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Yvonne Murray rebounds from loss to retain scrabble accolade
Yvonne Murray rebounded from a crippling loss to Michael Benjamin (43) and eventually retained the Goodwill trophy when scrabble players convened at her Nandy Park residence for their monthly showdown last
Michael Benjamin hands over the winning accolade to Yvonne Murray shortly after the end of the tournament.
Sunday evening.
Murray and Benjamin both amassed 4 points each but the former player prevailed by dint of a larger spread (284 as against 129).
In a previous release Kaieteur Sport had inadvertently reported that Ulric Harris was the defending champion when in fact it was Murray that had clinched the accolade when the group had last met.
Celebrating 20 years of marital bliss to another top seed, Carlton Murray on competition day, Yvonne commenced her trek with a decisive win over her husband (76) before taking care of Ruby Cummings in the second round (77). She stumbled somewhat in her third game against Benjamin, losing by 43 points before reasserting herself with wins in the final sets to Maurice Munru (144) and Ulric Harris (87) to finish the day on 4 points and a positive spread of 284.
Benjamin was also in top form and started his trek to championship honours with a crushing victory over Cummings (101). In a keen competition of wits, he then managed to edge out Ulric Harris by a slim spread of 12 in his second game and continued his rampage with a decisive win over Yvonne Murray (43) before the players went off to lunch.
Munru then checked Benjamin’s progress in the first post lunch game with a crunching defeat by a spread of 73. Benjamin then rebounded to eke out a close win over Carlton Murray (10) but was relegated to second place by dint of a lower spread (129).
This group is scheduled to convene again next month end to resume its rivalry just before the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players celebrates its 20th anniversary with a huge tournament dubbed ‘GASP 20th Anniversary Fun Day’ at Herdmanston Lodge, 65 Peter Rose & Anira Streets, on Sunday, April 24 from 15:00-20:00hrs.
Yvonne will also intensify efforts to initiate a secondary school scrabble programme and so far has made remarkable progress towards its realization after conducting orientation sessions among teachers at the Carmel School, Charlestown earlier this year.
Officials of GASP have since committed to embrace these efforts during the new dispensation and top seed James Krakowsky, said that the incoming executives will further examine other ways of broadening and popularizing the sport. He cited the formation of local clubs under the umbrella of GASP even as the governing body aspires to have the sport on the schools’ curriculum. “The pivotal aim is to eventually stage a Secondary School Scrabble championship while broadening on the support base,” Krakowsky intimated. He also said that the players would recommence the weekly informal get-togethers, training sessions and frequent scheduling of competitions.
Abigail McDonald won the national championship after defeating Moen Gafoor, some three years ago, in a showdown, after these two players had emerged as the best in the GASP National Championships, McDonald had represented Guyana twice at the World Scrabble Championships in Malaysia and the Czech Republic in 2014.
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