WSC 1999: Lester Schonbrun

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Lester Schonbrun

[photo of Schonbrun] Lester Schonbrun is a 63-year-old legal assistant and longtime tournament SCRABBLE^® player from California who qualifies for the American team on the basis of his NSA tournament rating. Schonbrun placed 46th at the 1997 WSC in Washington, D.C.

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Round 1. Schonbrun plays Caitlin-Eugen Caba of Romania, a 25-year-old computer engineer and first-time WSC participant.
Schonbrun crushed Caba 532-287 to take the overall first-round lead with a record of 1 win, 0 losses and a cumulative spread of +245.

Round 2. Schonbrun wins again, this time against American John Luebkemann, 423-394. The closeness of the win drops him down to fourth place, 2-0 +274. See photo above.

Round 3. Schonbrun continues undefeated, beating Canadian Champion Joel Wapnick 442-395. Despite the win, he continues to drop in the rankings, to 5th place, 3-0 +321.

Round 4. Schonbrun loses his first game, to Ronald Credo of the Philippines, 415-487. He drops further to 14th place, 3-1 +249. Schonbrun's bingos INEDITED, GESTURE were no match for Credo's STRAINT, GENITOR, COMPILED, OUTREADS.

Round 5. Schonbrun beats Jakkrit Klaphajone of Thailand in a close, low-scoring game 387-373. He's now in 9th place, 4-1 +263.

Round 6. Schonbrun loses to fellow American Randy Hersom 390-472, and drops to 22nd place, 4-2 +181.

Round 7. Schonbrun won against Michael Gongolo (KE) 518-309. Schonbrun is now #9, with a record of 5-2 +390.

Round 8. Schonbrun won against Femi Awowade (NI) 495-391. Schonbrun is now #5, with a record of 6-2 +494.

Round 9. Schonbrun won against Jakkrit Klaphajone (TH) 430-390. Schonbrun is now #4, with a record of 7-2 +534.

Round 10. Schonbrun lost to Nigel Richards (NZ) 259-587. Schonbrun is now #14, with a record of 7-3 +206. Computer operator Kevin Burfitt writes:

First impression of the result slip from the Round 10 game between Nigel Richards (New Zealand) and Lester Schonbrunn (United States) from at least three people now is that the game was a 328-all tie. In fact that is the margin of Nigel's victory. With that, Nigel moves into second place with 8 wins and cumulative spread of 1197, one game behind the World Champion, Joel Sherman, who won his game with David Boys 395-282.

Round 11. Schonbrun won against Randy Hersom (US) 463-411. Schonbrun is now #9, with a record of 8-3 +258.

Round 12. Schonbrun lost to Joel Wapnick (CA) 337-393. Schonbrun is now #16, with a record of 8-4 +202.

Round 13. Schonbrun lost to Mark Nyman (UK) 379-390. Schonbrun is now #21, with a record of 8-5 +191.

Round 14. Schonbrun won against Russell Byers (UK) 435-327. Schonbrun is now #16, with a record of 9-5 +299.

Round 15. Schonbrun lost to John Holgate (AU) 292-433. Schonbrun is now #23, with a record of 9-6 +158. Holgate reported his bingo DUVETYNS.

Round 16. Schonbrun won against Leslie Charles (TT) 430-369. Schonbrun is now #18, with a record of 10-6 +219.

Round 17. Schonbrun lost to Ron Tiekert (US) 448-494. Schonbrun is now #25, with a record of 10-7 +173.

Round 18. Schonbrun won against A Ganesh (MY) 468-329. Schonbrun is now #19, with a record of 11-7 +312.

Round 19. Schonbrun lost to David Boys (CA) 388-414. Schonbrun is now #23, with a record of 11-8 +286.

Round 20. Schonbrun won against Howard Warner (NZ) 396-366. Schonbrun is now #20, with a record of 12-8 +316.

Round 21. Schonbrun lost to Russell Byers (UK) 358-402. Schonbrun is now #25, with a record of 12-9 +272.

Round 22. Schonbrun lost to Kendall Boyd (NZ) 346-412. Schonbrun is now #32, with a record of 12-10 +206.

Round 23. Schonbrun lost to Michael Gongolo (KE) 333-383. Schonbrun is now #39, with a record of 12-11 +156.

Round 24. Schonbrun lost to Gareth Williams (WA) 378-434. Schonbrun is now #48, with a record of 12-12 +100.

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