The Tel Aviv Scrabble® Club

6th Israel Open - February 21-23, 2014

WESPA Calendar (includes all international events sanctioned by WESPA)

ABSP Calendar (includes all events for coming year or so)

The latest addition to the Israeli Scrabble tournament scene - the Israeli Open Scrabble Tournaments, the first of which took place in October, 2008. These are internationally rated open events with thousands of sheqels in prize money, by far the biggest and most important events ever to be held in the Israeli Scrabble scene. They are three-day weekend events (replacing the Scrabble-by-the-Sea events - see below) open to players of all levels.

The Tel Aviv Open one-day events (the first of which was held in July 2006 after 8 years during which no open one day events were held) are held 2-3 times a year (one weekend event, two midweek events). These events are organised by Evan and the Tel Aviv Club. Similarly to the SBTS events, the TLVO events are open events (anyone can participate), played in divisions according to national ratings.

The traditional Scrabble-by-the-Sea three-day tournaments started back in 1998 and took place since then every couple of years, until replaced by the Israeli Open Scrabble Tournaments in 2008. Evan Cohen and Maureen Hoch organised the first two, Evan and Jayne Robinson Z"l organised the next three, the 6th was organised by Evan and Omri Rosenkrantz. These are open tournaments played in divisions according to national ratings.

The following are the final standings in each of the 6 Scrabble-by-the-Sea events (to date), the 6 Tel Aviv Opens, and the Israeli Opens. Reports are given when available.

SBTS 1 | SBTS 2 | SBTS 3 | SBTS 4 | SBTS 5 | SBTS 6 |
TLVO 1 | TLVO 2 | TLVO 3 | TLVO 4 | TLVO 5 | TLVO 6
ISROP01 | ISROP02 |\ISROP03

6th Tel Aviv Open - International Chess Centre, Tel Aviv, Pessach 2009

In preparation for the upcoming international event in Malta (just over two weeks to go!), which 8 Tel Aviv players will be attending, we decided to host yet another one day event. Thanks very much to Omri, who assisted tremendously in the organisation of the event, and managed to play too! Thanks to Agi for the catering. And most of all, thanks to the 30 players who came from afar afield as Kiryat Bialik and Be'er Sheba for 7 nerve-racking games of Scrabble.

There were 3 divisions of 10 players each, Swiss pairing no repeats.

And the details, now.

Awards:
Open Division: Winner - Naomi Landau ; Runner-up - Maureen Hoch
B Division: Winner - Pamela Loval ; Runner-up - Mona Nobil
C Division: Winner - Norman Marcus ; Runner-up - Anne Garber
Deadliest player (highest score): Naomi Landau - 547
Flashiest player (nicest bingo): Avril Shaw - TOMBLESS

Final Standings:

Open (A):

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Naomi	Landau	5	2	398
2	Maureen	Hoch	5	2	385
3	Liliane	Servier	4	3	99
4	Cara	Goldberg	4	3	-27
5	Omri	Rosenkrantz	4	3	-94
6	Yair	Yehuda	3	4	273
7	Tamar	Iancu	3	4	143
8	Hilda	Ben Nun	3	4	-258
9	Avril	Shaw	2	5	-324
10	Tova	Serkin	2	5	-595

Competitive (B):

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Pamela	Loval	5	2	389
2	Mona	Nobil	5	2	217
3	Miriam	Erez	5	2	135
4	Julie	Collins	5	2	-179
5	Phyllis	De Castro	4	3	229
6	Gila	Blits	4	3	50
7	Adriana	Spira	3	4	101
8	Amos	Fabian	2	5	69
9	Masha	Katz	2	5	-477
10	Joan	Tsitsianov	0	7	-534

Casual (C):

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Norman	Marcus	6	1	248
2	Anne	Garber	5	2	316
3	Agi	Brener	5	2	283
4	Gisele	Yomtov	4	3	188
5	Linda	Marguy	4	3	93
6	Marion	Loewenstein	4	3	8
7	Gail	Morris	3	4	-50
8	Charlotte	Perlin	2	5	-302
9	Elisheva	Auerbach	2	5	-309
10	Gusta	Gross	0	7	-475

 

 

5th Tel Aviv Open - ZOA House, February 10th, 2008

The 5th Tel Aviv Open, the first tournament in 2008, is now over. A huge thank you to Omri, for directing the event fantastically. Many thanks to John (Evan's father) for assisting in the running of the event. And a big thank you to all 30 players who showed up from as far away as Kiryat Bialik and London for one the most exciting TLV Opens to date.

There were 3 divisions: 6 top players (one from abroad) competed in the highest rated top division ever. 14 players competed in the 2nd division, and 10 players competed in the 3rd division, 8 of whom were first timers!!! Welcome all!

Enough with the background. Now for the report:

Awards:
A: Winner – Paloma Raychbart ; Runner-up - Naomi Landau
B: Winner – Raz Na'ot ; Runner-up - Ami Tzubery
C: Winner - Anne Garber ; Runner-up - Ben Berger
Deadliest Players (Highest Score): Hilda Ben Nun - 543 ; Runner-up: Ma'or Eichler - 523
Highest Losing Score: Amos Fabian - 443
Lowest Winning Score: Ben Berger - 222
Category (Music words) Winner: Ma'or Eichler - DRUMBEAT
Flashiest Player (nicest bingo): Hilda Ben Nun - FOXGLOVE ; Runner-up: Liliane Servier - BOTFLIES
Best Poker Face (phoniest phoney): Josie Lee - QUANTUMS ; Runner-up: Gila Blits - ECOLIER
Prizes after each round:
#1 – Highest opening play: Raquelle Azran - THRONED (80 points)
#2 – Fastest players: Raz Na'ot & Ami Tzubery
#3 - Highest combined score: Ma'or Eichler & Paloma Raychbart - 864
#4 - Lowest scoring bingo: Naomi Landau - TOASTIES (61 points)
#5 - Most points left on rack: Nancy Alroy (taken from Agi Brener) - 20 points

Stay tuned for the next event... :) 

Open Division - A - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Paloma	Raychbart	5	2	337
2	Naomi	Landau	5	2	90
3	Evan	Cohen	4	3	437
4	Ma’or	Eichler	4	3	128
5	Liliane	Servier	2	5	-484
6	Maureen	Hoch	1	6	-508

Competitive Division - B - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Raz	Na’ot	6	1	459
2	Ami	Tzubery	5	2	642
3	Miriam	Erez	5	2	502
4	Joan	Mori	5	2	254
5	Pamela	Loval	4	3	-25
6	Hilda	Ben Nun	4	3	-39
7	Chaya	Amir	4	3	-82
8	Nancy	Alroy	4	3	-148
9	Gila	Blits	3	4	-41
10	Raquelle	Azran	3	4	-190
11	Amos	Fabian	2	5	-199
12	Agi	Brener	2	5	-209
13	Juliet	Collins	2	5	-252
14	Josie	Lee	0	7	-672

Casual Division - C - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Anne	Garber	7	0	543
2	Ben	Berger	6	1	265
3	Ken	Fox	4	3	88
4	Linda	Marguy	4	3	13
5	Marion	Loewenstein	3	4	25
6	Gusta	Gross	3	4	-85
7	Debbie	Kaufman	3	4	-373
8	Charlotte	Perlin	2	5	31
9	Pamela	Levene	2	5	-232
10	Elisheva	Auerbach	1	6	-275

4th Tel Aviv Open - International Chess Centre, Tel Aviv, Sukkoth 2007

The 4th Tel Aviv Open is over. Thank-yous first. A huge thank you to Agi for the wonderful catering. Thanks also to Omri for the statistics in between rounds. And many thanks to all who the players, who made the event as fun as it was. Want to check out the fun? Take a peek at some pictures from the event.

There were 3 divisions of 8 players, including first-timer Esther. Welcome all! Interestingly, none of the top division players had ever won a top division since the ratings systems were adopted  – so this would be a first!

And now for our report.

Round #1. Omri, the lowest rated player in the top division starts off with a bang, leaping straight into the #1 positions, followed closely by Pamela and Maxine. The three lowest-rated players in the top three positions. An interesting start indeed! In B, the highest rated player, Miriam, showed us why she’s the highest rated player in the division, starting off at the top, with newbie Janet a close second. In C, Avril lead after game #1 with a massive differential, 112 points, the highest in the event (so far…). An prize was given for the highest scoring opening move – Janet, 30 points for FACED. Well done!

Round #2. In A, this round was all about Pamela and Maxine, in 1st and 2nd respectively, 2-0 (+221, +217 respectively), and almost 200 points ahead of their closest rival, David, in 3rd. In B, Janet, in her first ever B-tournament, swept away yet another opponent and leads, 2-0 +167, followed closely by Agi (2-0, +115) and Phyllis (2-0, +108). In C, Norman (1st) and Gusta (2nd) are the only unbeaten players. A prize was given to the highest total – Naomi and Tamar for their combined 808 (406-402). Well done!

Round #3. The final round before lunch. In A, Maxine is on fire – 3-0 – but she’s followed by no fewer than four (!) 2-1, Pamela, Omri, David, Lililane and Naomi. Things are far from over, but the fact that the three lowest rated players in the division are leading after three rounds is quite amazing. In B, Janet remains the only undefeated player, with a 200-point lead over 2nd position Miriam. Agi and Phyllis are the only other 2-1 in B. In C, Norman still leads, undefeated, followed very closely by Nancy and Gusta, a win behind, but only a few points on the differential. A prize was given to the biggest differential – Omri beat his unfortunate opponent by 138 points, 458-320.

Lunch break until 14:45.

Round four. Bellies full, all ready for our siestas, but we still have four games to go. In A, drama. David (4) v. Maxine (1), Omri (3) v. Pamela (2). The two gentlemen win, which puts David at the top, followed closely by Omri and Maxine (all 3-1). Three players, Pamela, Naomi and Liliane are 2-2, meaning it’s still wide open. In B, Janet loses, and falls into second, as 4th place Phyllis wins, catapulting herself into #1. Both have 3-1. Joan, Amos, Miriam and Agi are all in hot pursuit with 2-2. In C, Norman continues to crush his opponents, currently the only undefeated player in the tournament. Nancy, in 2nd, is a single game behind. Avril, Valerie and Gusta are now two games behind the leader (all 2-2), but all in good position for 2nd place. A prize was given to the lowest scoring bingo – Joan wins with 60 points (RUTTERS). Well done!

Round five. In C, Norman suffers his first defeat at Sarah’s hands, allowing Nancy to sneak past him into the #1 position. Nancy has an 83-point lead on differential, Avril’s breathing down both their necks with a 3-2 record. Things are very tight. In B, an amazing turn of events – Amos in #1 has a 3-2 record and is followed by no fewer than 4 (!) players with a 3-2 record and two more with a 2-3 record (i.e. any one of 7 players can win the event!!!). In A, David and Omri lead the division with 4-1 records, but Maxine and Naomi both have 3-2 records. Things are still quite open. David, however, has a massive differential, so it seems likely that even if he loses a game, he’ll still take the tournament. The prize this time was given to the highest scoring single play – Amos’ 101-point CLUMSILY takes the award. Well done!

Round 6. In A, David is the only player with a 5-1 record, followed by Omri and Naomi with 4-2 records. If David wins, the tournament is his. If he loses (by enough) and either Omri or Naomi win (by enough), they could take #1 with David taking #2 or #3. In B, Miriam and Agi are the only 4-2 players – and they’re playing the last game against one-another. The winner takes all. The loser could potentially drop into 7th (!) place. The second position could go to any one of 7 players. Very tight. In C, Nancy and Norman lead, the only 5-1 players. 3 points differential. So it all boils down to who gets the better differential in the final game… Nothing’s final yet!

Round 7. In C, Nancy has a huge win against her opponent, as opposed to Norman’s modest win. It’s Nancy’s – although both are 6-1, Nancy’s +348 (71 more points than Norman) is enough. Avril and Gusta, strong throughout, finished 3rd and 4th. In B, Miriam leaves nothing to chance, rolls up her sleeves and does the job herself – beating Agi in the final game, the only player in B with 5-2. Miriam takes the trophy home. Amos sneaked up from behind, managing to worm his way into 2nd. Janet also succeeded in passing Agi, taking 3rd. Amos, Janet and Agi all finished with 4-3 (and measly differentials, but the runner-up award goes to Amos. Congrats to Janet too for an impressive performance in her debut in B. Well done, all! In A, Naomi needed a massive win to take the event. Even if she won big, David would have to lose big. Naomi finishes in no time at all, with a huge differential – over 300. Would that be enough? Tamar lead against David, who managed to cut his losses, slashing the difference between them to 20 odd points, not enough for Naomi. So David went along to win A, just showing us all once again that it’s not all about which lexicon one uses, but how one plays. And David is one great player. Omri, in his highest finish ever in the top division (okay, it’s only his second appearance), managed a 3rd place finish (losing the last game to Maxine by 1 point…). Tamar, Liliane and Maxine all finished 4-3, but Omri’s superior differential gave him the 3rd position. 

Awards:
A: Winner – David Spolter ; Runner-up - Naomi Landau
B: Winner – Miriam Erez ; Runner-up – Amos Fabian
C: Winner – Nancy Alroy ; Runner-up – Norman Marcus
Deadliest Players (Highest Score) - 534 (Naomi - for the third straight time!) – Naomi is undoubtedly the deadliest woman around…
Highest Losing Score – 402 – Tamar Iancu
Lowest Winning Score – Nancy Alroy - 294
Jewish Festival Award – RELIGION (Naomi Landau)
Nicest Bingo – ANODYNES (David Spolter) ; Runner-up – CLUMSILY (Amos Fabian)
Best Poker Face (Phoniest Phoney) – FOOTSIED* (Amos Fabian)
Tough Luck Award – Gila Blits – The only player with a perfect record – 7-0.
Prizes after each round:
#1 – Highest opening play – Janet Perry – FACED (30 points)
#2 – Highest combined score – Naomi Landau+Tamar Iancu – 808 (406+402)
#3 – Biggest differential – Omri-Gila - +138 (458-320)
#4 – Lowest scoring bingo – Joan Tsitsianov – 60 points – RUTTERS
#5 – Highest scoring play – Amos Fabian – 101 points – CLUMSILY
#6 – Closest game – Sarah Vanunu+Avril Shaw – 4 points

Stay tuned for the next event... :) 

Open Division - A - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	David	Spolter	5	2	564
2	Naomi	Landau	5	2	282
3	Omri	Rosenkrantz	4	3	248
4	Tamar	Iancu	4	3	202
5	Liliane	Servier	4	3	-9
6	Maxine	Tsvaigrach	4	3	-91
7	Pamela	Loval	2	5	-359
8	Gila	Blits	0	7	-837

Competitive Division - B - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Miriam	Erez	5	2	256
2	Amos	Fabian	4	3	61
3	Janet	Perry	4	3	-14
4	Agi	Brener	4	3	-41
5	Joan	Tsitsianov	3	4	-61
6	Phyllis	De Castro	3	4	-67
7	Ruth	Ogdan	3	4	-92
8	Josie	Lee	2	5	-42

Casual Division - C - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Nancy	Alroy	6	1	348
2	Norman	Marcus	6	1	277
3	Avril	Shaw	4	3	187
4	Gusta	Gross	4	3	5
5	Sarah	Vanunu	3	4	-55
6	Valerie	Arnon	2	5	-196
7	Elisheva	Auerbach	2	5	-239
8.	Esther	Halevi	1	6	-327

3rd Tel Aviv Open - ZOA House, Tel Aviv, 4th August, 2007

The 3rd Tel Aviv Open is over. First of all, a huge thank you to John (my father) and Barak for all the running around and the assistance in the organisation, and, most importantly, all the pictures taken (click here) and the a short videoclip shot during the closing ceremony (click here). It wouldn't have been as successful and run as smoothly without them. Thanks to Omri who took the time off between games to do the stats.

Despite 6 (!) cancellations in the last few days, the hall was packed with 28 eager Scrabblers from all over the country (and even one from abroad, but we'll get to her later...). Welcome, all! We competed in three divisions according to players' experience, national ratings and wishes.

In Casual (C), there were only six players, two of them first timers - Linda (from England) and Sarah - welcome to the Scrabble family! There were 14 players in Competitive (B), including first timer Vanessa, and 8 players in Expert (A), including visiting Lynda from abroad in her first Israeli tournament.

And now for our report.

Round one. Naomi in A opens with a huge win, taking the first prize of the day for the biggest differential – 232 points (547-315 against visiting Lynda).

Round two. The award this round went to the highest combined score – Lynda (with the second 500+ of the day) and Maxine totalled an impressive 944 points (528-416).

Round three. Three rounds into the tournament and there were only 3 undefeated players – Maureen in A, Julie in B and Linda in C. Both Maureen and Julie were behind on differential, so it was still wide open. Linda was way ahead on differential and would probably need two losses to fall behind. The award this round was given to the lowest scoring bingo – Norman’s SEAMIER scored 64 (had he played SERIEMA, he would have been eligible for the BIRD award, as a SERIEMA is a Brazilian bird of some sort…).

Time for a brief lunch-break.

Round four. Drama in A, as Omri beats the unbeaten Maureen, vaulting Naomi into #1, followed by Liliane, with Maureen and Lynda in 3rd and 4th. In B, Julie reigns supreme – the only unbeaten player in her division, with Miriam, Pamela, Phyllis and Gila in close pursuit, a game behind Julie, but with much better differentials. In Casual, it’s still all about Linda, unbeaten. In 2nd, Joan, with a 3-1 record, still has an excellent chance at catching Linda, as her differential is more than 200 points better. But since Joan and Linda have already played, Joan’s only chance of overtaking Linda is in the KOTH pairings in the last two rounds. Very exciting.

Round five. It was C’s turn for a mini-drama. The unbeaten Linda was beaten by Gusta – opening things up now as we go into the final rounds. In B, it was Nancy who broke the winning streak of the last remaining unbeaten player – Julie. Everyone’s been beaten (though some still have to win…).

Round six. The tournament nears an end. Going into round 6, no fewer than three players in A have a 4-1 record. Two more have a 3-2 record. It’s wide open. In B, things are even wider open, as five players are 4-1 and two more have a 3-2 record. All could take the #1 spot. In C, two players are 4-1 and two others are 3-2, meaning that C is wide open too. So round six will not be a deciding round and it will all depend on round 7…

Round seven. Going into the round, in A, any one of four could potentially take the tournament – Naomi, Lynda, Liliane and Omri. Naomi faced Omri. Lynda faced Raz and Liliane faced Maureen. Hilda and Maxine were fighting it out for the #8 position… In B, it was among Pamela, Miriam, Phyllis and Julie for the #1 position. For #2, there were two additional contenders – Gila and Josie. Joan led C, but Gusta or Linda were in position to take the #1 spot from her, one of the three settling for 2nd. Very exciting all around.

And going down into the final stretch, in A, Omri beat Naomi, Lynda defeated Raz and Liliane won her game too, securing Lynda's #1 position. Well done! Naomi (2nd), Liliane (3rd) and Omri (4th, in his first ever appearance in the top division due to a last minute cancellation...) all finished 5-2, Naomi having the best differential.  

In B, Pamela continued to destroy her opponents, endings with a 6-1 record beating her opponents by an average of almost 150! Miriam finished in 2nd, also with a 6-1 record as two non-SOWPODS players snatched B's 1st and 2nd spots. Phyllis, Gila and Julie trailed behind with 5-2 records.

Finally, in C, Joan, with a very strong finish, ended off with a 6-1 record, beating runner-up Gusta by 2 games! Cindy and Linda also finished with 4-3 records, but with poorer differentials.

Other awards: A: Winner - Lynda Kraar ; Runner-up - Naomi Landau B: Winner - Pamela Loval ; Runner-up - Miriam Erez C: Winner - Joan Mori ; Runner-up - Gusta Gross Deadliest Players (Highest Score) - 547 (Naomi - for the second straight time!) ; Runner-up - 529 (Gila) Highest Losing Score - 442 (Agi) Lowest Winning Score - 291 (Vanessa) BIRD Award - QUAILS (Sarah) - See video >> Nicest Bingo - SUZERAINS (Liliane) ; Runner-up - GLYCERIN (Maxine) Best Poker Face (Phoniest Phoney) - TAXIERS* (Maureen) Tough Luck Award - Elisheva - Better luck next time!!!

Sarah getting the BIRD award

Well done, all, and thanks for a great day. I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the next TLV Open (Sukkoth, stay tuned...). 

Open Division - A - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Lynda	Kraar	6	1	226
2	Naomi	Landau	5	2	328
3	Liliane	Servier	5	2	226
4	Omri	Rosenkrantz	5	2	117
5	Maureen	Hoch	3	4	-32
6	Raz	Na’ot	2	5	-186
7	Hilda	Ben Nun	1	6	-101
8	Maxine	Tsvaigrach	1	6	-578

Competitive Division - B - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Pamela	Loval	6	1	1028
2	Miriam	Erez	6	1	653
3	Phyllis	De Castro	5	2	524
4	Gila	Blits	5	2	364
5	Juliet	Collins	5	2	-166
6	Adriana	Spira	4	3	27
7	Josie	Lee	4	3	-41
8	Amos	Fabian	4	3	-93
9	Sheila	Meltzer	3	4	-273
10	Nancy	Alroy	2	5	-248
11	Norman	Marcus	2	5	-465
12	Agi	Brener	1	6	-204
13	Avril	Shaw	1	6	-509
14	Vanessa	Rudolph	1	6	-577

Casual Division - C - Final Standings

Position	First Name	Last Name	Wins	Losses	Cumulative Differential
1	Joan	Mori	6	1	630
2	Gusta	Gross	4	3	111
3	Cindy	Donenfeld	4	3	74
4	Linda	Faith	4	3	50
5	Sarah	Vanunu	3	4	-190
6	Elisheva	Auerbach	0	7	-675

2nd Tel Aviv Open - ZOA House, Tel Aviv, 15th April, 2007

Well, the 2nd TLV Open is over. It wouldn't have been the success it was without all the help in the organisation. Thanks to Barak for running around, playing the occasional game and doing everything I couldn't, including taking dozens of excellent pictures (featuring everyone in the event at least once). Thanks to Omri who took the time off between games to do the stats. And thanks to Ami for his blessed programming skills, the reason the stats were out there so quickly. Kudos, all!

We filled our quota of 32 players, including 6 first timers. Welcome, all! Players from all our nation's clubs (except Eilat) were present, competing in three divisions according to their experience, national ratings and wishes.

In Casual, there were no fewer than 5 first timers - Janet, Assaf, Laine, Shalva and Barak. Welcome, all! Janet's performance was amazing. Winning all her games with the best record in the tournament, Janet is sure to return next time in the Competitive Division. Gusta from TLV gave a great performance too, coming second - losing a single game (to Janet...). Assaf, our youngest competitor (16!), came 3rd in his first ever tournament after visiting a club (TLV) only three times in his life! Well done, all!

In Competitive, things were extremely exciting. After leading from round 4-6, Omri went into the final King-of-the-Hill round, facing Gila. Both with a 5-1 record, the winner was sure to take home the trophy. Gila had never won an event before. Omri had never made it into the top half, but was having a phenomenal tournament so far, even giving Gila her only loss... So this promised to be a great battle indeed. It was Gila's day. Winning the final game and bumping Omri into 3rd (differential), Gila took the title, as Hilda sneaked up from behind snatching 2nd place. Omri, in his best tournament to date, had to settle for 3rd.

In the Open Division (A), Ma'or showed us all once again why he's one of the best players in the country. Crushing all 7 of his opponents by an average of over 80 points, Ma'or's perfect record earned him the well deserved top position. Dahlia, who started off terribly (0-2), managed to win 5 straight games, taking 2nd position from Liliane (who's faced Ma'or in the KOTH round) at the last minute. Liliane had to settle for a very respectable 3rd. This is the second time Dahlia's taken the runner-up position in the TLV Open (in the 1st TLV Open, Dahlia was Israel's runner-up). Maureen, who hasn't played a club or tournament game in years, made a great comeback, showing us she still knows her way around a Scrabble board. With the same W-L record as 2nd place Dahlia, Maureen's differential earned her 4th. 

Other awards presented at the event:
Deadliest player (highest score): Naomi, 599 (the best score ever in a Tel Aviv Open or Scrabble by the Sea event)
Second highest score: Liliane, 505 (there were only two 500+ scores in the event)
Lowest winning score: Gusta, 264
Highest losing score: Paloma, 425
Best poker face (nicest phoney): Gila - POMERANTS
Second best phoney: Assaf, LG
Highest scoring word: Liliane, 176 BAGGIEST
Nicest bingo: Naomi, AMICABLE
Second nicest bingo: Liliane, GRAVIDA
ZOA award: Paloma, ZONAE

Well done, all, and thanks for a great day. I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the next TLV Open (summer, stay tuned...). 

Open Division - A - Final Standings

	First Name	Last Name	Club	W	L	T	Diff.
1	Ma’or	Eichler	TLV	7	0	0	568
2	Dahlia	Friedman	JM	5	2	0	290
3	Liliane	Servier	TLV	5	2	0	234
4	Maureen	Hoch	Ra’anana	5	2	0	178
5	Naomi	Landau	TLV	4	3	0	506
6	Tamar	Iancu	Be’erS	4	3	0	-222
7	Paloma	Raychbart	London	3	4	0	88
8	Ami	Tzubery	JM	3	4	0	-389
9	Moshe	Feingold	Haifa	2	5	0	-185
10	Israel	Shafir	HZL	2	5	0	-541
11	Raz	Na’ot	TLV	1	5	1	-225
12	Pamela	Loval	JM	0	6	1	-302

Competitive Division - B - Final Standings

	First Name	Last Name	Club	W	L	T	Diff.
1	Gila	Blits	TLV	6	1	0	242
2	Hilda	Ben Nun	JM	5	2	0	374
3	Omri	Rosenkrantz	TLV	5	2	0	226
4	Amos	Fabian	TLV	4	3	0	208
5	Julie	Collins	TLV	4	3	0	113
6	Chaya	Amir	TLV	3	4	0	2
7	Phyllis	De Castro	TLV	3	4	0	-56
8	Nancy	Alroy	---	3	4	0	-163
9	Harvey	Frenkiel	---	3	4	0	-303
10	Sallie	Tangir	HZL	2	5	0	-107
11	Agi	Brener	TLV	2	5	0	-229
12	Josie	Lee	JM	2	5	0	-307

Casual Division - C - Final Standings

	First Name	Last Name	Club	W	L	T	Diff.
1	Janet	Perry	---	7	0	0	576
2	Gusta	Gross	TLV	6	1	0	50
3	Assaf	Cohen	---	4	3	0	-67
4	Valerie	Arnon	HZL	3	4	0	182
5	Laine*	Selwyn	---	3	4	0	33
6	Shalva	Ben David	BetSh	2	5	0	-51
7	Elisheva	Auerbach	---	2	5	0	-270
8	Gila	Shapiro	Be’erS	1	6	0	-453

*One game played by Barak Paz, one game missed

First Tel Aviv Open - Bet Tami, Tel Aviv, 19th July, 2006

First of all, a huge thank-you to the people who made this tournament the success it was – Agi, for arranging the wonderful catering (I personally wouldn’t have lasted the day without it...), Barak, for running around and doing everything I couldn’t, including stepping in to play a game, Omri, who helped me with the stats in between rounds, and last but not least, Ami, whose programming skills made the whole thing possible. It wouldn’t have worked without you guys, thanks!

 

We started off as 32 people, but unfortunately, four players withdrew at the last moment... Nevertheless, all of the players’ cooperation allowed things to run smoothly despite the last minute changes.

 

This was the first open one day event in over 8 years (and the second one ever!). It was also the first event in Israel to use the latest word list (the international dictionary). Judging by the fact that the winners of two of the three divisions and the runners-up in all the divisions were not familiar with the new lexicon, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference... This certainly won’t be the last one day event.

 

Players from all over the country met in Tel-Aviv to play a 7-game event in three divisions. There were no fewer than 7 (!) first timers. Welcome, all.

 

The 28 players played as follows: 8 players competed in the A division, 12 in B and 8 in C. A and C played a Round Robin format and B played a modified Round Robin format (my own invention...) except for the last game in which a King-of-the-Hill format was used. The winners of all the divisions were decided in the last game, as things were extremely close. But before we get to the standings, a few other awards given in the tournament.

 

First, a few words on the scoring. Nancy (C) was declared the deadliest player with the highest score in the tournament – an amazing 573! Naomi (A) and Joan T. (B) distant seconds with 510. All in all, there were only four 500+ scores in the event. Not something to write home about... Bella (C) had the lowest winning score – 179, a little more than a third of what Liliane and Hilda (both A) got for their high losing scores of 407.

 

The award for the flashiest bingo was given to Nancy for BELOVEDS – a 206 point triple-triple beauty. Liliane’s pretty QUARTERN was second. And there were phoneys too. The GLOMP award (see explanation below) for the best phoney went to Omri’s TRIVIAS*, followed by Raquelle’s SQUISHER*. Incidentally, Raquelle recorded more phoney bingos than all the other players combined! J

 

And to the big awards. Right from the start, Nancy showed her dominance in C, finally crushing all 7 of her opponents – the only player to win all her games, and with a fantastic differential too! Joan M., in her first ever event, came second (5-2), followed by Gusta (5-2). But the real excitement (and pressure!) was in B. 8^th place was separated from 1^st by a single game! And it was this way throughout. At the last moment, it was Amos, who won the division by a mere 6 (!) points (5-2 +272), followed by Pamela in second (5-2 +266) and Raquelle (5-2 +173). This is a first for both Amos and Pamela, as they’ve never taken an award before! Congrats. And many more. Players in 4^th-8^th were all 4-3. And now for the big boys and girls – the A division. At the end of the day, it was Israel’s day. With a 6-1 record, Israel had the best W-L in the division. Dahlia, with her best perfomance to date (!) finished second, but with a much better spread than Israel. Liliane, also 5-2 came 3^rd.

 

Well done, all! It was a great tournament and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the next tournament!

 

Evan

 

P.S. So what’s a GLOMP*, you may ask? Jayne Robinson invented this little word for euphemistically referring to idiots (I’m euphemistically challenged, I’m afraid). In the World Championships held in London last year, I had no vowels on one of my racks. But there was an open O around which I placed 4 consonants – GL_MP... Very pleased with myself for having found a British slang word (okay, I don’t know my British words, but Jayne is a good enough source, right?), I was even more pleased when my opponent challenged. I wasn’t so pleased when I lost my turn and the game... What a GLOMP I felt like!!!

A Division - Final Standings

	First Name	Surname	W	L	T	Differential
1	Israel	Shafir	6	1	0	343
2	Dahlia	Friedman	5	2	0	537
3	Liliane	Servier	5	2	0	332
4	Naomi	Landau	4	3	0	66
5	Ami	Tzubery	3	4	0	-197
6	Maxine	Tsvaigrach	2	4	1	-331
7	Raz	Na’ot	1	5	1	-391
8	Hilda	Ben Nun	1	6	0	-359

B Division - Final Standings

	First Name	Surname	W	L	T	Differential
1	Amos	Fabian	5	2	0	272
2	Pamela	Loval	5	2	0	266
3	Raquelle	Azran	5	2	0	173
4	Joe	Weisblatt	4	3	0	221
5	Miriam	Erez	4	3	0	131
6	Joan	Tsitsianov	4	3	0	45
7	Omri	Rosenkrantz	4	3	0	-56
8	Cara	Bowen-Goldberg	4	3	0	-64
9	Gila	Blits	3	4	0	102
10	Masha	Katz	2	5	0	-298
11	Agi	Brener	2	5	0	-442

C Division - Final Standings

	First Name	Surname	W	L	T	Differential
1	Nancy	Alroy	7	0	0	936
2	Joan	Mori	5	2	0	410
3	Gusta	Gross	5	2	0	103
4	Bella	Rubin	4	3	0	151
5	Elisheva	Auerbach	3	4	0	-109
6	Miriam	Mandel	3	4	0	-305
7	Linda	Schlosberg	1	6	0	-836

Netanya - September 11-13, 1997

Sadly, no records exist of the standings in this event, the first open event held in over 5 years. However, courtesy of Maureen and Jack Hoch, we do have some pictures here!

Herzliya, April 14, 1998

Expert Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	Hazel Haberer	7	2	460
2	Zelig Leader	7	2	97
3	Zev Kesselman	6	3	163
4	Avi Leader	6	3	35
5	Paloma Raychbart	5	4	232
6	Sam Orbaum	5	4	94
7	Ari Sha'anan	5	4	36
8	Dahlia Friedman	5	4	-32
9	Ma'or Eichler	4	5	232
10	Israel Shafir	4	5	69
11	Kenny Zwiebel	4	5	-6
12	Maureen Hoch	4	5	-113
13	Rena Schwartz	4	5	-174
14	Alice Jonah	3	6	-192
15	Ben Bloom	2	7	-344
16	Steve Goldberg	1	8	-457

Competitive Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	Pamela Loval	7	2	566
2	Sara Schacter	7	2	308
3	Mike Corden	7	2	199
4	Masha Katz	6	3	383
5	Chaya Amir	6	3	253
6	Phyllis De Castro	6	3	180
7	Mia Pincu	6	3	43
8	Hadassa Braun	5	4	493
9	Vivienne Riffkin	5	4	365
10	Zeva Wolff	5	4	260
11	Juliet Collins	5	4	223
12	Hilda Ben Nun	5	4	49
13	Gila Blits	5	4	-57
14	Josie Lee	5	4	-107
15	Agi Brener	4	5	163
16	Ruth Katz	4	5	41
17	Miriam Erez (Blumberg)	4	5	6
18	Barbara Roche	4	5	-167
19	Sallie Tangir	4	5	-271
20	Julius Orbaum	4	5	-366
21	Roger Friedland	3	6	-61
22	Anita Susman	3	6	-70
23	Vita Salinger	3	6	-268
24	Helen Frankel	3	6	-331
25	Ellen Dunn	1	8	-783
26	Adriana Spira	0	9	-893

Dead Sea Hod Hotel, February 7-9, 2001

Premier Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	David Litke	12	3	801
2	Ma'or Eichler	11	4	406
3	Sam Orbaum	10	5	641
4	Roz Grossman	9	6	181
5	Zelig Leader	9	6	117
6	Paloma Raychbart	7	8	368
7	Zev Kesselman	7	8	27
8	Ari Sha’anan	7	8	-15
9	Moshe Feingold	6	9	132
10	Dahlia Friedman	6	9	-216
11	Hazel Haberer	6	9	-482
12	Eddie Levenston	6	9	-687
13	Israel Shafir	5	10	-679
14	Steve Goldberg	4	11	-710

Expert Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	Cilla Meroz	10	2	341
2	Hadassah Braun	10	2	211
3	Liliane Servier	9	3	710
4	Mike Corden	8	4	515
5	Fran Goldstein	8	4	257
6	Alice Jonah	8	4	240
7	Vivienne Muhling	8	4	223
8	Maureen Hoch	7	5	384
9	Elaine Saltsman	7	5	380
10	Sara Schachter	7	5	272
11	Richard Aron	7	5	68
12	Sallie Tangir	7	5	60
13	Masha Katz	6	6	319
14	Virginia de la Cruz	6	6	195
15	Edythe Friedlander	6	6	16
16	Ruth Ogdan	4	8	-201

Competitive Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	Vivienne Riffkin	8	4	803
2	Ami Tzubery	8	4	646
3	Pamela Loval	8	4	567
4	Hilda Ben-Nun	7.5	4.5	92
5	David Newman	7	5	281
6	Naomi Landau	7	5	235
7	Varda Brown	7	5	48
8	Yehuda Meroz	7	5	-464
9	Julie Collins	6.5	5.5	-112
10	Rachelle Ben-David	6	6	272
11	Miriam Blumberg	6	6	175
12	Adriana Spira	6	6	-19
13	David Blumfield	6	6	-46
14	Etta Margalit	6	6	-180
15	Phyllis De-Castro	5	7	134
16	Chaya Amir	5	7	-12
17	Paul Kohn	5	7	-86
18	Rose Meyer	5	7	-233
19	Zeva Woolf	5	7	-329
20	Lionel Rose	5	7	-406
21	Agi Brener	4	8	-246
22	Joan Berg	4	8	-357
23	Joe Guter	4	8	-379
24	Tamara Rose	4	8	-548
25	Joan Tsitsianov	3	9	-358
26	Cindy Donenfeld	3	9	-483
27	Ruth Katz	3	9	-569
28	Maxine Tsvaigrach	3	9	-620
29	Amos Fabian	3	9	-821
30	Sara Friedman	1	11	-941

Casual Division - Final Standings

	Name	W	L	Spread
1	Perry Simon	10	0	1177
2	Miriam Evron	7	3	255
3	Sylvia Lefkovitz	7	3	218
4	Caroline Manson	6	4	130
5	Rose Shafir	5	5	131
6	Rina Navot	5	5	53
7	Sue Aizenfish	4	6	175
8	Sarita Cohen	3	7	-343
9	Fay Morris	2	8	-894
10	Mike Morris	1	9	-912