McDonald continues rich vein of form, carts off Level ‘A’ scrabble championship

Apr 13, 2009 Sports

Abigail McDonald signaled her intention in the run up for the national title when she out-spelt a competitive field of scrabble players, including national champion, Fred Collins, to cart off the honours when the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) staged its Level ‘A’ tournament for players rated above 1600, at the Chamber of Commerce Building, Waterloo Street yesterday morning.

Abigail McDonald is flanked by Fred Collins (right) and Colin Chichester shortly after she was declared the winner.

McDonald chalked up 4 points and a positive spread of 206 to claim the top podium position over Fred Collins and Colin Chichester who amassed 3 1/2 points with a spread of 205 and 3 points and a spread of 36 to seal off the second and third places, respectively.

McDonald started the morning session on a good note, defeating Chicester by a spread of 81 while Collins disposed of James Krakowsky by a spread of 90. Chichester rebounded in the second set to defeat Julian Skeete by a spread of 108 while Collins and McDonald continued their winning ways with victories over Leon Belony (84) and James Krakowsky (61), respectively.

McDonald next turned on Collins and disposed of him by a spread of 60. At the end of the morning sessions McDonald assumed the lead with a flawless 3 games and a positive spread of 202 while Collins and Chichester each had 2 games apiece with Chichester assuming the lead by dint of a larger spread of 138 while Collins’ spread remained at 104.

McDonald and Leon Belony faced off in the first game after lunch and the former stamped her authority with a decisive win by a spread of 44. Chichester barely managed a win over Krakowsky (10) while Skeete and Collins battled to a draw, each scoring 363 points in their game.

McDonald was poised to register a flawless five games but Skeete disturbed her plans in the final game with a victory by a spread of 40. Nevertheless, her earlier efforts were enough to retain the lead and the eventual championship.

The tournament was organized to facilitate those players that were ranked above 1600 but not all of these players participated. Nevertheless, competition was high and signaled the intense rivalry to be expected as the national championship looms.