Go to: Commentary Games Players tsh Reports Scoreboard Standings Photos Prizes

Back to MOST 2010 Live Coverage

MOST 2010 Commentary: Round 7

[ ]

Go to: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 19, Round 21.

John Chew writes: Joanne Craig (NZL) and Jared Robinson (Eng), who started the morning as two of the four remaining undefeated players, are playing at board 1. Before the game began, Joanne asked me to edit her player profile, changing her alliance from her Australian residence to her New Zealand birthplace. Ranked among national teams, the New Zealanders are now in second place, ahead of Mohammad Sulaiman (PAK) and behind Sam Kantimathi (USA); in fourth place is the large Scottish contingent.

David Delicata (MLT) is first in with his slip this round, where he lost to Nigel Richards (NZL) 385-399. "I nearly got him, I'll do it next time," he said.

I have electricity! Woot#! The technician disassembled the power strip, retensioned the contacts, and as they say here, "ordered" the device.

Players have been plying me with tea and cake as the morning break begins. I should warn anyone contemplating bribery that I cannot guarantee wins, except by offering players the opponent of their choice. :)

Peggy Fehily (DEU), who had complained about not playing any lower-rated players, beat Maureen Hoch (ISR) 373-311 and has stopped complaining.

Karen Richards (AUS), who was on the receiving end of the high game so far, 643-365 to Mohammad Sulaiman (PAK) in Round 4, got her own back with a 642-310 over Reno Zammit (MLT).

The last game of the round was late reporting in due to a rules adjudication. Player A had played POLLONIAS* (possibly thinking about POLLINIA, or perhaps just desperate to win), Player B had held the play, then recorded the hypothetical score if the play were accepted, then challenged. Under WESPA (and ABSP) rules, a play may not be challenged if the cumulative score has been recorded. However, an exception is explicitly made for the case where hold has been called, so the challenge was permitted.

Round 7: It's a good thing everyone is indoors in a darkened room playing Scrabble as the weather outside the playing hall is rather windy and cloudy - still mild around 21C which is like a summer's day for the UK and North America players. For the next few weeks the temperature steadily rises until Late July and August the Maltese islands enjoy highs of between 35C to 40C and the lows only go down to around 25-28C. The only saving grace in these temperatures is the regular sea breezes which keep you from boiling! It's a bit like that in the playing hall as the temperature is definitely rising and the A/C is doing its best to emulate a sea breeze - it does not have that salty tang however! At the end of this round Evan Cohen (ISR) is out on his own with 7 wins and a spread of 775 games. Nigel Richards (NZL) has steadily crept up from a low-point of 20th place to be in 2nd place with 6-1 and a spread of 1018.