed to beat his previous victim with a tournament high score of 770. However throughout the game he played several phonies which made a clear way for me to cruise straight to victory with a single solid bingo of SMARTEN.

GAME 4: VS Thiiban
In this game it was hard to play bingoes as my rack held certain odd tiles which didn’t seem to fit for a bingo. However at the 8th round I was able to bingo OUTSHINE which scored 70 points. From there onwards I managed to play several strong 40 and 30 point scoring words that gave me my third win of the day. After this game I found out that Vinnith had lost to Han Wey and that created a golden opportunity for me to land the title provided that I win all my remaining games with huge spreads.

GAME 5: VS Yu Teik Chien
Sadly another SMK Seafield clash took place but no matter the show must go on. I managed to snatch an early lead by bingoing an 8-letter, DAINTIER through his opening move ORA to seize the lead. From there onwards, I managed to lead a comfortable game and later furthered the damage through SHINDIES to increase the spread. At the closing stages of the game, I tried to bingo
“BARGERS” which I thought was valid but was sadly challenged off. Later on, I played several 20 pointers to finish the game.

GAME 6: VS Chang Ching Yet
A third Seafieldian was drawn to play against me. What a weird pairing system. Ching Yet and I battled it out at the starting stages of the game where the lead kept switching sides. At my 4th
move, however, I managed to bingo LOITERS which were hooked through four other words to score a staggering 91 points for a bingo with 1-point tiles. Two turns later, I managed to bingo ZONULAS for 106 points by hooking though SCAB to increase my hold on the lead to a spread of 190.

After that, I played a 50 pointer to further my grip on the lead to eventually win by a spread of 180. However, my opponent could have bridge the gap through a last minute bingo of SMEARING/GERMAINS that slipped through his fingers.

GAME 7: VS Muhammad Adham
This was the last game of the tournament. It was either make or break for me as a win was crucial for me to land the much sought after title. At the start of the game, I managed a rack of ADEGNTU to play UNGATED. Sadly, he retaliated with ZA for 50 points to close the gap to zilch. Later on, he managed to bingo RAVINES which gave him the lead of 14 points. From there onwards we were
battling it out word by word, one overtaking the other each turn until he finally made a mistake of playing a phony “CONT” which allow me to hold on to the lead till the last move to win by 89 points.

It was a moment of relief as the high tension in the final round resulted in a win for me that put me in 1st place. Wong Han Wey walloped his last opponent to claim 2nd place, and as a result, he pipped Vinnith by an amazing 1-point spread. There were also 2 other 1 spread deciders for the 6th and 7th positions and 11th and 12th positions. Hmm, what a coincidence right? Wonder what would happen if two players got the same spread and same number of wins. Overall 3 Seafieldians managed to qualify for the CIMB Junior Nationals as they managed to place themselves in the top 20. The top 20 performers will earn a ticket and rights to battle it out at the CIMB Junior Nationals which will be held at 3C Complex (MPSJ).