Causeway Scrabble is Back

One of the most storied scrabble tournaments of this decade the Causeway Scrabble spectacle is back after a brief hiatus. Conducted by visionary Michael Tang, the 2016 edition of the tournament promises to have a plethora of the top scrabble talent in the world across divisions. Here are the details from Michael Tang:

Date: 30th November - 4th December 2016

Venue:  Berjaya Waterfront Hotel, Johor Bahru, Malaysia 
Dictionary:  CSW 15
Rules:  WESPA Version 3.0
Number of Games:  45
Ratings:  Based on Peak ratings from WESPAC 2015 till WSC 2016
Closing Date:  30th September 2016

Premier Division: 

Registration Fees:  US$300 

WESPA Peak Ratings: 1850 & above

Pairings:  KOTH with repeat for 45 games

Champion: US$10,000
1st Runner up: US$5,000
2nd Runner up: US$2,500
4th position: US$1,500
5th position: US$1,000
6th position: US$900
7th position: US$800
8th position: US$700
9th position: US$600
10th position: US$500Total: US$23,500 

Masters Division: 

Registration Fees: US$200 
WESPA Peak Ratings:1600 - 1849
Pairings: Swiss Pairings with No repeat each day from Day 1 to 4.  KOTH with repeats for Day 5
Champion: US$5,000
1st Runner up: US$2,500
2nd Runner up: US$1,500
4th position: US$1,000
5th position: US$900
6th position: US$800
7th position: US$700
8th position: US$600
9th position: US$500
10th position: US$400
Rating prize (Band 1600 - 1700): US$200
Total: US$15,100

Intermediate Division: 

Registration Fees: US$150 
WESPA Peak Ratings: 1300 - 1599
Pairings: Swiss Pairings with No repeat each day from Day 1 to 4.  KOTH with repeats for Day 5
Champion: US$3,000
1st Runner up: US$1,500
2nd Runner up: US$1,000
4th position: US$800
5th position: US$700
6th position: US$600
7th position: US$500
8th position: US$400
9th position: US$300
10th position: US$200
Rating Prize (Band 1300 - 1400): US$150
Total: US$9,150 

Open Division: US$125

WESPA Peak Ratings: 1299 & below
Pairings: Swiss Pairings with No repeat each day from Day 1 to 4.  KOTH with repeats for Day 5
Champion: US$2,000
1st Runner up: US$1,000
2nd Runner up: US$800
4th position: US$700
5th position: US$600
6th position: US$500
7th position: US$400
8th position: US$300
9th position: US$200
10th position: US$150
Rating Prize (Band 1000 - 1100): US$125
Rating Prize (Below 1000): US$125
Total: US$6,900

*Players can choose to play up by 1 Division**Where WESPA ratings is too low compared to the Local ratings, Organizer shall reserves the rights to make the final decision.

Word of the Day - Grotesque

Here is the word of the day from our students at the communicare club at M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Management:

grotesque

Meaning - extremely ugly and strange

Usage - It’s odd how we can find some grotesque things so fascinating.

Anagrams - none
Front hook - none
Back hook - R, S

Word of the Day - Aspersion

Here is the word of the day from our students at the communicare club at M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Management:

Aspersion

Meaning - A false charge meant to harm someone’s reputation.

Usage - The politician’s career was ruined by an aspersion created by his enemies.

Anagrams - none
Front hook - none
back hook - S

Word of the Day - Laudable

Here is the word of the day from our students at the communicare club at M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Management:

Laudable

Meaning - Praise worthy.

Usage - While both of the recycling projects are laudable, only one of them can be enacted within the city limits.

Anagrams - none
Front hook -none
back hook -none

Bangalore Scrabble League Tournament 2016 Kicks off

Chris Imison's brain child the Bangalore Scrabble League Tournament 2016 has kicked off. To level the playing field handicaps have been issued to each player based on their India ratings. There are 27 players in the fray. Each player plays another twice face to face by August 2016. That implies each player completes 54 games in 6 months. A total prize money of Rs 10,000 is on offer. The entry fee is Rs 500 per player. Here are the participants:

CONFIRMED ENTRANTS	RATING	HANDICAP
SANJOY	1589	-65
MOHSIN	1533	-60
RAJVEER	1482	-55
MANJU	1406	-45
RADHIKA	1295	-35
LENNIE	1275	-35
DIPANKAR	1262	-35
NALINI	1162	-20
VINOD	1160	-20
NUPUR	1133	-20
UMITA	1093	-15
REX	1049	-10
YASH	943	0
SARAS	935	0
AUBREY	968	0
HEMANTH	900	5
NEELAM	838	10
CHRIS	834	10
ARVIND	832	10
VIDYA	822	15
SHAILAJA	796	15
SHANKAR	720	25
DEEPA	548	40
GIRISH	539	40
HARSH	500	45
JIVITESH	500	45
CHIRAG	500	45

Nigel Wins Cape Town International Scrabble Tournament 2016 with Five Games to Spare

Nigel continued his dominance of the Scrabble scene in 2016 running away with the Cape Town International Scrabble Tournament with over 5 games to spare. He recently won the iGATE scrabble championship in similar fashion winning it with over 3 games to spare. Here are the final standings from the original coverage on poslfit.com: 

Rank	Name	Home	W-L	Spread
1	Nigel Richards	New Zealand	38.0-4.0	+4458
2	David Eldar	Australia	30.5-11.5	+1642
3	Komol Panyasophonlert	Thailand	29.0-13.0	+1940
4	Rex Ogbakpa	Nigeria	28.5-13.5	+2213
5	Dave Wiegand	United States	27.0-15.0	+2770
6	Chinedu Okwelogu	Nigeria	27.0-15.0	+955
7	Wellington Jighere	Nigeria	26.0-16.0	+2172
8	Jesse Day	United States	26.0-16.0	+905
9	Phillip Edwin-Mugisha	Uganda	25.5-16.5	+1193
10	Piotr Andronowski	Scotland	25.0-17.0	+1751
11	Chrys Placca	Ghana	25.0-17.0	+1636
12	Anthony Ikolo	Nigeria	25.0-17.0	+1275
13	Elie Dangoor	England	25.0-17.0	+1230
14	Nsikan Solomon Etim	Nigeria	25.0-17.0	+850
15	Olobatoke Aka	Nigeria	25.0-17.0	+717
16	Mpakaboari Jack	Nigeria	24.0-18.0	+981
17	Raymond Gbaraba	Nigeria	24.0-18.0	+952
18	Dylan Early	South Africa	24.0-18.0	+782
19	Solomon Lephoto	South Africa	23.5-18.5	+383
20	Bright Idahosa	Nigeria	23.0-19.0	+631
21	Howard Rayner	South Africa	23.0-19.0	+118
22	Mwenya Munkonge	Zambia	22.5-19.5	+775
23	Llewellin Jegels	South Africa	22.5-19.5	+537
24	Sulaiman Gora Garba	Nigeria	21.5-20.5	+377
25	Ashley Willenberg	South Africa	21.5-20.5	-345
26	Denise Le Bron	South Africa	21.5-20.5	-383
27	Gerald Davids	South Africa	21.0-21.0	+125
28	Ralph Owusu	Ghana	21.0-21.0	-596
29	Andrew Goldberg	South Africa	20.5-21.5	+225
30	Fern Wheelwright	South Africa	20.0-22.0	+13
31	Gary Birch	South Africa	20.0-22.0	-97
32	Duncan Keet	South Africa	19.5-22.5	-77
33	Debbe Hossy	South Africa	19.0-23.0	+39
34	Susan Ensor	Australia	17.0-25.0	-1331
35	Moses Kibet	South Africa	16.0-26.0	-1551
36	Carol Parker	South Africa	16.0-26.0	-1953
37	Pam Field	South Africa	15.5-26.5	-1475
38	Ata Sonday	South Africa	15.0-27.0	-2249
39	Gwen Rea	South Africa	14.0-28.0	-1024
40	Zubeida Brey	South Africa	13.0-29.0	-1710
41	Kathy Cameron	South Africa	13.0-29.0	-1965
42	Mary Botha	South Africa	12.0-30.0	-2050
43	Joy Palm	South Africa	12.0-30.0	-2603
44	Jackie Nortier	South Africa	12.0-30.0	-3280
45	Sheba Bagg	South Africa	6.0-36.0	-4026
46	Kay Faust	United States	5.0-37.0	-4930

Also have a look at some annotated games:

Cape Town International Scrabble Tournament 2016 Standings after 36 Rounds

Nigel continues to lead after 36 rounds in the Cape Town International Scrabble Tournament going into the final day. Here are the standings from the original coverage on poslfit.com:

Rank	Name	Home	W-L	Spread
1	Nigel Richards	New Zealand	32.0-4.0	+3597
2	David Eldar	Australia	26.5-9.5	+1226
3	Rex Ogbakpa	Nigeria	25.5-10.5	+2236
4	Dave Wiegand	United States	25.0-11.0	+2636
5	Komol Panyasophonlert	Thailand	24.0-12.0	+1889
6	Jesse Day	United States	23.0-13.0	+1036
7	Chinedu Okwelogu	Nigeria	23.0-13.0	+589
8	Nsikan Solomon Etim	Nigeria	22.0-14.0	+1123
9	Phillip Edwin-Mugisha	Uganda	21.5-14.5	+1163
10	Solomon Lephoto	South Africa	21.5-14.5	+424
11	Wellington Jighere	Nigeria	21.0-15.0	+1760
12	Chrys Placca	Ghana	21.0-15.0	+1155
13	Elie Dangoor	England	21.0-15.0	+887
14	Olobatoke Aka	Nigeria	21.0-15.0	+652
15	Dylan Early	South Africa	21.0-15.0	+527
16	Llewellin Jegels	South Africa	20.5-15.5	+390
17	Piotr Andronowski	Scotland	20.0-16.0	+1133
18	Anthony Ikolo	Nigeria	20.0-16.0	+1066
19	Mpakaboari Jack	Nigeria	20.0-16.0	+871
20	Bright Idahosa	Nigeria	20.0-16.0	+528
21	Raymond Gbaraba	Nigeria	20.0-16.0	+527
22	Ralph Owusu	Ghana	20.0-16.0	-208
23	Mwenya Munkonge	Zambia	19.5-16.5	+802
24	Sulaiman Gora Garba	Nigeria	19.5-16.5	+207
25	Gerald Davids	South Africa	19.0-17.0	+431
26	Howard Rayner	South Africa	19.0-17.0	-15
27	Ashley Willenberg	South Africa	19.0-17.0	-138
28	Denise Le Bron	South Africa	19.0-17.0	-341
29	Fern Wheelwright	South Africa	18.0-18.0	+5
30	Andrew Goldberg	South Africa	17.5-18.5	+97
31	Debbe Hossy	South Africa	17.0-19.0	+230
32	Duncan Keet	South Africa	16.5-19.5	+165
33	Gary Birch	South Africa	16.0-20.0	-285
34	Susan Ensor	Australia	14.0-22.0	-1024
35	Moses Kibet	South Africa	14.0-22.0	-1273
36	Gwen Rea	South Africa	13.0-23.0	-926
37	Carol Parker	South Africa	13.0-23.0	-1747
38	Pam Field	South Africa	12.5-23.5	-1459
39	Ata Sonday	South Africa	12.0-24.0	-1824
40	Joy Palm	South Africa	11.0-25.0	-2353
41	Zubeida Brey	South Africa	10.0-26.0	-1493
42	Kathy Cameron	South Africa	10.0-26.0	-1769
43	Mary Botha	South Africa	10.0-26.0	-1893
44	Jackie Nortier	South Africa	10.0-26.0	-2770
45	Sheba Bagg	South Africa	5.0-31.0	-3273
46	Kay Faust	United States	4.0-32.0	-4561