elicata wins all in the fall

The 2016 competitive Scrabble season has been neatly but regrettably split in two for  David Delicata (shown right of photo).

After failing in his bid to capture his sixth national title in the first quarter of the year, the five-time National Champion was simply unbeatable from then on, placing an impressive third in the 9th Malta International Scrabble Open Main Event and grabbing all of the subsequent league titles.  

There were no mixed fortunes in Delicata's clean sweep of the two parallel Autumn League leagues. In the first, he triumphed in a best-of-five final over reigning National Champion, Charles Micallef. Nicky Vella Laurenti came in third after beating an in-form Mario Seychell, who had been an inch away from facing Delicata in the final but who moves more than an inch further up the National Player Rating List.

In the second of the two leagues, the 38-year old, who has been playing competitive Scrabble since his early teens, topped the table ahead of Micallef and three time National Champion Mario Saliba.  

In Autumn League 1, Moira Fenech was towering in her victory of the B Tournament over the other three losing quarter-finalists, including Albert Zammit, who finished second. These strong performances allow both players to move up the National Player Rating List. 

By way of contrast, the C Tournament saw a photo finish with Christine Strawbridge beating Paul Mifsud to first place by just 10 spread points, and Josephine Mayo trailing just one game behind. It was close call even in the D Tournament where Kevin Pirotta edged past Mario Camilleri in second and Mary Rose Caruana in third.

Like in Autumn League 1, in Autumn League 2, Paul Mifsud was beaten to first place, this time by Albert Zammit by one game. Paul Frendo finished a distant but creditable third. 

Newcomer Marvic Cutajar climbs a few places up the National Player Rating List following encouraging performances in the two leagues.