Krakowsky wins locally

Aug 26, 2008 Sports

National scrabble team reflects on loss in Barbados

By Michael Benjamin
James Krakowsky suffered two losses to Colin Chichester and Ulric Harris but rebounded to register 4 points with a positive spread of 217 to etch his name on the Adult Education Lien trophy when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) staged that tournament at the Malteenoes Sports Club, Sunday last.

The two other podium spots were earned by Floyd Carmichael and Colin Chichester, with four points each but lower spreads of 147 and 117 respectively. Moen Gafoor also scored four points but had to be content with 4th place by a dint of a spread of 83.

Krakowsky, also the GASP open champion, started the competition on a positive note, beating Grace Hercules by a solid 108 points.

He added another point to his score, defeating Moen Gafoor by a spread of 133. He was on the verge of registering a perfect first session in the third game but was denied by Ulric Harris who defeated him by a spread of 41.

At that point Harris led the standings with a flawless three points and a positive spread of 109. The determined Krakowsky came back in the first game after lunch to defeat favorite Orlando Michael. He suffered another setback in game 5 with a loss to Colin Chichester by a massive 101 spread.

At that stage he was forced to sit out the next round having been awarded the bye which earned him 1 point and an additional 50 to his spread. The tournament was interestingly poised at this stage.

With Krakowsky on the sidelines, Floyd Carmichael, who had won four games, entered the final game as the hot favorite in a must win situation. He faltered against Moen Gafoor by 38 points to hand the championship to Krakowsky by way of a larger spread.

Meanwhile, the team of local players that contested the Bi Annual Tri Nation tournament in Barbados from August 1-3, lost to Trinidad and Tobago, with Barbados in second place.

Public Relations Officer of GASP, Abigail McDonald admitted that the final standings were not a true reflection of what transpired in Barbados.

She pointed to one instance when her Trinidadian opponent challenged her play and the technical director, who incidentally was a Trinidadian, pronounced the play invalid forcing her to retrieve her tiles and the 80 points allocated to the play. A subsequent recheck at the end of the game showed that the play was indeed valid.

However, the rules of the game prohibited a retraction. National player Fred Collins also had similar experiences when his play was deemed invalid and a later recheck proved otherwise. McDonald said that these were crucial misses and made a big difference in the final standings.

Notwithstanding these occurrences McDonald said that the team’s poor showing could also be attributed to the absence of several key players who were forced out of the tournament because of other pressing engagements locally and overseas. Among them were William Woolford, Ewart Adams and James Krakowsky, all meritorious contenders.

According to McDonald, Leon Belony, Floyd Carmichael and Orlando Michael, selected to fill Woolford, Adams and James’ places at short notice which might have been responsible for their poor showing. “But we have learnt a lot from our experiences and will be better prepared for future eventualities,” she assured.

23 years old Barbadian, Orlette Bullock, was adjudged the most valuable player for his team while Trinidadian, Brian Yates and Guyanese Fred Collins received similar awards for their countries.

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