Cheah Siu Hean is the Vice president of the Singapore Scrabble Association and one of the Far East's top rated Scrabble players. The interview was with the Mind Sports Zine Scrabble Editor, Gareth Reagan, on John Chew's MUD MarlDOom, a place online where Scrabble players from round the world can meet, chat and play their favorite game via telnet or through java front ends.
CHEAH ON CHEAH
Cheah Sui Hean | Let's start with an introduction. Tell everyone about yourself ... age, location, profession, and family status.
Right. Well my name is Cheah Siu Hean or Xie Shou Xian if you want to be difficult. I am 36 years old and single. I would be hard put to describe my job. General factotum to the MD of a large Malaysian drug company.
How are you referred to by friends and family?
Ah well certain people call me "Cheah", other call me "Siu Hean", my family calls me things I shouldn't mention, and my nick here on the Doom [ean] is laziness. Dropping the H has saved me many keystrokes.
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Do you hold a position in any Scrabble organisations?
I am Vice President of the Scrabble Association, Singapore (due to an oversight in its early days "Singapore" never became part of the legal name). I joined some months after the Association came into being in 1996. I was drafted into the committee soon thereafter, somewhat against my better judgment.
 Singapore Scrabble Association members:
(l-r, back) Ricky Purnomo (ID), Philip Tan (SG), Tony Sim (SG)
(front) Cheah Siu Hean (SG), Michael Tang (SG), Sarah Law (SG)
Quek Sim Ho (SG), Joe Muhd (SG)
You were at Christ's College, Cambridge studying Natural Sciences during the late 80s.
Yep...Cambridge did have a Scrabble Club at the time, but it may have died out. I learned from Harshan Lambadasuriya (Gonville & Caius) when I met him in 1999 that there is one now. After university I didn't play for something like 8 years for want of opponents. And my oldest friend and long time opponent was too busy becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. He just got his DPhil this year. In fact he would be better than me if he had the time.
So when did you first start playing Scrabble and when did you decide to take it seriously?
Oh, years and years ago. I drifted into tournaments. I still don't like tournaments. Too much stress. Actually I started playing again when I stumbled across MarlDOoM. It was OSPD only and double challenge at the time, which was something of a culture shock.
I recall taking a Scrabble set on holiday to Langkawi island in the mid 1970s. I have played recreationally since at least 1975.
What is your high game and high word in Tournament play?
My high game was 654 and my high word was PANFRIeD (1a) versus Sam Kantimathi (203pts), both last year in Bangkok. [Thai Open]
Now would be a good time to impart your most memorable scalps.
Now that would not be nice to the scalps. They know who they are.
Let me rephrase then ... please recount your most memorable victories.
Any victory against Nigel Richards is memorable. I also have a list of people who I have not yet managed to beat and not for want of trying. The thing is that I have an abysmal memory so it's the most recent games which are freshest since I am fairly new at tournaments. The memorable wins are the ones where I have been able to beat certain people for the first time. Raja Fuadin for example ... I think it was the fourth time. I had to play NUTWOODS off the N.
Would you like to tell us your best plays, words and phonies?
I recall missing DISQUIET (1a) in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford in 1985 I think it was. I would have gone out and caught my opponent with 7 heavy tiles. You can work out for yourself how much that would have been. It's the bad ones I remember.
What about your favorite phony?
I hate phonies!
Even ROUNCIE? [played against me a few weeks ago]
Even my own. I could have played the bingos NOURICE or COENURI. I do occasionally play silly things.
Do you play any other Mind Sports?
No, not any more - I don't have time.
I like the elegance of Weiqi [Go] and I know the rules but I am no good at it. I never quite liked chess, or Chinese Chess. I have been playing a little Boggle online lately. Have not touched a physical set for years. I don't like bridge etiquette and anyway it has been at least 15 years since I last tried it. My Diplomacy set has mouldered and gathering sufficient players is impossible.
I play Scrabble because it is the only game where I can mobilize otherwise useless vocabulary.
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