David Boys won the Toronto Scrabble Open in a hotly contested and exciting finish. After 16 rounds Boys had 14 wins and was scheduled to play Zev Kaufman with 13 wins. Seven other players were on 12. Boys and Kaufman played each other in round 17. After opening up a big lead, Boys withstood a late surge by Kaufman and eked out a 2 point win. That clinched first place for Boys, securing him the $3,500 cash prize plus the right to take on the best computer program in the best of five final. Final standings of the Toronto Open are here: http://www.poslfit.com/tso/tso/A-ratings-018.html Quackle beat out Maven for the honours of playing Boys in the final. They each played 36 games against the same human opponents. Quackle finished with a record of 32-4, +4527. Maven was 30-6, +3398. The final was absolutely incredible. The games were projected for an audience of Scrabble players in a viewing room, while the finalists played in another room. Robin Pollock Daniel provided expert commentary and led people through discussions of candidate moves and strategy. The games were also presented on the internet move by move. I won't spoil the suspense for anyone who would like to go and play through the games themselves at: www.poslfit.com I will just say the conclusion was one of the most exciting I've witnessed. The event received media coverage, including a great five minute segment on Global TV's 6 pm news Friday. CTV filmed us as well, and the Toronto Star sent a photographer and wrote a story. More details and a complete list of prizewinners will be posted when we have a chance. Tony Leah