Aa-PP-Yy MIii-SOoo TOo YOUuu!....HAa-PP-Yy MIii-SOoo TOo YOUuu...............!!!!

It was  his birthday, the third and last day of his first MISO, and it turned out to be the day when he was crowned the MISO 11 (Main Event) Champion. 

Despite not being at all new to competitive success, Tuesday, 1 May, 2018 was a very lucky day for Alastair Richards (seen right in photo), a day the young Aussie will remember for a very long time.

Things had not started too well for the top seed when after the first of the three days of the Main Event, he was lying in ninth place, a position that suggested he might not be in the best of forms. But by the end of the second day, Richards had started running away with it, opening up a two-game advantage which he maintained almost intact till the end of the tournament, which he finished with an impressive tally of 19 wins and 6 losses.

While Richards' triumph was as exciting as it was predictable, the same cannot be said for the sixth seed Goutham Jayaraman (seen left in photo), of India, who finished in runner-up position with 17 and a half wins. This was one and a half wins better than the tally of the second seed, David Webb, of England, who dug deep to beat the home favourite and newly crowned National Champion Theresa Brousson to third place by the smallest of margins (66 spread points).

The first ratings prize went to Nuala O'Rourke, of Northern Ireland, who placed a remarkable sixth overall whilst Cecil Muscat, a Maltese resident in the UK, also did very well to finish eighth and take home the second prize. 

Patriotic pride was behind many a smile and a cheer for Pauline Cilia, who, climbing up all the way from the nineteenth rank, edged past Richards senior, Paul, by half a point to claim the B Division title. Josephine Mayo, winner a few days earlier of the Earlier Bird first ratings prize, finished third. 

There was more glee and mirth when Sumbul Siddiqui, a 20-year old Pakistani living in the UK and the youngest ever participant in any MISO, was called to receive the 1st Ratings Prize in the B Division. Kunihiko Kuroda, of Japan, performed well to win the 2nd Ratings Prize. 

There are more prizes and excitement in store as the MISO 11 Late Bird gets underway on 3 May, with another two days and sixteen games of competitive Scrabble fun.  

(Update)

Cilia, Brousson and Muscat take home bagfuls of international rating points. Another cherry on Richards' birthday cake is that despite starting the tournament as the highest rated player by some margin, he gains albeit a few rating points. 

On the National Player Ratings List, Cilia leapfrogs from 17th to 12th, Mayo jumps from 12th to 9th, Muscat claims 3rd place, while Brousson soars to within reach of a +2000 rating. 

(penned & published by Nicky Vella Laurenti)