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MISO 2012 Commentary: Before the Tournament

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, After the Tournament.

We return to the lower level of the Paradise Bay Resort Hotel, here in Ċirkewwa, Malta, after three days of rest, sightseeing and recreational Scrabble, for the second of this week's two international tournaments, the Malta International Scrabble Open, or MISO. This is the fifth annual event, and we have managed to attract 76 players from 14 countries on five continents, including the first substantial representation from North America.

The tournament began with a welcoming address from a representative of event sponsor the Malta Sports Council; followed by remarks from Nicky Vella Laurenti, represeneting the event organiser, the Malta Scrabble Club; and Tournament Director Amy Byrne.

Sam Kantimathi (USA) also took a few minutes to award prizes from an informal event held at Theresa Brousson's (MLT) house last night, and to remind players of his SamTimer merchandise table. (Amy's Tilefish table is also set up.)

To accommodate the larger number of players for this event, we have added a third Zyzzyva word adjudication station. Unsuccessful challenges at this event result in a five-point penalty per word challenged.

We had a few last-minute dropouts as is common for international tournaments. American Kenji Matsumoto and Canadian Eric Tran missed their flight at Barcelona, and decided to stay there this weekend. A few players from last week decided that they had enough Scrabble for a week. How is that even possible.