MUMBAI MARVELS QUESTIONED
In our first weekly round-up we reported some exceptional openings by a single player in the All India Open of 17-18 February 2001. The words TZADDIQ#, JEZAILS and ZYMURGY were reported to have been played as openers in three out of 12 games in the tournament at odds of 1 in 2.0 x 1031.
The still unnamed individual seems to be the most recent person to join the esteemed group of players who have opened with a record score of 124 points. TZADDIQ# is worth 124 points. Two of the current record holders are Sam Kantimathi of California who played CAZIQUE in an Oregon tournament in 1993 and Joan Rosenthal of Australia who managed to play BEZIQUE.
However, the integrity of the moves has been called into question. Indian Scrabble ace, Mohan Chunkath, takes up the story:
"Several of the other players at the tournament were flabbergasted by the bingos played by this relative newcomer to the Indian Scrabble scene. The inescapable but sad consensus conclusion was that there was some hanky-panky sleight of hand going on. In the other games played there was no such pyrotechnic display of Scrabble prowess. In fact, he lost tamely 308-552 to me."
Tournament Director, Varisht Hingorani, released this official statement to us:
"We have still not officially decided on this matter because of the following
reasons:
a) There is no precedent in our club.
b) This is a delicate matter involving a player's reputation.
c) There is no actual proof of sleight of hand. That is, the player was not
caught red-handed.
d) We need to modify some laws to enable us to take action, if any.
However, the four responses from the international community [the Crossword Games Pro mailing list] are all essentially saying that this cannot happen without cheating or collusion.
Hence, personally, I would not accept the move as a record."
So it seems that although the play stands at the moment, it will not be officially recognised by the international Scrabble playing community.
The long-standing 124 point record could be broken one day if any of three words were played as openers. MUZJIKS$, QUARTZY# and SQUEEZY# all score 126 points. The chances are very slim of this ever occurring.
There was a story a few years ago of a player who was sorting out the letters of his rack, and simultaneously realized two things. First of all, he had GALAXIES, and that word had eight letters. Being of an impish mind, he played the word, and announced the score "144". His opponent was so disgusted that he walked out, thus allowing the score to stand. This story has not been confirmed.
*****
E'S ARE GOOD
So declared the UK dance band Shamen in their controversial 1992 tune "Ebeneezer Goode". It is unlikely that they were singing about Scrabble tile distributions but even if they were, there is no way to confirm their statement in the current UK Scrabble vs. machine consensus game.
We can now see 44 tiles in this game and there are still no E's. There are 12 E's in a tile bag so the odds of this state of play occuring are 1 in 1881.
If the bookies set the odds correctly, this is typically between three and four times as unlikely as a standard rank outsider winning the Grand National.
UK list member Nick Deller kindly pointed out that if UK Scrabble don't see an E next turn, after turning over at least eight further tiles (assuming the Machine won't exchange) the probability, at one in more than 15,000, starts to approach that of Victoria Beckham winning the 2001 Grand National on Marvin the Moose while wearing a gorilla suit. In Reykjavik.
In the 'weird' world of Scrabble, American ex-expert Charles Goldstein drew an E once to decide who got to start. His opponent drew an E also. Thereupon Charles pulled another E from the bag. Ditto for his opponent. It took eight E's before it finally dawned on the unsuspecting bloke that he just joined a long line of Scrabble® players who have fallen victim over the last three decades to Goldstein's 'trick bag' containing about 80 E's and no other tile!
*****
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
UK:
At the Nottingham Nomads club night on Wednesday 7th March 2001, Russell Byers managed to sting Clive Spate with WIZ$, making WOW, ITA# and ZAX at the same time, for 86 points. Obviously, exposing the triple letter square for the Z in a World Dictionary (SOWPODS) game wasn't a good idea. Can you beat 86 points for a play not involving any word longer than three letters? Send claims to us.
Australia:
Karen Telford of Albert & Logan SC and rated just over a 1000, scored two prizes in the Brisbane Open, Queensland on Sunday March 11th 2001. Her third place overall and the best in her rating band was a very commendable effort in a field of formidable opponents which included eventual tournament winner and number 2 in Queensland, Anne Drew, and other Aussie stars such as Michael Vnuk. Other notable efforts included strong performances by Gaile Clark and Glenys Logan (Toowoomba), rated in the 800s, who came 12th and 13th, and Muriel Murray (Redcliffe), rated 620, who came 15th.
*****
SCRABBLE IS THE FOOD OF LOVE
Since Jeff and Rene Shelton started the W.O.R.D.S. club in Wollongong, Australia over a decade ago, they have often been asked "who's the best player" to which they usually reply "much of a muchness". Now this stock reply rings truer than ever. According to the latest Australian figures the couple are both on the same rating of 1454. How many other couples have achieved this feat? Send claims to us.
What does it all mean? Couples that play Scrabble together - stay together!
*****
EXCUSE OF THE WEEK
The following announcement was made in the Australian Scrabble® discussion group to explain why the Turramurra SC meeting was cancelled this coming Tuesday:
"Due to a double booking, (the Upper North Shore Ferret Fanciers Association) the usual venue is unavailable this Tuesday 13th March, so we will not be meeting."
Ferrets and their lovers are sitting pretty after ousting Scrabble players from their meeting place.
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