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MOST 2009 Commentary: Round 6

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Go to: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20.

Round 6:

For several of the more mature players, especially the local Maltese club members, the fatigue of playing so many games in an afternoon is beginning to tell. The Malta Scrabble Club regularly runs one day tournaments (ODTs) which are rarely more than 7 games as they like to start around 9 am, have a leisurely lunch and be away home to their loved ones by 5pm. Those members of the Club who relish international competition find themselves playing anything up to 45 games in 5 days (for example the Causeway in Malaysia). It can be a real baptism of fire, but those that do it come back to Malta much better players and with plenty of stamina! Malta currently has two representatives going to the Scrabble World Championships, being held in November 2009 in Malaysia - Theresa Brousson (MLT) and David Delicata (MLT). Considering the size of Malta (population 420,000) and only around 60 Club members this an achievement to be proud of. Table 1 has a tussle going on between Evan Cohen (ISR), from Israel, and Lukeman Owolabi (NGA) from Nigeria. For the first dozen moves or so they swopped bonuses and good scoring words with the result that were neck and neck until 500 points plus had been scored in total. Evan eventually pulled ahead and won 414-373. Everyone in the hall seems to have had an enjoyable afternoon and early evening playing Scrabble with the inevitable ups and downs that go with this very addictive game - supper in the hotel and an evening discussing all the stupid moves and mistakes plus some really great words will no doubt ensue!