The 15th annual Toronto-Montreal (Scrabble®) club match took place on October 28th and 29th, 2000 at the Days Inn Kingston. Toronto won the Kingston Cup and Montreal won the 401 Trophy, as explained in detail in the CGP posting. See also the updated player and team standings, team photos, and the 2001 Kingston Cup Match.
We play by regular NSA tournament rules, except that no record is kept of cumulative spread. Games may therefore be ended by resignation, when both players agree that the outcome is certain and the game does not need to be played out. This should be in keeping with the late Mike Wise's unofficial motto for this event: "Play in a spirit of friendly rivalry."
By tradition, Toronto plays first in all odd-numbered rounds, and Montreal plays first in all even-numbered rounds, overriding the NSA's usual protocol. In Round 13, the player with the better record or higher rating plays first.
Ten dollars is collected from each player at the tournament, to cover the cost of the room and the rating fee.
| Kingston Cup | |||
| Toronto | Montreal | ||
| 1946 | Robin Pollock Daniel | 2005 | David Boys |
| 1939 | James Cherry (Ottawa) | 1956 | Joel Wapnick |
| 1870 | John Chew | 1877 | Jakob Teitelbaum (Ottawa) |
| 1834 | Zev Kaufman | 1801 | Bernard Gotlieb |
| 1830 | Evan Berofsky | 1765 | Peter Teitelbaum (Ottawa) |
| 1824 | Libero Paolella | 1750 | Fran Silver |
| 1804 | Lisa Deift | 1735 | Andrew Golding |
| 1688 | Craig Rowland | 1626 | Linda Espallardo |
| 401 Trophy | |||
| Toronto | Montreal | ||
| 1637 | Lisa Kessler | 1535 | Lou Cornelis (Ottawa) |
| 1560 | Trevor Sealy | 1530 | Joe Peters |
| 1541 | Lynda Wise | 1492 | Barbara Bultz |
| 1432 | Diane Brown | 1486 | Anita Rackham |
| 1392 | Brenda Megannety | 1316 | Andrew Law |
| 1349 | Mad Palazzo | 1208 | Lydia Keras |
| 1166 | Kristen Chew | 1163 | Ruth Nabi |
The following revised format is the joint creation of John Chew and Dave Boys.
Throughout the tournament, players will be paired as though they are in one division. Anytime players are to be ranked for pairing purposes, they will be ranked based on wins first, with ties broken by pre-tournament rating, as no record will be kept of spread. The Cup and Trophy will still be awarded based on total wins by the players in each division.
On Saturday afternoon, in rounds 1-5, the top five players on each team will play each other, as will the middle five and the bottom five.
On Saturday evening after dinner, the players in each group of five (A, B, C) will be ranked according to their current standings (A1-5, B1-5, C1-5). They will then play three rounds as follows.
Round 6
MA1-TB1 MA2-TB2 MA3-TB3 MA4-TB4 MA5-TB5 MB1-TC1 MB2-TC2 MB3-TC3 MB4-TC4 MB5-TC5 MC1-TA1 MC2-TA2 MC3-TA3 MC4-TA4 MC5-TA5
Round 7
TA1-MB1 TA2-MB2 TA3-MB3 TA4-MB4 TA5-MB5 TB1-MC1 TB2-MC2 TB3-MC3 TB4-MC4 TB5-MC5 TC1-MA1 TC2-MA2 TC3-MA3 TC4-MA4 TC5-MA5
Round 8
MA1-TB2 MA2-TB3 MA3-TB1 MA4-TC1 MA5-TC2 MB1-TA2 MB2-TA1 MB3-TC4 MB4-TC5 MB5-TC3 MC1-TA3 MC2-TA4 MC3-TA5 MC4-TB5 MC5-TB4
On Sunday morning (remember to set your clocks back) we rank each team as one group of fifteen players, and players 1, 2, 3 on each team play each other, as do players 4, 5, 6 and so on. This may involve some players facing each other a second time.
After an optional lunch break (to be determined by vote), we'll play a 12th "king-of-the-hill" round where the players with the most wins in each division on each team play each other and so on. Players tied on wins may be rearranged to avoid three-peats.
We may vote to play a 13th round. If we do, it will be paired as described for the 12th round, and the 12th round will instead be a "king-of-the-hill" round ranking the entire team of 15 as one division.
Montreal now leads Toronto 11-4 in the Kingston Cup, while Toronto leads Montreal 3-1 in the 401 Trophy. As of 1999, Montreal is in possession of the Kingston Cup and Toronto has the 401 Trophy. Click to see historical records about the players and the teams.
I've kept the following section for reference in case we need to recruit another player at the last minute, and for reference next year.
To match Montreal's 12 players, I've picked the following team which consists of the 13 Toronto players who expressed an interest in playing, and who had played at Kingston before. The imbalance in team sizes will be made up for by allowing Montreal to draft one more Ottawa player than Toronto. (NSAR = NSA rating, TP = tournaments played at Kingston, N = has been notified)
NSAR TP N Name 1946 11 Y Robin Pollock Daniel 1870 6 Y John Chew 1834 12 Y Zev Kaufman 1830 1 Y Evan Berofsky 1824 11 Y Libero Paolella 1804 6 Y Lisa Deift 1688 2 Y Craig Rowland 1637 5 Y Lisa Kessler 1560 1 Y Trevor Sealy 1541 15 Y Lynda Wise 1432 1 Y Diane Brown 1392 4 Y Brenda Megannety 1349 2 Y Mad Palazzo
The following players have also expressed an interest in playing, and might be asked to play if there is an unexpected change in either roster.
NSAR TP Name 1697 0 Steve Ozorio (not sure if he can attend?) 1385 0 Sinna Vijayakumar 1373 0 Vivienne Muhling 1166 0 Kristen Chew 901 0 Betty Collins
The following players are not interested in playing, and are listed here just so that I know not to keep asking them:
1919 Lloyd Mills 1812 Shaun Goatcher 1810 Jim Nanavati 1786 Tim Anglin 1755 Ross McKenzie 1696 Ray Francis 1520 Gene Rawlins 1164 Karen Francis 1585 Linda GomesSimilarly, I haven't heard back from the following players who have played in recent years or who might otherwise be interested:
1753 7 Ken Pechenick 1707 7 Hugh Currie 1675 5 Leah Katz (will if necessary) 1635 0 Fern Lindzon 1622 12 Ron Manson 1441 1 Yvonne Lobo 1425 1 Sal Desiato 1236 1 Vinnette Francis
NSAR TP Name 2005 14 Dave Boys 1956 11 Joel Wapnick 1801 15 Bernard Gotlieb 1750 11 Fran Silver 1735 1 Andrew Golding 1626 14 Linda Espallardo 1530 7 Joe Peters 1492 7 Barbara Bultz 1486 12 Anita Rackham 1208 1 Lydia Keras 1316 1 Andrew Law 1163 5 Ruth NabiThe following players do not want to play for Montreal this year:
NSAR TP Name 1445 1 Arthur Carvalho (late cancellation) 1216 0 Richard Kirsch
NSAR Name 1939 3 James Cherry 1877 4 Jakob Teitelbaum 1765 3 Peter Teitelbaum 1535 0 Lou Cornelis