SCRABBLE DETECTIVE

Collateral Damage Hits WA

2011-11-21T21:45:00.009+11:00

(Harry Malcolm)

(Archive Photo)

Subject: Life suspension of Mohammed Hegazi

To: "Glenys Lawrie"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi"

Received: Tuesday, 15 November, 2011, 6:37 AM

-- On Tue, 15/11/11, Harry Malcolm wrote:

15-11-11

Dear Glenys

I write to you as president of the West Australian Scrabble Committee,I understand that in 2008 or soon after, Mohammed Hegazi who has never played in WA was suspended for life from playing there.

This appears to follow action by the Victorian Committee which are now being exposed as at least denial of natural justice, and where cheating claims have collapsed and been apologised for by Trevor Halsall.

Examination of your Constitution in any case shows no pathway to such a decision by you and no reciprocal arrangements with other states.

I note that Mohammed Hegazi has continued to be a regular player elsewhere since that time. I am of the view that your continuing ban is illegal and a denial of natural justice.

I therefore require of you:

1) The legal basis on which you have decided you can suspend him at all, let alone for life

2) The minutes of discussion and decision when the decision was made.

or failing that

1) advice from you that the ban is rescinded and unreserved apologies are forwarded to Mohammed Hegazi.

It is simply a matter of fact that justice for Mohammed will be keenly pursued, hopefully not requiring a legal stoush.

Thank you for a prompt response

Harry Malcolm

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From: "Harry Malcolm"

To: "Glenys Lawrie"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi"

27-11-11

Dear Glenys

Neither of us is aware of any response from you and being ignored and/or delaying by you on this issue is tantamount to bullying.

We reasonably require of you to advise us of your response, even if it is no intention to provide the documentation.

I have no intention of risking my childrens' well being in an organisation where it appears they can be bullied on a whim and hearsay.

The life suspension of a player who has never played in your state looks absurd on the face of it, so we require of you the documents that made such an action seem allowable to you, and the whole and unabridged minutes of the decision forthwith.

If legal action is necessary, we will be seeking costs, so we trust you will act with the best interests of your Association by being open and transparent.

We would forthwith otherwise require of you an unconditional written apology to Mohammed, unconditional repeal of the ban, and the apology and repeal to be published on this ozscrabble list and in the ATB.

thank you

Harry Malcolm

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From: "Harry Malcolm"

To: "Chris Hall" , "J Walker" , "Maureen"

Cc: "Mohammed A. Hegazi" , "Glenys Lawrie"

Dear respected Committee members ASPA WA,

I have emailed Glenys Lawrie twice in relation to the WA 2008 life ban on Mohammed Hegazi who has never played in WA.

1) I have asked her for written evidence of a then existing reciprocal relationship with Vic, and noted Vic only gave him a one year ban.

2) I have also asked where in the WA constitution is there a pathway to action against him ? (your Constitution below).. I am requesting a copy of the minutes related to his being banned.

I believe the action was illegal and must be repealed forthwith

Glenys has failed to even acknowledge the emails so the matter will unnecessarily widen and/or escalate, and a non response in addition to an unlawful action fought out in the courts will bring scrabble in disrepute and unnecessary costs. If her ignoring is deliberate, it in itself is a form of bullying.

I appeal to you to urge Glenys to address the request directly, which should not be a problem if she is confident of her grounds.

Please let the other members know of this contact, I do not have their email addresses yet.

The point of my action is that Mohammed has already had an apology over the unsubstantiated cheating claims at that time (2008).

I do not want to be introducing my children to an organisation where ridiculous knee jerk reactions can be made on hearsay between buddies.

I understand most people find it hard to swallow their pride after acting impulsively but much more important is that ASPA organisations are seen as model organisations where a person cannot be discriminated against.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Harry Malcolm

0413 802 436

40 Blackwood Ave

Warburton

Vic 3799

CONSTITUTION

The WA State Government is currently reviewing the law covering Incorporated organisations and how they are run. New legislation is expected to be put before parliament before the end of the year. One key part of these changes is the need for a new set of Rules; or Constitution; and the government has offered a model set of rules for incorporated organisations.

The following is the current Constitution and Rules of the Australian Scrabble Player's Association (WA) Inc., dated July 2006.

THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF THE

AUSTRALIAN SCRABBLE PLAYERS' ASSOCIATION (WA) INC

(1) NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION

1.1 The name of the Association is the Australian Scrabble Players Association (WA). It is a democratic non-profit organisation of Scrabble players who meet regularly for the purpose of playing social and competitive word games.

(2) PURPOSES OF THE ASSOCIATION

2.1 To provide members with an opportunity to meet at suitable venues.

2.2 To publish a regular newsletter and supply information to all players wishing to know more about word games.

2.3 To encourage regular social and competitive activities for members, to assist clubs in the organisation of tournaments and to hold an annual State Championship.

2.4 To encourage interest and involvement of members in activities throughout Australia and overseas.

2.5 To develop standards and ethics of play.

2.6 To encourage and assist local clubs.

2.7 To disburse the property and the income of the Association solely towards the promotion of the purposes of the Association.

(3) QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE ASSOCIATION

3.1 A person may, subject to the approval of a general meeting and agreement to abide by the rules of Scrabble as set by the Australian Scrabble Players Association (WA), become a member of the Association upon payment of an annual subscription, the amount of which will be determined at the Annual General Meeting and will become due on July 1 each year.

(4) EXPULSION OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

4.1 The Committee may expel a member when his or her conduct is deemed to be unbecoming or detrimental to the interests of the Association, or to bring the Association into disrepute.

4.2 The Committee shall communicate, either orally or in writing, to the member notice of the expulsion and the date of the general meeting at which the expulsion was decided.

4.3 The person expelled shall be given 30 days to appeal in writing against expulsion.

4.4 A general meeting may confirm or set aside the decision of the general meeting to expel the member.

(5) REGISTER OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

5.1 A Register of current financial members will be maintained.

(6) ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION.

6.1 An annual subscription is to be paid by each member, the amount of which will be determined at the general meeting held prior to the Annual General Meeting, and which will become due on 1 July of each year.

(7) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION.

7.1 An AGM is to be held once each year.

7.2 A quorum will be at least one representative from at least half the metropolitan clubs.

7.3 Written submissions will be requested from country clubs to ensure their representation.

(8) COMMITTEE HAVING MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

8.1 The Committee shall consist of the delegates/representatives attending from each club.

8.2 The positions of office will be a State Co-ordinator, President, Treasurer, Secretary, Ratings Officer and a Publicity Officer. The State Co-ordinator will liaise with the association in other States of Australia.

8.3 The election of persons to positions of office will occur at the Annual General Meeting. Such persons will hold office for one year. In the event of a vacancy, the committee may appoint a member to fill the office.

8.4 A quorum will be at least one representative from at least half the metropolitan clubs.

(9) PROCEDURES OF GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

9.1 A minimum of four (4) general meetings will be held each year.

9.2 Members will be advised by circular of impending general meetings.

9.3 Minutes of meetings will be circulated to all committee members and club representatives.

(10) DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

10.1 In the event of the dissolution of the Association the surplus funds and property will be distributed to the Association for the Blind of Western Australia (Incorporated).

(11) PROPERTY AND INCOME OF THE ASSOCIATION.

11.1 The property and income of the Association shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects or purposes of the Association and no part of that property or income may be paid or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to members of the Association, except in good faith in the promotion of those objects or purposes.

(12) FUNDS OF THE INCORPORATED ASSOCIATION.

12.1 The funds of the Incorporated Association are deposited with the StateWest Credit Society Limited (previously known as API Auscom Credit Society).

12.2 Books of account will be maintained by the Treasurer.

12.3 An Annual Financial Report will be presented to the Annual General Meeting each year.

(13) CUSTODY OF RECORDS AND RESOURCES OF THE ASSOCIATION.

13.1 An office bearer of the incorporated association will be the custodian of the records, resources and equipment which is the property of the incorporated association.

(14) INSPECTION BY MEMBERS OF RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS.

14.1 Records and documents are presented at each general meeting and annual general meeting for inspection by members.

(15) AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND RULES

15.1 The Constitution and Rules of the Association may be amended, added to or deleted from at a general meeting by special resolution and must be registered in accordance with the Associations Incorporation Act 1987.

15.2 To proceed the amendment must be voted for by 75% of the members voting at the meeting.

Issued: 1 July 1996

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So far, I am not aware of any response to Harry's three emails. I think that South African jewish migration stopped in WA and never had much contact with civilisation on the East Coast.

Hegazi vs ASPA (Vic) Part 2

2011-11-09T00:34:00.018+11:00

Dear ASPA member

Since I do not operate in the dark, it becomes incumbent on me to continue to inform you about the developments of this serious case. Any ASPA member could face intimidation by a regional committee of ASPA. In theory, being on a committee of any non-profit association is more of a burden, to be carried by dedicated people who are willing to spend time and effort for the sake of the welfare of other members. In reality, some associations become plagued with committee members, especially presidents, who are autocratic power-hungry freaks. Such persons believe that they can control others and in the process, they tend to contravene common law.

If you are not familiar with this case, here is a summary of it:

In 2008, the committee of ASPA (VIC) invited, sought and collated a dossier of trivia, in the form of 12 so-called submissions against me, detailing laughable flimsy accusations, inclusive of a couple of absurd-makeshift-dated-hearsay accusations of cheating. The obvious aim was to sully my reputation as a fair scrabble player. An enquiry by that committee, where many of its members doubled as adversaries, unanimously decided to ban me from playing in Victorian tournaments for one year. ASPA (WA) offered support for ASPA (VIC) by banning me from playing in WA for the remainder of my natural life. (Forget about the fact that I never played nor intended to play in WA).

On 5 October 2011, I requested ASPA (VIC) to either forward to me within 28 days a written apology or to face legal action, since they committed serious errors in law. Since that date, the following cut-and-paste correspondence took place:

======================================

On 31 October 2011 17:59, carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Mohammed,

Further to your email of 5 October 2011 I am writing on behalf of the ASPA (Vic) Inc Committee.

In your email you detail your concerns regarding the process adopted by the Committee in 2008 in respect of various complaints relating to your conduct. This process ultimately led, on 18 September 2008, to a decision by the Committee that you were guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and you were suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Vic) Inc tournaments for 1 year commencing on 1 November 2008.

In your email you also note that unless the Committee responds with an unconditional and unequivocal written apology within 28 days of your email, you intend to initiate legal action under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (the Act), specifically in relation to alleged contraventions (by the Committee) of sections 14B and 14C of that Act.

As you can appreciate the Committee takes such threats very seriously.

In the interests of preserving the limited funds of our Association we have not sought legal advice in relation to your email. However, the Committee has had the opportunity to consider the grounds on which you have stated that you wish to take legal action as well as the relevance of the provisions to ASPA (Vic), our constitution, and the particular circumstances of your case.

We have noted below our common understanding of the requirements of section 14B and 14C of the Act and our collective belief that the Committee has not acted in contravention of either of these provisions. As noted above, these conclusions are not based on legal advice but are a genuine attempt by the Committee to consider, and ensure that we have operated in accordance with, the relevant Associations legislation.

SECTION 14B

In essence section 14B of the Act requires that:

· the rules of an incorporated association must set out a grievance procedure for dealing with any dispute under the rules between a member and another member or a member and the incorporated association.

· the grievance procedure must allow for natural justice to be applied.

We consider that each of these requirements has been met by ASPA (Vic).

Specifically:

· ASPA (Vic) has a grievance procedure (refer section 11 of the Constitution and Statement of Purposes for the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc (the Constitution))

· this grievance procedure is consistent with the grievance procedures detailed in the model rules for incorporated associations published by Consumer Affairs Victoria

· the grievance procedure was followed in relation to your case.

Specifically:

– the committee notified you of the complaints regarding your conduct on 1 September 2008, and provided you with an opportunity to address the substance of the complaints;

– the Committee held a Special Committee meeting on 18 September 2008 which you attended along with a support person (your son);

– during this meeting you were provided the opportunity to address the Committee’s concerns, which you did;

– following due consideration of all relevant matters, the Committee passed a resolution that: “In accordance with Rule 10.1 of the ASPA (Vic) Inc Constitution, we find that Mohammed Hegazi has neglected to comply with these rules and is guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and prejudicial to the interests of the Association, and that he be suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Vic) Inc. tournaments for 1 year commencing Saturday November 1st, 2008.”;

– In accordance with our Constitution, a further Special Committee Meeting (to which you were invited (by letter on 22 September 2008), but did not attend, nor make any submission) was held on October 16, 2008 to ratify the above resolution. It was passed unanimously; and

– on 18 October 2008 the Committee formally notified you in writing of the Committee’s findings and also detailed your right of appeal (as provided for in our Constitution).We also note that the grievance procedure provides the opportunity for you to seek appeal of any decision by the committee, and that you chose not to exercise this right. We note that it is now almost 3 years since the decision of the Committee was made in relation to your case.

SECTION 14C

Further, we are uncertain of the particular cause of action you would have in respect of section 14C.

Oppressive conduct is defined in the section and includes conduct that is unfairly prejudicial to, or unfairly discriminatory against, a member of the incorporated association or contrary to the interests of the members of the incorporated association as a whole.

We note that this section was introduced into the Act after the decision of the Committee regarding your conduct.

While we do not therefore consider that there is a cause of action under this section in relation to conduct in 2008, we equally do not consider that the Committee has engaged in any conduct which was unfairly prejudicial or discriminatory in relation to you or any other member. As noted previously our intention has simply been to respond, in accordance with the rules of our Association, to a number of complaints that were made to ASPA (Vic) regarding your conduct

Of course if you wish to take legal action this is entirely a matter for you. ASPA (Vic) will then seek legal advice to enable the Association to respond properly on behalf of all of our members.

We invite you to discuss your issues in a meeting with 2 members of the Committee at the Box Hill Senior Citizens Centre or, if you wish, the matter can be progressed to mediation at the Department of Justice.

In the meantime we urge you to reconsider your position and look forward to rebuilding a positive relationship between you and the Association. We also note that you may have some suggestions for ways in which the ASPA (Vic) rules may be enhanced, and we would be pleased for you to raise these through the usual channels.

As you can appreciate, with your legal action potentially pending, the Committee must ensure, on behalf of all Victorian Scrabble players, that it does not inadvertently prejudice the legal position of the Association. I have therefore requested that Committee members refrain from emailing or communicating with you informally (and in their individual capacity) on this particular matter.

Yours faithfully,

CAROL JOHNSEN

President

ASPA (Vic) Inc

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On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Carol,

Your own interpretation of sections 14B and 14C is a flawed attempt at self justification. A basic principle of common law is that you cannot act as judge in a dispute of which you are a party. This applied to yourself, Marj Miller, Barry Harridge, and Dorothy Barraclough. In a court of law, the findings of the 2008 Committee, as to my alleged poor conduct, would be deemed null and void. Let alone the fact that the embellished trivia in the twelve so-called submissions, and the subsequent ruling that I was found "guilty of a conduct unbecoming a member", would invoke the wrath of any magistrate.

I will accept your offer with regard to a meeting with two committee members, on condition that such members are impartial with no vested interest in the outcome of the meeting. This can be achieved if the two members were not on the 2008 committee, or members who made false allegations against me. The following four committee members, in alphabetical order, would satisfy this condition:

Jenny Brysha

Dianne Gibson

Cheryle Jerram

Sandra Masel

Otherwise, we may progress directly to mediation at the Department of Justice. There, a legal practitioner would highlight to the committee all the errors committed in 2008 and 2011. You may then weigh the risks of a court case and opt for my requested unconditional and unequivocal written apology, at no cost to the Association.

I would still urge you to seek proper legal advice. An initial legal consultation would be much cheaper than hiring a hall for the proposed meeting. Please rest assured that the welfare of the Association is uppermost on my mind. Any future financial loss incurred would be due to mismanagement.

Yours truly,

Mohammed Hegazi

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On 2 November 2011 21:13, carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Mohammed,

The members of the committee have considered that the conditions under which you would want a grievance meeting, i.e., involved committee members, is not agreeable to us.

In the circumstances, we suggest that, if you so wish, you may progress your grievance to a mediation with the Department of Justice.

Yours faithfully,

CAROL JOHNSEN

President, ASPA (Vic)

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On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 1:02 AM, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Carol,

I am of the opinion that mediation is more suited to efforts exerted by our colleague Mr Harry Malcolm, for the purpose of reforming the constitution, in order to bring ASPA (Vic) in line with modern non-profit associations, and to curtail the harmful autocratic manner of running it. However, I will join the effort of Mr Malcolm, rather than initiate a duplicate mediation track.

As to my specific grievance, I regret to advise that you have blocked every possible avenue for reconciliation I have tried to open. You also refused to take my advice and seek proper initial legal consultation. Although I believe that only a court ruling would convince you that you have erred, I will await the outcome of mediation before taking legal action. Please confirm that the postal address of the Association for the purpose of process service remains:

The Secretary

Australian Scrabble Players Association

25 Alfred St

Templestowe Lower 3107

Yours truly,

Mohammed Hegazi

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From: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

To: Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>

Cc: andrew fisher <aphis99@yahoo.com>; carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>; Cheryle Jerram <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>; dianne gibson <diannebgibson@gmail.com>; Jenny Brysha <jennybrysha@gmail.com>; katie rowe <iratekow@bigpond.com>; marjorie miller <mjwm@connexus.net.au>; Norma Fisher <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>; sandra masel <masel@netspace.net.au>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@medibank.com.au>; harry malcolm <hmalc@yahoo.com>

Sent: Saturday, 5 November 2011 10:34 AM

Subject: Re: Reply to your email of 5.10.11.

Dear Mohammed,

The contact address, as advertised on the national website, is The Secretary, ASPA (Vic) Inc, c/- 25 Alfred Street, Templestowe Lower, 3107. (Marj Miller is not the Secretary. Marj maintains the enquiry centre and is the Ratings Officer on the committee).

Regards, Carol

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From: harry malcolm <hmalc@yahoo.com>

To: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>, Mohammed A. Hegazi <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>, andrew fisher <aphis99@yahoo.com>, Cheryle Jerram <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>; dianne gibson <diannebgibson@gmail.com>; Jenny Brysha <jennybrysha@gmail.com>; katie rowe <iratekow@bigpond.com>; marjorie miller <mjwm@connexus.net.au>; Norma Fisher <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>; sandra masel <masel@netspace.net.au>; Trevor Halsall <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>

5 Nov 2011

Hello Carol and Committee

The correspondence you forwarded from Mohammed makes it all the more imperative that all 10 members of the committee have a full understanding of the issues, their foundations and their implications.

I will need 10-20 minutes to specifically go through (1) the cheating allegation in particular, (2) the 12 allegations together and finally (3) why events since exercising my right to raise a grievance in fact evidence my grievance.

I do not have confidence that the matters will be enlightened upon by second hand relay from the defendants.

I have also therefore have decided to ask Mohammed to accompany me at the committee meeting.

At some stage the committee has to be a group exercising decisions, not just one or two refusing to take legal advice and causing the matter to blow out of proportion.

Neither Mohammed or I want to take legal action but in the face of refusal to discuss as a committee and refusal to take your own legal advice, you will leave us no option.

If the committee is delegating you to act for them, so be it, but I believe they would reasonably rather be informed and articulate on the matter, than possibly face at some stage explaining why they chose not to be, or why persons not involved in the matter were not drawn from the committee to handle the matter.

As I say, the issue is on the table only, it is not personal, I have been passive and procedural and that is how we should all act.

thank you

Harry Malcolm

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Re Committee meeting Nov 10 2011

Monday, 7 November, 2011 7:13 AM

From: "Harry Malcolm" <hmalc@yahoo.com>

To: "carol johnsen" <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>, "Mohammed A. Hegazi" <mohammedhegazi@gmail.com>

Cc: "andrew fisher" <aphis99@yahoo.com>, "Cheryle Jerram" <cheryle.jerram@bigpond.com>, "dianne gibson" <diannebgibson@gmail.com>, "Jenny Brysha" <jennybrysha@gmail.com>, "katie rowe" <iratekow@bigpond.com>, "marjorie miller" <mjwm@connexus.net.au>, "Norma Fisher" <Noray2@optusnet.com.au>, "sandra masel" <masel@netspace.net.au>, "Trevor Halsall" <trevor_halsall@hotmail.com>...

The issues pre Nov10 2011

Mohammed joined scrabble competitions and had an immediate genuine and worthy concern about cheating in the way tile bag rule was not being observed.

Mohammed was NOT given reasonable support by direction to TDs to remind players as they were lapsing on this rule, and was left to enforce proper use by fair complaint.

Mohammed kept a public blog on how rule breaking was happening.

He was reluctant to name names and only did so under pressure.

When he named President Marj Miller, his concern was not taken seriously and he was subject to an improper campaign of privacy breach and vilification.

The full blown elements of bullying took over with Mohammed reduced to singleton status, not taken seriously, the butt of sneer, and as a person with no redeeming features.

Mohammed was suspended on the basis of numbers of allegations, NOT on substantiated claims which natural justice (procedural fairness) behoves the Committee to make.

Some of the allegations start with "my account" suggesting they have been asked for.

Most of the allegations don't have an allegation of an action by Mohammed in them.

Any allegations made were biased, short of relevant information, poorly handled and came down to trivia dealt with routinely with other players in the past.

It is not acceptable for Carol to make emotional , summative, opinionated and embellished remarks on a factual matter, to then justify that she is going to run an investigation, and then lead judgement on her own action.

The actions of the committee were naive, uninformed, oppressive and judgements made by first hand associates of the complainants.

The process available for Mohammed to appeal was unreasonable and unworkable.

The bullying has run onto Harry who has lodged a grievance that such a process, in defiance of natural justice, has happened in an organisation his children could be playing in within a few years.

This flow on evidences the very concern of Harry's grievance.

The committee provides no reasonable manner by which a Victorian player is allowed share their concerns with other Victorian members.

The outcome expected is that ASPA Vic will repeal the matters raised above, and will get their rules and information up to date within the expectation of model organisations and corporations.

NB Correspondence with Michael Tang, who suspended a player based on collective notifications and then his own direct observance of the alleged cheating, showed the issue of how the bag is used is paramount to disabling cheats.

1) The Katie Rowe allegation.

Katie was asked to make a written complaint 5 months afterwards where she had not wanted to.

She had no admissible evidence that Mohammed cheated or had reason to cheat or details.

The opportunities to collect admissible evidence were not taken at the time.

No player would reasonably expect a dated hearsay allegation to be upheld.

There were numerous ways a mistake could have been made in thinking a tile had been moved.

2) The time clock matter

Mohammed was an inexperienced player

There are several models of time clocks.

Time clocks rarely run into over time.

The clocks going over time are not immediately obvious in their display.

There is no evidence that Mohammed did anything but misunderstand the clock.

Once he understood he was compliant.

3) The calling of a wrong score

Previous occurrence of this have been handled as silly, which it is.

Calling out a wrong score is not listed as cheating in any ASPA organisation.

Suggestions by Carol that suspensions were linked to this occurring before are denied by the person named who says he was never suspended from playing. Therefore documents need to be produced for the Committee. (Carol also asserted Marj did not speak against Mohammed's motion)

The committee has not concerned itself with consistency of penalties.

An Australian WSC player who cheated at the highest level by dropping a tile into a coffee cup in an close Australian Championship game was only penalised "put the tile back on the rack and lose a turn"

An appropriate penalty for a silly deliberate blatant wrong score call, which might achieve a few seconds of clock time, would at worst be to add two minutes to the offenders clock.

In summary there is no evidence that Mohammed has ever cheated, and the allegations collapse under audit to substantiating nothing other than hostility towards him existed.

Accounts of TD adjudication appear that on reflection matters could have been handled better and reported better.

I am ashamed of the reckless actions against fellow member Mohammed, whom I point out I have no other prior affiliation with. It’s shameful that while we play near his home at Box Hill he has to go interstate to find a welcoming group of players.

The Committee has shown no concept of the mental anguish and grief false allegations "substantiated on hearsay" cause on a person. Reasonable support measures were not put in place including a support person once he faced allegations.

Trevor Halsall has let the defaming impression that Mohammed is a cheat circle the world without withdrawal or apology, and attacked me by email. He must stand down from the Committee.

50% of players outside of the committee were not prepared to vote to uphold the committee's decision, even where players were barrelled on the day with spite about Mohammed with no bearing on the matter of the motion. This also violated his privacy but has now fortunately led to the whole baseless decision being exposed.

I would say to committee members that I was looking for preparedness to put the issue on the table and neutrally review it. I do not think Carol's absence should delay any mediation under the Dept of Justice so I would therefore advise the Committee members to be ready and each apprise themselves of the facts.

I believe the Committee should be represented by its members who are NOT involved with making allegations, and will be putting this to the Dept of Justice if we go to that step. I think the failure of the Committee to take one session of legal advice will be poorly regarded.

I see it is relatively simple to concede that despite best intentions the matter was not handled within natural justice requirements, and that the decision is repealed and other states will be notified. Further, clear rules and requirements related to cheating and other allegations will be put in place asap.

I would then think an apology in ATB would be appropriate and welcoming his return to play, though I think many many players would like more information.

Then suddenly, the matter will be over and one step back two steps forwards towards being a model organisation.

Harry Malcolm

I have produced this note since I am not getting clear information on the Nov 10 committee process, where Mohammed and I expect to be in attendance the full meeting, and that if 8 members are choosing(?) to not know the details, this might change that view.

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This should be my last missive to ASPA members. If you want to follow further developments, you may find them later on my personal scrabble blog:

http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/

====================================================

If you received this message in error, or if you do not wish to receive messages from this email address please reply with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field.

Hegazi vs ASPA (Vic) Part 1

2011-11-09T00:29:00.002+11:00

This message dated 05/10/2011 is forwarded to the Committee and membership of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc.

The Committee of the said Association, of which I am a financial member, is in breach of the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.

Unless within 28 days from the date herein I receive an unconditional and unequivocal written apology from the said Committee, I would file a complaint with the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that would refer to the following:

1. the lack of adequate grievance procedures in the Association’s constitution as stipulated by Section 14B of the said Act;

2. oppressive conduct as per Section 14C;

3. a court order that the Committee issues a formal apology in relation to cheating allegations, to be made public to members attending the next AGM;

4. the Association to pay adequate compensation;

5. the Association to pay legal cost.

While the legal path is in my favour, it is much more important to me to demonstrate to the membership that the moral aspect would have changed the outcome of the gracious motion moved by Harry Malcolm on behalf of Tess Robinson at the 2011 AGM. A logically correct outcome of the motion would have put this matter to rest. However, the pre-calculated insult of a secret ballot had lead to an illegal precedent, due to the fact that members were hoodwinked by the Committee via embellished trivia and hearsay misinformation.

The history of the Committee’s bungling from one error to another is shown below, for the benefit of only the principled members who would like to know the bare facts.

My accusations of the Vic Committee as to repetitive bungling would be understood if related in a documented manner. The sequence of events is very important, because it did pull the leg of the Committee into making errors that had to be covered by more errors.

The beginning was an email from Carol Johnsen:

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.

At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.

Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

Carol Johnsen
-----------------------------------------------------------------

As you would have noticed, Carol Johnsen made the following mistakes:

- She used rude language. She could have related what, in her opinion, constituted ill manners without expressing such ill-conceived subjective feelings.

- She circulated such sensitive defaming document among other members of the Association, namely RF and SS.

- She issued what would constitute a reprimand, even though she expressed her intention to pass the matter on to the Committee for further action. Her act was unconstitutional. Disciplinary action, if any, must be taken by the Committee after adequate investigation.

In view of the above, I sent an email to Marj Miller, the then elected president of the Association, requesting an enquiry and proper application of disciplinary procedures, should the need arise.

Because my email to MM exposed the action of CJ, it simply disappeared from the documentation and did not rate a mention in the enquiry that followed. MM made it look as if disciplinary procedures were invoked solely by her and not at my own behest. Instead, she indulged in running around in haste, requesting complaints against me from fellow players. Most would have refused to take part in this ploy. She managed to compile a dossier of trivia, plus a couple of unlucky incidents that were worthy of further investigation, and were properly addressed by me in the enquiry that followed. Had those two incidents been discussed with me in a reasonable friendly manner at an early stage, that would have been the end of the matter.

Contrary to Trevor Halsall’s waffle from the memory, the documented 10 accusations forwarded to me and later discussed in the inquiry, together with two extra pieces of similar nonsense, do not include any real incidents of cheating. Here is an exact copy of them, with all typos and poor punctuation if any, as forwarded to me by registered mail:

1) Date of Incident: July 13 2005
REPORT OF ACCUSATION OF CHEATING at the N4 Tournament.
During a break between games at the above tournament Mohammed Hegazi mentioned to me that he was concerned about cheating by fellow scrabble players.
We moved to a quiet area to discuss this, at which stage I asked Mohammed to tell me the names of the people who were cheating, mentioning that in my capacity as President of the Scrabble Players Association I would be unable to do anything about dealing with this situation without knowing the names of the offenders.
Mohammed was at first reluctant to mention any names, but when pressed again said “well, you for a start”.
I was distressed by this totally untrue accusation and let the members of the Association know that I had been accused of cheating, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of support I have received over the ensuing period of time.

Marj Miller
President
Scrabble Players Assocation
________________________________________________
2) Date of Incident: March 22 2008
Account of what happened at the Nationals with Mohammed Hegazi

On the 22nd March 2008 at the National Championships I was drawn to play Mohammed Hegazi in the second game of the Plate Section.
We arrived at the table to commence play and Mohammed started by telling me how to hold the bag and how to draw my tiles, I assured him I knew how to do this, we started to play he then said the last time he played me I held the bag incorrectly and I could see the tiles ( I interpreted this as an accusation of Cheating) at this point I stopped the clock and called for the TD. Barry Harridge came to the table and asked what the problem was. I explained what Mohammed had said. BH asked me to demonstrate how I drew tiles, I held the bag as I always do above the table, averted my eyes and drew my tiles placing each one on my score sheet face down until I had the correct number of tiles, only then did I look at them and place them on my rack. BH advised Mohammed that there was nothing wrong with the way I drew tiles and directed him to proceed with the game. We completed the game in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
I was humiliated at being asked to demonstrate how I selected tiles by the TD. I was very upset by this whole incident.
I am not a Cheat.

Dorothy Barraclough
________________________________________________
3) Date of Incident: May 12 2008

Marj

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Katie Rowe
________________________________________________
4} Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Here is my account of the incident at the Victorian Championship as I remember it.
Early in the game of Mohammed Hegazi vs KT in round 18, Mohammed stated his intention to concede the game and not proceed with it. I came over to see what was going on. I asked Mohammed why he wanted to stop, and he gave no reason, saying he just wanted to concede. When I persisted, he said that in the course of replenishing tiles from her rack, KT had selected too many tiles, returning some further tiles from her rack. I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing. KT did not understand what Mohammed was alleging. The game was stopped. It was treated as an unrated game with a forfeit by Mohammed and an imputed win to KT with a nominal spread of +1. KT was very upset. I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.
Mohammed’s baseless allegation in this case is yet another in a string of cases which is upsetting to players and disruptive to the smooth running of tournaments.
Barry Harridge
________________________________________________
5) Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Have thought a bit about this - but really isn’t is possible to do something about Mahommed. At each tournament, seemingly, he upsets a woman so badly that she spends the day and much of the evening as well in tears and shaken. Yesterday again and KJ is such a good natured and helpful person. Please Marj perhaps I’m not wording this as well as it might be, but the man is a menace. You have mentioned a few times that the numbers for the tournaments has dropped could it be the tension that is felt because of his behaviour not to mention Doug has caused this drop.
Tell me to mind my own business if you will - but come to think of it it is my business - it’s my day out too - and to watch people, one at each tournament at least, becoming so upset is very distressing.
________________________________________________
6) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Madam President,

I was so upset by the rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour of Mohammed Hegazi at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, that I have decided not to attend any more tournaments in Melbourne, except for the Senior Citizens Challenge in October.

Yours sincerely,
Ruth Fewings
________________________________________________

7) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

To Scrabble Committee
18th August 2008

Dear Committee members,
I wish to complain about the bad behavior of Mohammed Hegazi at yesterdays Memorial Tournament.
Yesterday I witnessed yet another of our members (a most senior one at that) Ruth Fewings be subjected to his awful behavior. Bridget Halge and I were so upset and concerned for RF we had to stop our clock to regain composure for our game.
I personally have been in this position with Mohammed (At the Nationals) and it is very unpleasant to say the least.

Dorothy Barraclough
Membership Officer
(Continued overpage)

7) contd. MY OBSERVATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED
Mohammed was late for the start of the game, Marj came and started the clock, at this stage I was unaware who Ruth Fewings’s opponent was.
When Mohammed arrived at the table to find his clock had been started he threw something on the table and told RF it was her game and walked off.
Marj came and eventually got them to start play. Mohammed wanted to start Ruth’s clock before she has selected her tiles and she objected causing more distress. Bridget Halge and l were very distressed and upset for RF at being subjected to this behavior, we stopped our Clock for some time to regain our composure. When we recommenced our game the unpleasantness went on, we stopped our Clock again and I informed Marj that Mohammed was still giving RF a hard time. Barry Harridge sat and observed the latter stages of the game between RF and Mohammed, with no further incident I believe.
Barry H sat with RF for quite some time afterwards consoling her, she was just so upset.
________________________________________________

8) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Marj,

I’m writing to express my frustration at the joy having been taken out yet again, of my enjoyment of a scrabble tournament when I witnessed Ruth Fewings' distress while she was playing a game against Mohammed Hegazi. It was evident that a confrontation had taken place. My partner and I had to stop the clock so we could compose ourselves before we continued with our game.
The reason I was so badly affected by what happened to Ruth Fewings was that my experiences of playing against Mohammed have been nerve racking and filled with anxiety. I experience his behaviour as hostile and intimidating which results in my inability to play my best. Each time I see his name listed as a participant in a tounament, my heart sinks because I dread the prospect of having to play against him.
I ask that the committee seeks to redress this situation through whatever means that are open to you. Regards, Bridger Halge
________________________________________________

9) Date of Incident: August 10 2008

Hi Marj

As far as I can remember it went like this

Mohammed placed a 7 letter word on the board over the triple score on the right hand border

He announced ‘200’

As he had played this game with me at a previous tournament I said to him ‘come on now you’re not doing this to me again’ and called Carol Johnsen over to adjudicate
What it was was that his time was running out - he was playing for time or some such
________________________________________________

10) Date of Incident/s: August 10 & 17th 2008

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.

At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.

Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

Carol Johnsen
--------------------------------------------------

For the purpose of accuracy, two more “incidents” miraculously cropped up after sending me the registered mail letter. They were handed on to me on the day of the enquiry. One was related to my “bad behaviour”, the other was related to a dispute over how to calculate extra time on the clock, which was resolved in a few seconds during the tournament, but is scored on Trevor Halsall’s abacus as a second attempt at cheating, to be added to Katie Rowe’s ridiculous claim. I would like Trevor Halsall to tell us how 1+1 is equal to or greater than 5 on his abacus:

Hi Harry. Sounds like you're on a bit of a crusade here. Did you read in my last email that the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments. There were also multiple reports of very poor behaviour towards other Scrabblers. In all there were twelve documents submitted to the committee detailing such. We also followed the rules of our constitution assiduously, as well as observing common decency. No-one wants to ban a Scrabble player - we all just want to play Scrabble. Hence we took our job very seriously. And hence I, for one, am not taking your casual utterances lightly! Trevor
To: ozscrabble@yahoogroups.com

___________________________________________________________

All of the above took place in 2008. In 2011, the following motion was considered at the AGM of Scrabble Victoria:
3. MOTION: Members of ASPA(Vic) hereby extend an apology to ASPA (Vic) member Mohammed Hegazi, in relation to an unsubstantiated claim of cheating made against him.
The claim of cheating is attached herewith as “addendum (1) to motion”; a statement by Mohammed Hegai is attached as “addendum (2) to motion”
Moved: Tess Robinson
Seconded: Geoff Wright

Addendum (1) to motion:
On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with the tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.
Signed: Katie Rowe

Addendum (2) to motion
Statement by Mohammed Hegazi
I make reference to an allegation of cheating made against me by Ms Katie Rowe. She was watching the game in question together with the TD, Geoff Wright, until the very end of the game. They were exchanging whispering comments about the game. Ms Rowe claims that etiquette prevented her from reporting the alleged incident to the TD at the time, yet she saw fit to report it in writing to Mrs Marj Miller, 5 months after the tournament. Mrs Miller in turn saw fit to table such unsubstantiated claim for discussion with me in a Committee meeting.
If Ms Rowe’s story had any shade of truth in it, she should have alerted the TD to the incident at the time. The TD would have ascertained the validity of her claim.
Mohammed Hegazi
____________________________________________

Presiding over the meeting, Carol Johnsen insisted on a secret ballot. I objected and offered to have a walk away from the meeting while the issue would be decided by a show of hands. My offer was turned down by Carol Johnsen.

This is the Full story from A to Y. The Z part would be decided in one of two ways:

(a) an unconditional and unequivocal apology by the Committee;

(b) a decision by the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Finally, a word of advice and warning to the Committee:

(a) dismissing me now, using your hackneyed cliché of “putting the Association to disrepute”, does not impede legal action. It would make the case weaker for you.

(b) wasting the Association’s funds on litigation is unethical. Members of the Committee should use their own personal funds for initial legal advice, since the sole aim would be to bolster their own egos.

====================================================

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A Short Story from the Camberwell Club

2011-10-28T00:44:00.003+11:00

I cannot remember where I first met X. Most likely, it would have been at the Mount Waverley Club, one or two years ago. He told me that he lived in Queensland and was in Melbourne for a few days staying with his son. I played him and found that he had good scrabble skills. So, I invited him for a day of scrabble at my place.

We played about six or eight games, during which time my wife offered hospitality in the form of quick responses to the need for periodic cups of tea and coffee, and a hearty meal at dinner time. She is a very skilled cook. She makes me feel punished if we were to eat at a restaurant, where I would ask her to pick from the menu, what she might think I would like to eat.

I have not seen or heard about X until a third party, who I have no reason to doubt, told me that on Saturday 15/10/2011 at the Camberwell Club, X said something like the following:

“Oh, that Mohammed, he is a cheat and if he would be writing the scores, he is more likely to subtract your score than add it! I have been to his place; he treats his wife like a slave.”

What should I say? Maybe he didn’t like the chicken schnitzels. Mathematicians who might want to solve for x can click on the Link , push ctrl+f and type n space r. There you are, the solution would be highlighted.

Going Public with More Lies to Cover other Lies

2011-10-10T23:15:00.004+11:00

RE: [ozscrabble] Lost Basics

Friday, 30 September, 2011 6:07 PM

From:"Trevor Halsall"

To:"Harry Malcolm" ,"Scrabble List"

RE: [ozscrabble] Lost Basics

Saturday, 1 October, 2011 6:07 AM

From: "Trevor Halsall"

To:"Harry Malcolm" , "Scrabble List"

Oh Harry. He wasn't found guilty of cheating, he was found "guilty of a conduct unbecoming a member" (section 10.1). There were twelve separate documented submissions, not just the one that Mohammed chose to take to the AGM. (And, by the way, in that particular case, it is disputed that there were any others watching at the time.) The 67% threshold that you quote is for appeals made within 48 hours of banning someone - not for the selected one-out-of-twelve-submissions that was taken years later to the recent AGM. And as if I'm going to take into account some accusation that was made against Marj??! I won't be commenting further on this topic on this list. I hope I have done enough to counter the accusations being levelled at the Vic Committee. Here's to some happy future Scrabbling, Trevor PS Some real Scrabble input: I have just spent two days staying in Moustiers, a small town in southern France known as the centre of the technique of FAIENCE (aka FAYENCE).

ozscrabble] Re: Lost Basics - Clarification

Wednesday, 5 October, 2011 12:46 AM

From: "Trevor Halsall"

To:"Scrabble List"

At risk of being thrown off this list (as well as prolonging this topic for everyone), I should quickly correct two things that I misremembered. I wrote: "...the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments." In fact, when I look back, there were two separate incidents that related to Mohammed infracting the rules, not five. One (hiding a tile) had only one witness. The other (claiming oppo went an extra minute over time, to win a game) was not suspected, it was proven; and accepted by Mohammed.
Trevor

--------------------------------------

My Comment:

The misunderstanding of adding an extra minute was accepted by me and resolved in a few seconds at the tournament, not at an enquiry. An extra minute would not have won me the game as it finished 374/388. Do you get the same impression reading the lies above?

The threat of Trevor being thrown off the list never existed. It was actually applied only to me by Bob Jackman and his apprentice.

Motion and Emotion

2011-08-19T19:35:00.002+10:00

Even though the outcome of the motion was to be expected, the sneaky means to it was a bit strange. The head Shylock insisted on a secret ballot. I objected and offered to have a walk away from the meeting while the issue would be decided by a show of hands. My offer was turned down. I do not think that the outcome would have drastically changed, except that the number of abstentions would have increased at the expense of those against; some would have wanted to look less stupid. The number of those for would have marginally increased, as a few more would have wanted to look more respectable. Anyway, the following cut-and-paste correspondence might shed more light on the stupidity of ASPA(Vic):

Hi Harry,

I will be playing tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Ballarat Club. Tess Robinson will ask me about what happened with her AGM motion. I have already forgotten about the resulting figures; I did not even cast a vote myself. Could you please tell me about these figures, if you can still remember them, even approximately.

I might as well reiterate my appreciation and gratitude for your principled stand on this matter, which flew above the heads of the simple minds that took the idea of an apology to be a glorified ego trip for me. Now, every Tom, Dick and Katie can level a false accusation at any player and get away with it.

Mohammed

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mohammed

I think it was 8 for, 16 abstained, 35 against.

My reading of that is that

1) adding Tess, Geoff and yourself makes 11, plus 16 didn't back VicASPA = 27 who didn't back VicASPA.

2) taking away 9 self serving committee votes from 35 leaves 26 who backed VicASPA.

Either way, Vic ASPA should review the decision to leave the shocking precedent on their books, regardless of the vote.

You can't have a body like VicASPA paste the terrible tag of cheat on the basis of 5 month old hearsay, notwithstanding no supporting complaint from other observers or the opponent, ie no admissible evidence.

Interesting to see Katie did not intend to write but was "asked to".

Your paths are possibly

a) wait a month and see if there is anything develop after the next VicASPA meeting

b) write to them interpreting the vote as not adequate to support their finding

c) write and ask them to review on the basis that they have used inadmissible evidence

d) write a dissenting report and require it to always be attached to any copy of their finding in the future

e) appeal to a higher authority that governs the Committee's registration

f) ask them to publish guidelines to proving cheating beyond reasonable doubt (or on balance)

I would be hoping they reflect on the decision themselves and decide its a dangerous precedent to set, and therefore remove it. I think they did not know all the relevant law and might reconsider.

Main thing is enjoy your games, be happy, laugh a lot and try and minimise the insult and injustice you feel.

One thing you can always feel good about is the properly designed tile bags across Australia, which I know the Committee put a lot of work into getting right. They do want to get things right but I think they have erred in your case and deserve a chance to make amendments.

Good luck

Harry

__________

Interesting

2011-07-19T13:02:00.016+10:00

From: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

To: carol johnsen <caroljscrabble@gmail.com>

Bcc: mohammedhegazi@gmail.com

Date: 17 July 2011 15:12

Subject: Revised Notice of ASPA (Vic) AGM

mailed-by: gmail.com

A further motion for the Agenda for the ASPA(Vic) 2011 AGM was received on 28 June 2011 by the Committee. As this was received after the Notice was issued with the last Across the Board, the following is the revised notice:

Notice of ASPA(Vic)Inc AGM 2011

The Annual General Meeting of our Association will take place during the Midwinter Tournament, at approximately 1.30pm on Sunday August 14^th 2011 at the Box Hill Senior Citizens Centre, 79 Carrington Road, Box Hill.

Elections will be held for all positions: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Officer, Ratings Officer, Rules Officer, Publicity Officer, and up to two other Committee members.

Nominations must be made in writing, signed by two members of the Association and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate, and submitted to Secretary, Cheryle Jerram, 28 Donald Road, Burwood 3125 no later than August 7 2011.

New items for business on the agenda to be discussed at the AGM closed on July 10.

Motions to be put forward at the ASPA (Vic) Inc Annual General Meeting on August 14 2011

1. MOTION: to increase the annual membership subscription to $20, with effect from 01/07/2012.
Proposed Membership Structure from July 1 2012:
Adults: $20.00 per annum
Juniors: $10.00 per annum (must be aged 17 and under on July 1^st)

New members:
If joining prior to March 31^st, $20.00

If joining after March 31^st, there are two options -
Pay $10 for the remainder of the financial year

OR
Pay $25 and become financial till July 1^st of the following year

Moved: Marj Miller
Seconded: Norma Fisher

2. MOTION: to adopt the National Rules, with effect from August 15 2011
Moved: Marj Miller
Seconded: Norma Fisher

3. MOTION: Members of ASPA(Vic) hereby extend an apology to ASPA (Vic) member Mohammed Hegazi, in relation to an unsubstantiated claim of cheating made against him.
The claim of cheating is attached herewith as “addendum (1) to motion”; a statement by Mohammed Hegai is attached as “addendum (2) to motion”
Moved: Tess Robinson
Seconded: Geoff Wright
Addendum (1) to motion:

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with the tiles in one of the rated games.

John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.

He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.

I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.

Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Signed: Katie Rowe

Addendum (2) to motion

Statement by Mohammed Hegazi

I make reference to an allegation of cheating made against me by Ms Katie Rowe. She was watching the game in question together with the TD, Geoff Wright, until the very end of the game. They were exchanging whispering comments about the game. Ms Rowe claims that etiquette prevented her from reporting the alleged incident to the TD at the time, yet she saw fit to report it in writing to Mrs Marj Miller, 5 months after the tournament. Mrs Miller in turn saw fit to table such unsubstantiated claim for discussion with me in a Committee meeting.

If Ms Rowe’s story had any shade of truth in it, she should have alerted the TD to the incident at the time. The TD would have ascertained the validity of her claim.

Mohammed Hegazi

____________________________________________________________________________

The above is a simple “cut and paste” job.

Tess Robinson from Ballarat is a Victorian scrabble icon. She has been running the Ballarat Scrabble Club for more than a decade. Those of us who participated in her regular tournaments are familiar with her warm friendly demeanour. In appreciation of Tess’ pleasant company, I visit her club every now and then in order to enjoy a rewarding day of scrabble.

I am really honoured by her moving a principled motion to exonerate me from the heinous unfounded accusation of cheating levelled at me in 2008. I am equally honoured by Geoff Wright’s unfaltering seconding of the motion. However, neither Tess nor Geoff would be available for secondment of the motion during the AGM of ASPA (Vic) on 14 August 2011. Tess has church commitments on Sundays. Geoff has long decided not to attend any such meetings, for reasons unknown to me. I can only assume that, like many others including my humble self, Geoff is not impressed by the lacklustre pompous attitude of some Committee members.

As to the outcome of the motion, I don’t really give a damn. I feel already vindicated, even if a show of hands would prove that the Shylockian factor overrides principle.

If you became curious, come back for a surprise about mid-August. As for me, nothing coming out from this mob would surprise me. Mrs Miller already told David More of NSW that, "It had been proven that Mohammed cheated"!

A SATISFYING LOSS

2010-11-16T05:32:00.019+11:00

People usually hate to lose in scrabble tournaments. However, I have recently had a very satisfying loss in Canberra. The reason is simply because I have developed over the years a sharp sense of being able to quickly figure out who cheat, their method of cheating, and how to deal with most cheats.

One interesting observation is that cheats will never take a hint and when approached in a friendly manner, they would pretend to be offended by such insinuation. However, they would continue to cheat regardless.

I met simplistic cheats, whose elementary method is to contravene Australian rules by exposing tiles inside the bag and lowering it below table level. I managed to resolve this nagging problem by taking a stern straightforward stand, rather than hint or watch helplessly in order not to “rock the boat”. I achieved my goal on the second day of the tournament and managed to get a couple of seasoned chronic cheats to follow the rules. It wasn’t easy and I once had to shout at a nosy player that my discussion with my opponent was “none of her business”. It amazes me that those who vehemently deny the fact that Scrabble cheating does exist are usually the cheats themselves.

One harder problem remains. It is the sneaky devil who slips unwanted tiles back into the bag. There is nothing in ASPA rules that may help solve this problem. If you catch the culprit in the act, you have no means of proving your claim. This problem has been sorted out in WESPA rules, where a hand approaching the bag has to be shown to be empty. When I started playing scrabble, I thought the rule was offensive, not to mention the fact that I have a natural antipathy towards anything American. However, I could see the wisdom behind the strange rule, after many years of facing so many cheats.

During that Canberra tournament, I lost twice to a certain cheat, who was not from ACT or NSW. Her cheating technique was to draw tiles from the bag one by one and examine them while stacking them in a raw on the table. Towards the end of the process, one unwanted tile would quickly be “palmed” and returned to the bag. When it happened, I could only mumble a hint to the effect that I have detected the offence. The culprit must have had carefully weighed the ramifications of being detected and was ready to respond if an accusation were levelled at her. My consolation is that I know that I would certainly have won if the field was level. As such, it was a satisfying loss.

It is becoming clear to me that the reason ASPA rules are not in line with WESPA rules is because some players do have vested interest in not adopting some superior WESPA rules. There are two WESPA rules that would end all forms of scrabble cheating in Australia. As to bag position during drawing tiles, ASPA rules made reference to “shoulder height”. That was later changed to a more dubious “above table level”, the assumption being that all tables are born of equal height! Here are the two relevant WESPA rules:

3.9.1 Bag Position

When drawing from the bag, a player must:

(a) hold the bag so that the rim of the bag is at or above eye level;

(b) avert his or her eyes from the bag; and

(c) keep the bag in full view of the opponent.

3.9.2 Drawing Protocols

(a) While doing so may be helpful to avoid overdrawing, players need not

draw tiles individually.

(b) A player must not put a hand into the tile bag if that hand contains tiles.

All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before further tiles

are drawn.

(c) It is mandatory to show an empty hand both before and after drawing replacement tiles (see Rule 3.7.1 (Procedure for Shuffling or Counting Tiles)).

(d) Replacement tiles must be drawn with reasonable speed.

WHAT HAS ALLUDULLA GOT TO DO WITH THE PRICE OF FISH?

2010-09-24T22:07:00.003+10:00

While my past observation on cheating in scrabble was based on my own personal experience with cheating opponents, my present assessment will be extended to ask the question: Why are the rules of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (ASPA) out of tune with the international rules devised by the World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA)?

After careful analytical examination of the results of the Ulladulla tournament held in September 2010, I came to the conclusion that ASPA rules are inferior to WESPA rules. Consider the following comparison:

ASPA RULES:

Selecting Tiles

5.1 You must hold the tile bag above the level of the table and so that no tiles in the bag can be seen. Remove tiles in full view of your opponent.

5.2 You may not put your hand back into the tile bag whilst you still have tiles in that hand. All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before drawing any more.

Compare the above to WESPA rules:

3.9.1 Bag Position

When drawing from the bag, a player must:

(a) hold the bag so that the rim of the bag is at or above eye level;

(b) avert his or her eyes from the bag; and

(c) keep the bag in full view of the opponent.

3.9.2 Drawing Protocols

(a) While doing so may be helpful to avoid overdrawing, players need not draw tiles individually.

(b) A player must not put a hand into the tile bag if that hand contains tiles. All drawn tiles must be placed on the rack or the table before further tiles are drawn.

(c) It is mandatory to show an empty hand both before and after drawing replacement tiles.

(d) Replacement tiles must be drawn with reasonable speed.

WESPA Rule 3.9.1(a) is succinct and precise. It certainly keeps the tiles out of sight, while ASPA Rule 5.1 is poorly worded and assumes the existence of a hypothetical standard-height table.

While both ASPA and WESPA rules do emphasise the importance of having an empty hand, only WESPA’s rules have a built-in guarantee, in clauses 3.9.2(c) and 3.9.2(d), that such dishonesty would not occur. Rule 3.9.2(c) eliminates the ugly sight of that fist returning unwanted tiles to the bag. Rule 3.9.2(d) prevents cheating players from examining withdrawn tiles with an eye on slipping unwanted tiles back into the bag. The place where honest players examine their tiles is their rack. It has been my experience with dishonest players that withdrawn tiles lurk unnecessarily in the vicinity of the top of the bag, often requiring the assistance of the other hand.

players with vested interest in maintaining the status quo, would be quick to suggest that WESPA’s anti-cheating measures are unbecoming because cheating does not exist.

Cheers!

CHEATING CHAMPIONS

2009-06-06T13:08:00.003+10:00

Accused Scrabble cheat to keep titles

By: Suryatapa Bhattacharya

The National ( UAE)

January 28. 2009

The Scrabble champion banned from international competitions for four years for cheating will not be stripped of his local and regional titles, it was announced yesterday. The Bahrain Scrabble League Committee believes the ban “is punishment enough”.

Mohammed Zafar, 19, beat Akshay Bhandarkar from Dubai last June to win the Gulf Scrabble championship. He is also the Bahrain national champion.

Mr Zafar, who denies cheating, was barred by the game’s governing body, the World English Language Scrabble Players Association (Wespa), for breaking the rule about how players draw their letters while playing in a tournament in Malaysia in December.

“The decision is not to strip Mohammed of his titles,” said Roy Kietzman, a member of the Bahrain Scrabble League Committee and a special panel of four that met on Monday night in Manama to discuss Wespa’s decision.

“We felt it was humiliation enough to be charged with being guilty and being banned from Scrabble.

“For him, this is public humiliation in the Scrabble community. We feel this is punishment enough.”

Mr Zafar was accused of taking his tiles from the top of the bag and having a quick peek at them before letting go of any he did not want during the Causeway Challenge, held in Johru Bahar in Malaysia.

The rules of the game state that although players may give the bag a vigorous shake, they must draw tiles at shoulder length while looking away from the bag.

Mr Zafar is also banned from the Malaysian tournament for life.

The Bahrain Scrabble League Committee says it “fully endorses the Wespa decision that he was guilty”.

Mr Kietzman confirmed that Allan Simmons, the chairman of the Wespa inquiry and Britain’s national champion, had been willing to lower the penalty and cut the time of the ban by half if Mr Zafar had admitted his guilt.

“We are urging Wespa to make strict guidelines on what to do in the future. This was a precedent.”

Last year, Mr Zafar faced the two-time defending champion of the regional Scrabble title, Mr Bhandarkar, in a thrilling match that saw the use of plurals, bingos [when a player uses all seven letters at once] and plenty of theatrics.

My Comment:

I followed the news about this cheating incident. Previous articles gave me the wrong impression that the player only had a peek into a lowered bag, which is common practice among many local cheats here. However, the explanation given by this article is quite clear:

"Mr Zafar was accused of taking his tiles from the top of the bag and having a quick peek at them before letting go of any he did not want."

This is one of the worst cheating methods, which was practised against me a few times in tournaments, and is being practised on a weekly basis by a couple of players at my scrabble club.

Cheating wise, it is a very effective method that would give the cheat a decisive advantage. If, for example, the cheat had their partial rack full of vowels, they could drop back every vowel they come across while replenishing their rack. It saves them the need to lose their turn in order to change some tiles. Even then, the change often proves disastrous.

This Zafar boy is particularly impertinent for being my namesake! He should shove his name back into the bag and pick another one, hopefully not a blank.

INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE

2009-03-03T11:32:00.020+11:00

This evening the Victorian committee attended a second special meeting, at which we upheld our previous motion to suspend our player Mohammed Hegazi from tournament play for one year, from November 1st [2008].

As Mohammed did not attend the meeting we will now write to him to advise him of our final decision, and give him the right to appeal. If he does, we will have to arrange a special meeting of our members, at which Mohammed may appeal to the membership and have them vote on the ban.

At our ordinary committee meeting, which followed the special meeting, we passed a motion to the effect that Victoria will not accept entry to tournaments from any player who, at the time, is banned by his/her state or territory association. I believe that you already have this clause in place, "BJ". I'm not sure what you can do about Mohammed's entry to your Championship, "OR", its something you'll have to work out with your committee.

Most of the reasons for the ban have been publicised by Mohammed himself on his personal blog, with the exception of two important documents, the first a second accusation of cheating directed at Mohammed himself*, and the second a very nasty, racist and threatening email to Kow, in response to her earlier accusation of cheating against Mohammed**. If anyone is interested in reading these for completion please let me know and I will forward them to you. There are several links to different pages on the following website -
http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/2008/06/extent-of-scrabble-cheating.html
This has been an unpleasant episode and I'm not sure that it is behind us as yet.
Needless to say I am very grateful for the supportive committee I have here in Victoria.

Kind regards to all,
MM.
_______________________

It is now official that Victoria has banned Mohammed Hegazi for one year - here is the motion as it appears in our minutes -

4. CONFIRMATION OR REVOCATION OF RESOLUTION:

RESOLUTION of Special Meeting held on 18th September, 2008

In accordance with Rule 10.1 of the ASPA (Victoria) Inc Constitution, we find that Mohammed Hegazi has neglected to comply with these rules and is guilty of conduct unbecoming a member and prejudicial to the interests of the Association, and that he be suspended from attending or participating in all ASPA (Victoria) Inc. tournaments for 1 year commencing Saturday November 1st, 2008.

MOVED: "GK"/"TH" CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

RESOLUTION: (October 16 2008)

That the Resolution passed unanimously at the Special Meeting held on September 18th, 2008 regarding Mohammed Hegazi be upheld and that during the period Saturday November 1st, 2008 to Saturday October 31st, 2009, inclusive, the Committee reserves the right, on behalf of the members of the Association, to review this decision and the extent to which it shall be applied in the event that further allegations are made against Mr. Hegazi***.

MOVED: "NF"/"AF" CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

It is likely that he would have escaped with a warning, were it not for the email he sent to Kow, which was the deciding factor. I have attached a copy if you wish to read it, as it will demonstrate the serious and unacceptable nature of his behaviour.**

I am aware of the email which he sent yesterday to several people around Australia, in which he states that I have asked Tasmania and the Capital Territory to refuse his entry to their tournaments. "AM" and "OR" will confirm that I have not done so, but I don't intend to challenge Mohammed re his twisting of the facts - I shall just keep it on file for future reference,

Kind regards, and thank you all for your support in this matter,

MM
______________________________________________________

Thank you, "AM", I seem to have missed your email till now. If the need arises you could inform him of the actual chain of events, but at the moment I'm happy to leave the matter rest.

I would hope that anyone who received the email from Mohammed would have sufficient commonsense to know that he has misrepresented the facts, and certainly I think that anyone who knows me, and the Victorian Committee members personally, would realise that we aren't persecuting him.

Kind regards,

MM
____________________________________________________

Dear MM

I cannot understand how Mohammed can give such publicity to his own bad behaviour, and his terrifying ethnic prejudices and delusions, and then have the gaul (sic) to suggest he is being victimised. I have been aware for a long time of his repeated accusations of cheating, - usually made against people such as you, proving he is a coward - but the more I have learned about him, the more I have been amazed (and concerned) that such a person has been attending Scrabble tournaments.

I briefly thought he may have woken up to himself when he said he would abide by the Tasmanian committee's decision, but his subsequent ravings have proved he hasn't (and never will). However, I remain hopeful that he will stay away from our tournament. [*]

Congratulations on the resolve you and your members have shown in dealing with this man. I know it has been a painful experience. Hopefully you will be rewarded by seeing some of the people he has scared off, returning to tournaments****.

Very best wishes

Alan Mathews

* [Would I want to rub shoulders with such character?]
______________________________________________

Thank you for your thoughts, "AM", the best thing I can say is that he marches to the beat of a different drum.

We are also hopeful that our tournament numbers may pick up somewhat, it has taken quite a degree of resolve on the part of our regular attendees to continue supporting our tournaments, and as I've mentioned before I am grateful for the strength and support of our committee members.

I sincerely hope that your Championship runs smoothly and happily,

MM
===========================================
My Comment:

* This is a reference to a momentary dispute over the calculation of extra time on the clock, after a certain game against a habitual cheat that infuriated me to no end and affected my ability to remain composed. It was sorted out in a few seconds. However, making reference to it, by Mrs Miller, as an "important" "cheating attempt" is a very sneaky Shylockian method that casts a smear and implicitly suggests that I am the subject of genuine complaints of cheating. Such smear was resounded by "TH" from NSW on a discussion board, in the form of an 'innocent' question about 'people who actually try to cheat after being falsely accused of cheating.'

**Below is the email sent to Kow, to which reference is made above by MM. I refused to discuss it at the Committee meeting. It was supposed to be a private and confidential email. I tried to make it as nasty as the terrible unsubstantiated accusation levelled at me by an unsophisticated mind, that would not appreciate a civil dialogue. I had no intention at that stage to expose any Shylockian attitudes within the scrabble community. I have had no intention to confront scrabble Shylocks, UNTIL they declared war on me. The threat to expose Kow has now been fully carried out, by clearly demonstrating in a simple logical manner, on this blog, how she has been a blatant Shylockian liar [Blog archive Sept 2008.] Geoff Wright, the Tournament Director was watching that particular game, which finished much later than the rest. He was exchanging whispering comments with her at the time. If there were a shade of truth in her story, she should have alerted him on the spot. Mrs Miller should have discussed this matter with him, had she not been party to this dirty affair. Maybe she did discuss it with him and could not extract a result to her satisfaction. When this was explained to the Committee, the response was amazing. Andrew Fisher simply and sarcastically sneered at the mental capacity and awareness of Geoff Wright, instead of suggesting a reprimand for the offending Kow, who formally made an unsubstantiated allegation against a fellow player. Here is the much vaunted email upon which ten people, presumably sane, based their "unanimous" decision:

To: Iratekow@------
I have fought many a battle against fanatic jews in and outside Australia. This scrabble fiasco is nothing but a ripple in a turbulent ocean. I can handle it with ease. Scrabble tournaments are nothing but a minor pastime for me, which I often thought of quitting whenever I reflected on the extent of its infestation by cheats.

You know damn well that your story is a fabrication. I tried hard to find an excuse for you, such as a tile accidentally falling off the rack onto my lap and me reaching for it, but I could not recall such an accident happening.

I am prepared to give you one last chance to withdraw your heinous complaint, in exchange for giving you my word not to discuss this matter with any third party. If you click on the small sample of links below, you might know a little bit more about my determination and appreciate how generous my offer is. If you elect to be stubborn and carry on with your gang of conniving prejudiced fanatic jews, I promise to expose you in a very unpleasant manner. I will give you one week to consult with your fellow jews.

http://www.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/iran_holocaust_conference.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_5

http://www.bnaibrith.org.au/images/%7BD6933DD3-9DFF-4375-B3CA-C653D9FA5F7E%7D.pdf
----------------

***This is an open ended invitation intended for more fellow Shylocks to come forward with more invented trivia. Shylockian tactics plumb the depths of dishonour and indecency. They include character assassination, wilful distortion of facts, fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth if it derailed their plans. I think the supply of hard core Shylocks has already been depleted. Members of the clan are not all evil or stupid. I have no doubt that many are not happy with this state of affairs. To them, I would like to emphasise the fact that I did not start this open and ugly encounter; Carol johnsen did in an ignorant and unsophisticated manner. Subsequently, she had the full support of the gang, who responded by initiating this case against me, and to hurriedly collect flimsy evidence over a short period of time, in order to cover up for her incompetent and tactless email.

****In this regard, I suggest that MM should seriously think of hiring larger halls as venues for her future Victorian tournaments. The numbers of returning escapees might be overwhelming, since the total number of players in Victoria is about two hundred. Even if an immediate comparison with past years might not support this assumption, it should happen in a few years as memories of the dreadful villain fade away!

-----------------
Some forgive, some forget, some do both. I do neither, I get even. In fact, when properly motivated, I get way more than even. The attitude of this Shylockian gang has given me more than just motivation to fight back.

EPISODE 6 (FINALE)

2008-12-19T22:21:00.012+11:00

You would have gathered that I did not respond to the last correspondence and decided to close the file. At that stage, I thought that Shylockian influence was dominant only in Victoria, where I lived, and decided to occasionally participate in tournaments held in other states.

I emailed the ACT and Tasmania requesting a place in their upcoming tournaments. Both welcomed my participation and assured me of a place, upon which I booked flights and suitable rather expensive accommodation, within walking distance from tournament venues.

When my name appeared on the initial list of participants in the ACT tournament, Victorian Shylocks requested their fellow Shylocks to ban me. I soon received two emails from the head Shylocks of the ACT and Tasmania. The ACT was abrupt and direct, banning my participation in clumsy unfriendly language by OR, after their initial warm welcome by TR. Tasmania tried to offer some explanation and asked for time to discuss the matter among their membership. That was followed by a reply from AM to the effect that because I had called “Kow” mad, my presence at his tournament would not be desirable because Kow was a popular ex-member and a champion of his scrabble association. When I told this funny anecdote to a senior member of my club she laughed and said, “Kow being popular? You could have fooled me!”

Since the idea of offering to participate in interstate tournaments proved to be a revealing litmus test to assess the Shylockian influence in scrabble, I thought that I might continue testing. Thus, I circulated this email:

To: Committees of Australian Scrabble Players Associations:

Due to my lack of information about email addresses, I am forwarding this message via at least one committee member of every state.

For whatever reasons, the Committee of the Victorian branch of ASPA has issued a one-year ban on my participation in tournaments held in Victoria. Based on the motives for such ban, I decided not to participate in tournaments held under the auspices of the said Committee during, before or after the period of the imposed ban.

Unaware of the stand on this matter by scrabble associations outside the jurisdiction of the Victorian Committee, I applied to play in two tournaments, in ACT and Tasmania. I was warmly welcomed by the tournament organisers. Accordingly, I made travel and accommodation bookings for which I paid unrefundable fees. Shortly after, the Vic Committee persisted with their persecution and requested ACT and Tas to ban me from participating in their tournaments. ACT was quick to respond and informed me that they do not want me to attend their tournament in any capacity. Tas decided to put the matter for discussion by their Committee. I am still awaiting their expected reply.

In order to make this unique situation clear, I request that the committees of all states inform me of their stand on my participation in their future tournaments. This would save all parties concerned much time and effort in the future.

Thank you.
Mohammed Hegazi

NSW, Qld and SA did not reply. WA sent this uniquely absurd reply that imposed a life ban on my participation in their activities. This is a copy of their email:

To Mohammed Hegazi
The Australian Scrabble Players Association (WA) Incorporated will not accept any entries from you for any tournaments, events or functions within Western Australia that come under the auspices of ASPA (WA) Inc at any time now or in the future.
Glenys Lawrie

That was a bit super-Shylockian, if I may say so myself!

At first, I thought that this peculiar jewess had a poor command of the English language, thus failing to properly express herself, until I stumbled on the minutes of a meeting held by the ASPA (WA). Here is an intact excerpt of it:

MEETING 22nd February, 2009
ASPA (WA) INC MEETING
SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2009
Present: Edie Mueller, Mike Clarke, Aloma Pelham, Anne Stewart, Carol Hudson, Henny Yates, Jenny Coetzee, Maureen Gill, Colleen McCormick, Anne Donnelly, Glenys Lawrie.
Apologies: Graham Bell, Dianne Ward.
Meeting commenced: 2.00 pm.
Membership. There were 154 financial members as at 22 February 2009.
GENERAL BUSINESS
BAN. On 23 October 2008 Mohammed Hegazi, a Victorian player was informed by email that he was banned from playing in WA for all time.

(Quiz: How many non-jewish-sounding names are on the list above?. I could spot one, can you find more? Mind you, not all jews have jewish-sounding names.)

The jews of Victoria tried to keep appearances by collating flimsy complaints, suggesting that I made life hard for them. The jews of Western Australia offered no explanation whatsoever, in order to justify their bizarre stand against a person they never met. From a practical angle, I have no intention or desire to play in Western Australia. I only wonder about the clumsiness of those West Australian jews.

On the basis that in general, I "don't sue because I am not a jew", I would rather not pursue this matter any further. Those West Australian jews should remember that their association is part of a larger structure that can be subjected to the rule of common law. There are principled lawyers in Victoria who would be willing to offer their services, free of charge, in similar cases. One is a personal friend. This really puts me in two minds: Should I act as a matter of principle? Should I just ignore those West Australian jews? Time may tell.

This should be the finale of this uninteresting melodrama. To me, it is a clear manifestation of the Shylockian influence in the game of scrabble, which in turn might be symbolic of the Shylockian influence in Australia. If at any stage you would have wondered why we took part in wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq, look at the number of Shylocks in government. They control the two parties, mass media, city councils, trade unions and anywhere where there is power or presumed power. If you want to read more about Shylockian methodology, some of the material on the links below might be of interest:
http://hegazi.blogspot.com/
http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/

EPISODE 5

2008-12-08T00:10:00.001+11:00

According to the Protocols of the Elders of Scrabble, I received the letter below:

SCRABBLE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
Secretary

September 22nd, 2008

Mr. Mohammed Hegazi

Dear Mr. Hegazi,

Thank you for attending the meeting on Thursday September 18th 2008 at the SC Centre in response to the letter dated Monday September 1st 2008 sent to you by the Committee.

The members of the Committee paid due attention to your responses to the allegations made against you by members, as per the documents attached to the above letter and the two additional documents provided to you at the start of the meeting. Following your departure from the meeting the Committee reviewed these allegations in conjunction with the content of your responses preparatory to reaching a decision on a course of action.

In accordance with Rule 10.4(a) of the Constitution, on behalf of the Committee, this letter is to inform you that, by a unanimous decision at this meeting of Thursday September 18th 2008, the Committee resolved that:

a) you are guilty of conduct unbecoming a member of the Association and prejudicial to the interests of the Association;

and

b) that you shall be suspended from attending or participating in all tournaments for one year commencing Saturday November 1st 2008.

Further, that during the period Saturday November 1st 2008 to Saturday October 31st 2009, inclusive, the Committee reserves the right, on behalf of the members of the Association, to review this decision and the extent to which it shall be applied in the event that further allegations are made against you.

A meeting of the Committee will take place on Thursday October 16th 2008 at the SC Centre at 7.00 pm. In accordance with Rule 10.4 of the Constitution of the Association you are afforded the opportunity to

(i) address the meeting either in person, or appoint a representative to address the meeting on your behalf;

and/or

(ii) give to the Committee before the date of the meeting a written statement seeking the revocation of the above stated resolution.

If, at the meeting of October 16th 2008, the Committee confirms the resolution of Thursday September 18th 2008 you are permitted (as per sub-rule 10.4(e) of the Constitution) to give the Secretary notice not later than 48 hours after that meeting that you wish to appeal to the Association in general meeting against the resolution.

Please direct correspondence via post to the above address.

Yours sincerely,

N F
Secretary
--------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for more Shylockian action in EPISODE 6, but give me some time. I will try to post it as soon as you manage to stop laughing.

Episode 4

2008-11-12T01:10:00.002+11:00

6) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Madam President,

I was so upset by the rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour of Mohammed Hegazi at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, that I have decided not to attend any more tournaments in Melbourne, except for the Senior Citizens Challenge in October.

Yours sincerely,
Ruth Fewings

My Comment:
This is the only genuine complaint in this dossier of Shylockian conniving and intrigue. I will discuss it, even though I believe that it might have been so worded on behalf of RF.

I was late for a game against RF. The clock had been started. I sat quietly and started playing. So embarrassed at being late, I was totally disoriented. I made my first move, announced the score and hit the clock. Soon after, I noticed the time of 23 minutes on the clock. Even though I have used clocks in tournaments for many years, that figure struck me as being the time elapsed and not the time remaining. At that stage, I furiously threw my pen on the table, told RF that she won the game and that the tournament director would settle the score. I walked away and decided to help as a volunteer runner for the presumably remaining two minutes. MM, who was the tournament director, approached me and had the situation explained to her. She understood and corrected my misunderstanding. She restarted the clock. Play resumed as if nothing happened. No further incident occurred, as maliciously claimed by a couple of characters who were sitting nearby. Admittedly, both RF and myself were not exactly at ease, as we usually did for all our previous games. RF was very unlucky losing the game after a very promising early stage and subsequent mounting score difference , in her favour. This might have affected her overall judgement of what happened.

I have later emailed RF and explained to several other fellow players that this misunderstood situation was not targeting RF. Any other player in her place would have faced the same unlucky situation. I have even requested two other country players to try to explain this to her.

Furthermore, I made the most sincere and elaborate email apology to RF, when I learnt that she took offence as she thought that she had been targeted for humiliation. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Until then, RF had my full appreciation and respect as a pleasant and fair player.

RF never stopped playing in tournaments, as she claimed she would do. I played her in a subsequent tournament. Unaware of her unfair complaint, I played my normal game against her. Now, I am neither surprised by her attitude nor bothered by the fact that she did not make the effort to rectify her unjustifiably harsh complaint. At this stage, I do understand the subtle hidden motive for her strange attitude.

7) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

To Scrabble Committee
18th August 2008

Dear Committee members,
I wish to complain about the bad behavior of Mohammed Hegazi at yesterdays Memorial Tournament.
Yesterday I witnessed yet another of our members (a most senior one at that) Ruth Fewings be subjected to his awful behavior. Bridget Halge and I were so upset and concerned for RF we had to stop our clock to regain composure for our game.
I personally have been in this position with Mohammed (At the Nationals) and it is very unpleasant to say the least.

Dorothy Barraclough
Membership Officer
(Continued overpage)

7) contd. MY OBSERVATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED
Mohammed was late for the start of the game, Marj came and started the clock, at this stage I was unaware who Ruth Fewings’s opponent was.
When Mohammed arrived at the table to find his clock had been started he threw something on the table and told RF it was her game and walked off.
Marj came and eventually got them to start play. Mohammed wanted to start Ruth’s clock before she has selected her tiles and she objected causing more distress. Bridget Halge and l were very distressed and upset for RF at being subjected to this behavior, we stopped our Clock for some time to regain our composure. When we recommenced our game the unpleasantness went on, we stopped our Clock again and I informed Marj that Mohammed was still giving RF a hard time. Barry Harridge sat and observed the latter stages of the game between RF and Mohammed, with no further incident I believe.
Barry H sat with RF for quite some time afterwards consoling her, she was just so upset.

My Comment:
Apparently “Incidents” 7 and 8 were cooked in a hurry. There is much colourful imagination here. Such trash is not worth a comment, as it only aims at making a fuss out of nothing.

8) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Marj,

I’m writing to express my frustration at the joy having been taken out yet again, of my enjoyment of a scrabble tournament when I witnessed Ruth Fewings' distress while she was playing a game against Mohammed Hegazi. It was evident that a confrontation had taken place. My partner and I had to stop the clock so we could compose ourselves before we continued with our game.
The reason I was so badly affected by what happened to Ruth Fewings was that my experiences of playing against Mohammed have been nerve racking and filled with anxiety. I experience his behaviour as hostile and intimidating which results in my inability to play my best. Each time I see his name listed as a participant in a tounament, my heart sinks because I dread the prospect of having to play against him.
I ask that the committee seeks to redress this situation through whatever means that are open to you. Regards, Bridger Halge

No virus found in this incoming message.
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My Comment:
I am astonished that such nonsense was tabled for discussion. It took me much effort to try to distinguish between this Halge character and the proverbial bar of soap. I had to check tournament results to try to assign a face to her name. The ugliness of her accusations prompted my memory. I found out that I only played her three times. On one occasion, she argued the rule that two extra minutes on the clock cost her 20 points. She sarcastically said, “Is this how you win your games?” Nothing else about this strange character comes to mind.

9} Date of Incident: August 10 2008

Hi Marj

As far as I can remember it went like this

Mohammed placed a 7 letter word on the board over the triple score on the right hand border

He announced ‘200’

As he had played this game with me at a previous tournament I said to him ‘come on now you’re not doing this to me again’ and called Carol Johnsen over to adjudicate
What it was was that his time was running out - he was playing for time or some such

My Comment:
This rambling is by SS. She is a problematic cheat whose favourite method of handling the bag had been to put it on the table, claiming that she had problems lifting it above table level. She would drag tiles out of the bag, with the opening facing her, while looking straight into the bag. There had been several confrontations with her, in an attempt to convince her to stop cheating. It did pay dividends in later tournaments, as she made the effort to follow the rules of the game.

On one occasion, I failed to tile track within the span of 10 minutes at the end of a critical game because she tactlessly kept on interrupting me with silly comments with the sole Shylockian aim of distracting me while tracking.

She once refused to play a game against me after Marj Miller told her that she must lift the bag above table level. The game would have been a forfeit for her, if I did not request MM to record it as a bye.

The only one time I declared an exaggerated score against her was for the purpose of saving time via a rule technicality as explained at this link:
http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/2008/08/silly-rules-lead-on-to-silly-situations.html

10) Date of Incident/s: August 10 & 17th 2008

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.

At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.

Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

Carol Johnsen

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My Comment:
This email was the first development of this ploy. In the aftermath, I believe that CJ must have acted under stern instructions from the “Board of Deputies”!

Now, I leave it to the readers of this blog to draw their own conclusions. The next episode will discuss the findings of the “Elders of Scrabble”, according to their own Protocols.

To all those who may think that conspiracy theories are all imaginary, the following symbolic dialogue between a horse and a piglet is quite interesting:

- The farmer feeds you and looks after you because when you grow up, he is gonna eat you.

- Oink oink … another conspiracy theory!

EPISODE 3

2008-10-25T12:45:00.001+11:00

In order to save the reader the effort of going back to previous posts, I have copied and pasted the alleged “incidents” in violet colour.

1) Date of Incident: July 13 2005
REPORT OF ACCUSATION OF CHEATING at the N4 Tournament.
During a break between games at the above tournament Mohammed Hegazi mentioned to me that he was concerned about cheating by fellow scrabble players.
We moved to a quiet area to discuss this, at which stage I asked Mohammed to tell me the names of the people who were cheating, mentioning that in my capacity as President of the Scrabble Players Association I would be unable to do anything about dealing with this situation without knowing the names of the offenders.
Mohammed was at first reluctant to mention any names, but when pressed again said “well, you for a start”.
I was distressed by this totally untrue accusation and let the members of the Association know that I had been accused of cheating, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of support I have received over the ensuing period of time.

Marj Miller
President
Scrabble Players Assocation

My Comment:
You would have noticed that the date of the alleged “incident” goes back to 2005. As far as I can remember, this did happen within the context of a “friendly” conversation with MM, when I expressed my concern about what attracted my attention, as a new comer to the scrabble scene. I was appalled on that day by the mishandling of the bag by both MM and BH. To be fair to BH, this was the only time he mishandled the bag against me. I played him on many later occasions, when he always defeated me fair and square. At the time, MM showed no symptoms of such “distress”, perhaps because she was fully aware of what she did. I continued to express my concern, on several other occasions, in the context of other conversations. I recall that, at one tournament in Geelong I was expressing to MM my desire to ask the TD to emphasise the importance of handling the bag according to the rules of the game, when MM requested me not to do so saying, “Do it for me.” I could not exactly understand what she meant at the time. I am still wondering about what she meant.

My diplomatic relations with MM have not been stable, but never severed. Matter of fact, they continued to steadily improve as MM became more tolerant of my obsession with the need for total honesty in the game, and I tried harder to accept the fact that cheating is part and parcel of some player’s enjoyment, especially in the Recreation Division, where I spent most of my scrabble time.

However, it is unforgivable for MM to come up with such unworthy twisted complaint, after more than three years. The context of her complaint speaks for itself, being trivial and unnecessarily vindictive.

2) Date of Incident: March 22 2008
Account of what happened at the Nationals with Mohammed Hegazi

On the 22nd March 2008 at the National Championships I was drawn to play Mohammed Hegazi in the second game of the Plate Section.
We arrived at the table to commence play and Mohammed started by telling me how to hold the bag and how to draw my tiles, I assured him I knew how to do this, we started to play he then said the last time he played me I held the bag incorrectly and I could see the tiles ( I interpreted this as an accusation of Cheating) at this point I stopped the clock and called for the TD. Barry Harridge came to the table and asked what the problem was. I explained what Mohammed had said. BH asked me to demonstrate how I drew tiles, I held the bag as I always do above the table, averted my eyes and drew my tiles placing each one on my score sheet face down until I had the correct number of tiles, only then did I look at them and place them on my rack. BH advised Mohammed that there was nothing wrong with the way I drew tiles and directed him to proceed with the game. We completed the game in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
I was humiliated at being asked to demonstrate how I selected tiles by the TD. I was very upset by this whole incident.
I am not a Cheat.

Dorothy Barraclough

My Comment:
The finale of the above complaint is “I am not a cheat”. Even though I do disagree with such profound conclusion, I never accused her of cheating as such. I only expressed reservation about the way she mishandled the bag. She made no effort to demonstrate that the tiles are kept out of sight. Otherwise, I would have had no reason to object. Until recently, DB’s favourite method of handling the bag had been to hold it by the part of the rim facing her opponent. Thus the opening of the bag would be facing her and hidden from the view of the opponent. She would then slowly get the tiles out, examining them while they are hidden from the view of the opponent and dropping back unwanted tiles. I could hear the rattle of dropped tiles, but could do nothing about it.

If you read her complaint above you will find nothing wrong with my demand that she hold the bag according to the rules of the game. The way she described to the TD how she usually drew her tiles is quite different from what she actually did against me, even for the remainder of that particular game.

I remember that in another tournament at the premises of the Nunawading club, I had my name and hers on a relatively short list, which meant that the chance of playing her was high. I went to MM and explicitly said, ”If anyone tried to cheat against me, I would concede and abandon the game.” She objected and said that the Committee would not be happy about such stand. MM would certainly have gathered that I was referring to DB, because as soon as she walked away, she had a word with her.

I must admit that I played DB a couple of times after “the Nationals” and she showed an exemplary way of handling the bag. The fact that she lost both games, after a long streak of unfair wins against me, does not detract from the virtue of being honest. At the end of the day, scrabble is only a game. We all win some and lose some, except those young players who made scrabble an essential part of their “raison d’etre”.

3) Date of Incident: May 12 2008

Marj

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Kow

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My comment:
This complaint was discussed in full in this post:
http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-happens-when-zionist-kow-play.html

What I may add here is that I sent to Kow a generous offer, for her to withdraw her complaint in exchange for my word not to discuss the matter with any third party. Instead, she forwarded to Marj Miller a copy of my personal email to be tabled for discussion in the enquiry, or maybe she only meant to say to MM, “See what you got me into!”

4} Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Here is my account of the incident at the Victorian Championship as I remember it.
Early in the game of Mohammed Hegazi vs KT in round 18, Mohammed stated his intention to concede the game and not proceed with it. I came over to see what was going on. I asked Mohammed why he wanted to stop, and he gave no reason, saying he just wanted to concede. When I persisted, he said that in the course of replenishing tiles from her rack, KT had selected too many tiles, returning some further tiles from her rack. I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing. KT did not understand what Mohammed was alleging. The game was stopped. It was treated as an unrated game with a forfeit by Mohammed and an imputed win to KT with a nominal spread of +1. KT was very upset. I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.
Mohammed’s baseless allegation in this case is yet another in a string of cases which is upsetting to players and disruptive to the smooth running of tournaments.
Barry Harridge

My Comment:

This incident is one of two important core incidents worthy of detailed investigation and proper assessment.

The incident itself was discussed as a unique cheating method in this post:
http://scrabbledetective.blogspot.com/2008/06/scrabble-common-cheating-methods.html

I stand by my finding, which was based on accurate observation and full analysis after the incident. I never wanted to embarrass KT. I simply cannot continue with a game where I have to unnecessarily put up with cheating. This I do at a price, which is conceding the game. Scrabble rules should include a way of resolving the situation where a player may want to concede, in a manner that does not interfere with the smooth running of tournaments. The lack of a clear rule is behind this unfortunate incident. According to the current Rule 12.3, BH only had the right to allow me to concede without much ado. Forcing me to give a reason for wanting to concede is not part of the current Rule. Therefore, the responsibility for the unfortunate ensuing developments is BH’s. His unintended mishandling of the situation forced me to embarrass KT.

As to BH’s report, it contained the following inaccuracies:
● He did not quite grasp the exact cheating technique I tried to explain. Maybe my explanation was not clear enough.
● His comment, “I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing” is absurd. What did he expect to find in the postmortem?
● The game was recorded as a bye, not a forfeit as mentioned by BH. Recording the game as a bye suggests that at that stage, up to 9 June 2008, nothing was planned against me, by the Shylockian clan as represented by the gang of ten.
● The remark “I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.” Is a figment of BH’s imagination. If he ever made such a comment at the time, my verbal response would have been something he would never forget.
● His remark that I made a" baseless allegation" is also absurd. How could he judge? He was not watching the game.

Looking at the incident objectively, any third party can only say, “I don’t know”. When I challenged BH during the enquiry and asked him, “On what grounds are you claiming that I made a baseless allegation?” He stuttered and only said, “KT is a nice person. ” I replied, “As an old male, I cannot compete, credibility wise, with a young female capable of shedding tears on demand.” At this stage, I had ten pairs of eyebrows raised at this metaphoric comment. What I meant to say was that BH had two opposing versions of an incident and was not in a position to be able to judge. Being nice and being a cheat are not mutually exclusive. Most people who cheat in a game of poker are nice people.

5) Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Marj

Have thought a bit about this - but really isn’t is possible to do something about Mahommed. At each tournament, seemingly, he upsets a woman so badly that she spends the day and much of the evening as well in tears and shaken. Yesterday again and KJ is such a good natured and helpful person. Please Marj perhaps I’m not wording this as well as it might be, but the man is a menace. You have mentioned a few times that the numbers for the tournaments has dropped could it be the tension that is felt because of his behaviour not to mention Doug has caused this drop.
Tell me to mind my own business if you will - but come to think of it it is my business - it’s my day out too - and to watch people, one at each tournament at least, becoming so upset is very distressing.

My Comment:
Such rambling is not worthy of a comment. I was told during the enquiry that this anonymous complaint was from Stephanie Saunders. I will discuss SS’s attitude in the context of another tabled complaint from her.

So far I have discussed five “incidents”, out of a total of ten. The remaining five will be discussed in another post. There is nothing worthwhile, except one unlucky misunderstood situation, which generated this ridiculous rash of makeshift "incidents". The rest is rather more of the same Shylockian trash, compiled in a hurry.

EPISODE 2

2008-10-13T15:49:00.001+11:00

After attracting the attention of Marj Miller to the unconstitutional behaviour of Carol Johnsen, I expected some informal investigation that would have led to reconciliatory action, or proper investigation and application of the constitutional disciplinary clause, should the need arise. Instead, I received a short email from MM telling me that I would receive a reply by ordinary mail. I have scanned and pasted her letter below. The letter and attachments were left intact with all the misprints and errors, if any. I only made the following minor changes:

All names were replaced by initials.

Addresses were deleted.

Tournaments were indicated by shortened names.

Forms of the word distress were changed to red, in order to highlight the telling frequent use of the word by presumably different writers.

I will let you read and analyse this letter, such that you can derive your own conclusions before I add my explanation of, and comments on, each flimsy “incident”; which will not be different from what was clearly explained at the enquiry that followed. Your comments are welcome, even if they were to be hostile and you would like to pass them on and remain anonymous. You can comment on this blog. If you prefer a confidential comment, you may email me: mohammedhegazi@gmail.com.
No one is perfect; I could have made mistakes of which I might not be fully aware.

SCRABBLE ASSOCIATION
President
MM
September l, 2008

Dear Mohammed,

The Committee of ===== wishes to bring to your attention that written complaints have been received from fellow competitors and Tournament Directors in relation to your conduct at tournaments organised by ==== and by Scrabble Clubs under the umbrella of ====.
One of the important duties of the Committee is to provide a pleasant and harmonious atmosphere at tournaments for all members to enjoy. Anything less discourages our members from attending these events. It is also important to inform you that the members of the Association, including the Committee, do not share your view that cheating is widespread in the Scrabble community.
Listed below is a summary of the complaints received along with a note of the relevant tournament.
It is of great concern that players feel it necessary to address these matters in writing; nevertheless it has been agreed by the Committee that it is fair and appropriate for you to be afforded the opportunity to provide an explanation of your conduct. You are therefore requested to attend a meeting of the Committee to be held at 7.00 pm on Thursday 18th September 2008 to give your account of the situations that gave rise to these complaints.
In the event that you do not attend this meeting (as detailed above), the Committee will review the complaints received without your input and, based on the facts as stated in the separate attachments, will make its decision as to how to proceed, reserving its rights to act on behalf of the members of the Association in accordance with the regulations of the Association’s Constitution (Rule 10.) Any such decision would be communicated to you in writing.
The members of the Committee will not enter into any communication with you in relation to these matters, by mail or by electronic means, prior to this meeting date.
Written acknowledgement of this letter via Post is required by the Association, to be addressed to me at my address as shown above.
I have enclosed a copy of the Constitution for your information.

Yours sincerely,
MM
President

Summary of incidents - copies of documents attached.
1. July 13th 2005, N #4 Tournament: Letter from MM re accusation of cheating by Mohammed Hegazi - written August 30th 2008.
2. March 22nd 2008, National Championship: Email from DB outlining incident re drawing of tiles, received August 30th 2008.
3. May 12th 2008, XB Tournament: Email from Kow reporting incident of cheating by Mohammed Hegazi, received August 29th 2008.
4. June 9th 2008, V Championship: Report from Tournament Director BH re incident between KT and Mohammed Hegazi, received August 30th 2008.
5. June 9th 2008 V Championship: Email re above incident, received June10th 2008
6. August 17th 2008, Memorial Tournament: Email from RF reporting rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour, received August 18th 2008.
7. August 17th 2008, Memorial Tournament: Letter from DB concerning above incident with RF, received August 18th 2008.
8. August 17th 2008, Memorial Tournament: Email from BH re above incident with RF, received August 20th 2008.
9. August 10th 2008, Mtn Tournament: Email re incident (a) at the Mtn Tournament, stating that this was the second time that Mohammed Hegazi had overstated his score by a large margin whilst playing against the same opponent.
10. August 10th & 17th 2008, Mtn & Memorial Tournaments: Email from Committee Member/Mtn Tournament Director CJ outlining events - received 20th August 2008.
(a) at the Mtn Tournament on August 10th where Mohammed Hegazi grossly overstated his score during a game.
(b) at the Memorial event on August 17th where many members were distressed by Mohammed Hegazi’s demeanour during a game against RF.

1) Date of Incident: July 13 2005
REPORT OF ACCUSATION OF CHEATING at the N4 Tournament.
During a break between games at the above tournament Mohammed Hegazi mentioned to me that he was concerned about cheating by fellow scrabble players.
We moved to a quiet area to discuss this, at which stage I asked Mohammed to tell me the names of the people who were cheating, mentioning that in my capacity as President of the Scrabble Players Association I would be unable to do anything about dealing with this situation without knowing the names of the offenders.
Mohammed was at first reluctant to mention any names, but when pressed again said “well, you for a start”.
I was distressed by this totally untrue accusation and let the members of the Association know that I had been accused of cheating, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of support I have received over the ensuing period of time.

MM
President
Scrabble Players Assocation

2) Date of Incident: March 22 2008
Account of what happened at the Nationals with Mohammed Hegazi

On the 22nd March 2008 at the National Championships I was drawn to play Mohammed Hegazi in the second game of the Plate Section.
We arrived at the table to commence play and Mohammed started by telling me how to hold the bag and how to draw my tiles, I assured him I knew how to do this, we started to play he then said the last time he played me I held the bag incorrectly and I could see the tiles ( I interpreted this as an accusation of Cheating) at this point I stopped the clock and called for the TD. BH came to the table and asked what the problem was. I explained what Mohammed had said. BH asked me to demonstrate how I drew tiles, I held the bag as I always do above the table, averted my eyes and drew my tiles placing each one on my score sheet face down until I had the correct number of tiles, only then did I look at them and place them on my rack. BH advised Mohammed that there was nothing wrong with the way I drew tiles and directed him to proceed with the game. We completed the game in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
I was humiliated at being asked to demonstrate how I selected tiles by the TD. I was very upset by this whole incident.
I am not a Cheat.

DB

3) Date of Incident: May 12 2008

Ma

On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.
JM was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Kow

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4} Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Ma

Here is my account of the incident at the Victorian Championship as I remember it.
Early in the game of Mohammed Hegazi vs KT in round 18, Mohammed stated his intention to concede the game and not proceed with it. I came over to see what was going on. I asked Mohammed why he wanted to stop, and he gave no reason, saying he just wanted to concede. When I persisted, he said that in the course of replenishing tiles from her rack, KT had selected too many tiles, returning some further tiles from her rack. I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing. KT did not understand what Mohammed was alleging. The game was stopped. It was treated as an unrated game with a forfeit by Mohammed and an imputed win to KT with a nominal spread of +1. KT was very upset. I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.
Mohammed’s baseless allegation in this case is yet another in a string of cases which is upsetting to players and disruptive to the smooth running of tournaments.
BH

5) Date of Incident: June 9 2008

Dear Ma

Have thought a bit about this - but really isn’t is possible to do something about Mahommed. At each tournament, seemingly, he upsets a woman so badly that she spends the day and much of the evening as well in tears and shaken. Yesterday again and KJ is such a good natured and helpful person. Please Ma perhaps I’m not wording this as well as it might be, but the man is a menace. You have mentioned a few times that the numbers for the tournaments has dropped could it be the tension that is felt because of his behaviour not to mention Doug has caused this drop.
Tell me to mind my own business if you will - but come to think of it it is my business - it’s my day out too - and to watch people, one at each tournament at least, becoming so upset is very distressing.

6) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Madam President,

I was so upset by the rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour of Mohammed Hegazi at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, that I have decided not to attend any more tournaments in Melbourne, except for the Senior Citizens Challenge in October.

Yours sincerely,
RF

7) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

To Scrabble Committee
18th August 2008

Dear Committee members,
I wish to complain about the bad behavior of Mohammed Hegazi at yesterdays Memorial Tournament.
Yesterday I witnessed yet another of our members (a most senior one at that) RF be subjected to his awful behavior. BHa and I were so upset and concerned for RF we had to stop our clock to regain composure for our game.
I personally have been in this position with Mohammed (At the Nationals) and it is very unpleasant to say the least.

DB
Membership Officer
(Continued overpage)

7) contd. MY OBSERVATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED
Mohammed was late for the start of the game, Ma came and started the clock, at this stage I was unaware who RF’s opponent was.
When Mohammed arrived at the table to find his clock had been started he threw something on the table and told RF it was her game and walked off.
Ma came and eventually got them to start play. Mohammed wanted to start Ruth’s clock before she has selected her tiles and she objected causing more distress. BH and l were very distressed and upset for RF at being subjected to this behavior, we stopped our Clock for some time to regain our composure. When we recommenced our game the unpleasantness went on, we stopped our Clock again and I informed Ma that Mohammed was still giving RF a hard time. BH sat and observed the latter stages of the game between RF and Mohammed, with no further incident I believe.
BH sat with RF for quite some time afterwards consoling her, she was just so upset.

8) Date of Incident: August 17 2008

Dear Ma,

I’m writing to express my frustration at the joy having been taken out yet again, of my enjoyment of a scrabble tournament when I witnessed RF’s distress while she was playing a game against Mohammed Hegazi. It was evident that a confrontation had taken place. My partner and I had to stop the clock so we could compose ourselves before we continued with our game.
The reason ! was so badly affected by what happened to RF was that my experiences of playing against Mohammed have been nerve racking and filled with anxiety. I experience his behaviour as hostile and intimidating which results in my inability to play my best. Each time I see his name listed as a participant in a tounament, my heart sinks because I dread the prospect of having to play against him.
I ask that the committee seeks to redress this situation through whatever means that are open to you. Regards, BHa

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9} Date of Incident: August 10 2008

Hi Ma

As far as I can remember it went like this

Mohammed placed a 7 letter word on the board over the triple score on the right hand border

He announced ‘200’

As he had played this game with me at a previous tournament I said to him ‘come on now you’re not doing this to me again’ and called CJ over to adjudicate
What it was was that his time was running out - he was playing for time or some such

10) Date of Incident/s: August 10 & 17th 2008

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
SS
Secretary
President
RF

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the ====Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the ==== committee.

At the ==== tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular ==== committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director BH with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent ==== Championships.

Following that also, at the ==== Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to TH, the ==== representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the ==== Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

CJ

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6:53 PM
====================================================================

MM et al did not expect me to attend the enquiry, which would have facilitated their Shylockian mission. Instead, I sent the following reply:

M. Hegazi
Mrs MM
Representative
Scrabble Players Association
September 7, 2008

Re: enquiry on 18/09/2008

Dear Mrs M,

I hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter of 01/09/2008. I will be attending the enquiry meeting of 18/09/2008.

I expect all ten members of the Committee to be informed of the gravity and nature of the forthcoming enquiry. It would be desirable to have most, if not all, members to attend. While a number of members might want to distant themselves from this event, it should be explained to all that a skeletal quorum of five members would be inadequate for a thorough and unbiased investigation.

I noted that four members of the committee are doubling as adversaries, namely:
MM
DB
CJ
BH

I am of the opinion that, from an ethical angle, they should abstain from voting on the completion of the enquiry. However, this would be up to the committee to decide, in my absence.
Please email me with the consensus among other Committee members as to my intention to have a silent observer attend the meeting.

Yours faithfully,

Mohammed Hegazi
Member
Scrabble Players Association

EPISODE 1

2008-09-29T18:44:00.002+10:00

This Shylockian melodrama began with the following email, sent to me by the “Ratings Officer” of the unnamed Scrabble Association:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
SS
Secretary
President
RF

Dear Mohammed,

I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the ====Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the ==== committee.

At the ==== tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.

I am writing to you now because, at our regular ==== committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director BH with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent ==== Championships.

Following that also, at the ==== Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed* her but those who witnessed it happening.

The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to TH, the ==== representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the ==== Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.

Your faithfully,

CJ

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.138/ Virus Database: 270.6.6/1621 – Release Date: 8/19/2008

* Emphasis is mine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you would have noticed, the Ratings Officer made the following mistakes:

She used rude language. She could have related what, in her opinion, constituted ill manners without expressing such ill-conceived subjective feelings.

She circulated such sensitive defaming document among other members of the Association, namely RF and SS.

She issued what would constitute a reprimand, even though she expressed her intention to pass the matter on to the Committee for further action. Her act was unconstitutional. Disciplinary action, if any, must be taken by the Committee after adequate investigation.

In view of the above, I sent an email to MM, the elected president of the Association, requesting an enquiry and proper application of disciplinary procedures, should the need arise.

Because my email exposed the irresponsible unconstitutional action of CJ, it simply disappeared from the documentation and did not rate a mention in the enquiry that followed. MM made it look as if disciplinary procedures were invoked by her and not at my own behest. Instead, she indulged in running around in haste, requesting complaints against me from fellow players. Most would have refused to take part in this ploy. She managed to compile a dossier of trivia, which I will discuss later, plus a couple of unlucky incidents that were worthy of further investigation, and were properly addressed by me in the enquiry that followed.

Of which later. Don't miss this Shylockian entertainment. Episode 2 will be released as soon as I have some free time.

COMING SOON: THEY WANTED THEIR POUND OF FLESH

2008-09-25T07:11:00.000+10:00

Will they get it? Stay tuned!

In her dogged pursuit, MM would have approached CE and MP for further flimsy complaints. Unluckily, both ladies are too decent to have anything to do with her scheme. She might have had some luck if she approached PM or MC, but she should stay clear from TR in her little quiet country town; TR might throw up in disgust, regardless of any explanation from the clan.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A ZIONIST “KOW” PLAY SCRABBLE

2008-09-25T00:17:00.002+10:00

Below is a complaint forwarded, upon an urgent request from MM, to the Scrabble Administrative Committee of a certain province in a country on planet Earth:

On 12 May I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.

JM was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated behind Mohammed My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.

He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.

I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.

Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.

Irate Kow
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Copy of an email forwarded to Kow in response to the above complaint:

Dear Kow,

If you really have seen such an incident, why didn’t you report it to the TD at the time? Cheating is a very serious matter. Why did you have to wait for four months before telling anybody? You should have at least told JM, being the victim in your fictitious story. Luckily, JM who knows me very well, would be the first person to refute your lie. Also, a number of other players were watching the game at the time. I can remember JW being among them.

Kow, please seek psychiatric attention as soon as you can.

Mohammed
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Final Comment:

It is really difficult to catch a cheat in the act; you would have no tangible evidence to offer. However, in this fabricated story, the hypothetical cheat could have easily been caught red handed. The game was finished, with the cheat still sitting on a missing tile. All you had to do is to call the TD and tell him of what you witnessed and ask him to see for himself that the culprit was still sitting on a tile. The TD was actually watching the game. He was quite handy and should have been informed.

However, if a liar is not intelligent, the lie would have serious weaknesses in it. Watch how the liar is telling us how she was worried about etiquette in such a silly manner: The liar believes that it is bad etiquette to ask the TD to catch a cheat in the act on the spot, but it is good etiquette to spin a yarn accusing a person of cheating four months after a game, with no proof to offer. Watch also how the blatant liar is so emotionally distressed! This emotional fatigue will come again and again in other flimsy Shylockian complaints. It is reminiscent of all the terrible Hollywood Holohoax stories attributed to the poor German people during WW2.

Like all humans, I do have my shortcomings, but cheating is not one of them. I had a personality clash with this Kow, some time ago. This does not justify such a heinous lie. She probably had taken the "Kol Nidre Oath", for Jehovah to forgive her lies, free of charge, for a whole year.

MM grabbed this fable and incorporated it in a dossier of similar fables forwarded by distressed Shylockian players, which I will be discussing later, together with the resulting farce that ensued. MM wasted no time planning and conniving. She contacted JM and tried in vain to convince him to support the wild fabrication of Kow. The most she could extract from him was a report of an insignificant incident that presumably occurred during that particular tournament.

SILLY SCRABBLE RULES LEAD ON TO SILLY SITUATIONS

2008-08-14T13:10:00.002+10:00

One of the most defective aspects of the current rules is the need to count scores during play time. Counting scores should be done outside play time. It should be done in a manner similar to this suggestion:

After putting your tiles on the board, neutralise the clock, thus indicating the end of your turn. You cannot change your mind after hitting the stop button.
Calculate your score and declare it. Your opponent is free either to challenge or to check the score before writing it down.Once both sides agree on the correct score and both write it down, hit the clock to start your opponent's turn.
Challenges, if any, should be resolved before play resumes.

Why is this logical change to the rules desirable? It would result in a more accurate calculation of the scores. At present, the desire to save time would cause errors through hasty counting. Opponents are often reluctant to re-count, in order to save time. An innocent, or not so innocent, miscalculation could pass undetected. The present 50 minutes per game could be reduced to 40 minutes, if score counting is done outside play time.

In order to circumvent the present defective rule, when I want to save time, I use a logical loophole in it. Without actually counting, I would declare an inflated score that would send a message to my opponent that the score should be recounted. Thus, my understanding opponent would neutralise the clock and we both spend adequate time for accurate counting. However, this pragmatic method might confuse a simple person who might not understand legal intricacies. I have recently had a player 'spit the dummy' when I declared the unrealistic score of 200. The TD was called. Since this particular opponent had been in the habit of creating problems if there were none, I quickly defused the situation by offering to recount the score, in slow motion, in my own time. The incident later attracted a silly comment from a third party, which did not warrant a response from me. You have to make allowances for different levels of intellectual finesse.

HOW TO IMPROVE SCRABBLE RULES?

2008-07-08T09:04:00.001+10:00

It is easy to play the role of the armchair critic; but it is really hard to come with practical solutions that would address problems. I have stretched my imagination to the extent of trying to design an "automated tile dispenser". I worked on a couple of unsuccessful prototypes, where tiles got stuck on their way to the delivery chute! Even if I were to be successful, tournament gear would be too bulky to move around. I guess we will have to wait for a computer guru that would put the game in one piece, with virtual tiles and score calculators. The computer would replenish your tiles, calculate the score, tell you how many tiles are left in the virtual bag, and even progressively tile track for you. It could have a facility for resolving challenges. This feasible wish might sound like the electric or hydrogen-driven car. The technology is available, but mass production never saw the light. Experimental cars were fitted with small gadgets that split water by simple electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen. All you needed in the way of fuel would be a bottle of water.

Back to Earth, I have several feasible suggestions to be incorporated in the rules:

Make it compulsory to have the bag opening face away from the player;

players must avert the bag;

the bag remain closed until the above conditions are satisfied.

This might overcome the widespread evil of looking into the bag while replenishing tiles.

During the period between placement of tiles on the board and replenishing your rack, you should not handle the tiles on the rack. This would effectively do the job of the American rule requiring showing an empty hand. It is simple and not as cumbersome as showing an empty palm every time you obtain tiles from the bag.

Peeking into the bag might not always be an effective cheating method, but it is certainly annoying and distracting for the honest opponent at the receiving end. I have recently faced a player who got the tiles one by one out of the bag, which was dangling right under his eyes. He carefully examined every tile on its way out of the bag. I must admit that he might not have been trying to cheat. It could very well be a simple case of poor eyesight, but I did not like the idea of looking into an open bag. This is different from the case of "A", who is really irritating me, and sapping much of my concentration on the game, by her bag mishandling, which is followed by superb exemplary bag handling, as soon as she is comfortably ahead. I guess I should show my less accommodating side, next time I face her.

SCRABBLE COMMON CHEATING METHODS

2008-06-15T23:59:00.008+10:00

The most common cheating method is the simple clumsy peeking into the bag. Detection is quite simple. A straight line drawn between the eyes of the cheat and tiles into the bag is uninterrupted. To achieve this, the bag will always be below eye level, or held horizontally at eye level. The eyes, usually behind glasses, will be looking into the bag. The bag opening is never facing away from the player. The sad aspect of this method is that adherents to it find it quite difficult, if not impossible, to try to quit the habit. I guess they do have a different view of honesty. They probably believe that cheating is clever, especially if the opponent does not object, out of politeness. Personally, I have eventually decided to openly object and demand observing the rules of the game. Lifting the bag, which weighs less than 200 grams, is hard for some players. They will give you health excuses such as a bad shoulder, but will never accept suggested reasonable alternative methods that would solve the problem. Some people might argue that in such situation, it would be enough to look away from the bag. It sounds reasonable, but do you really, as an opponent, have any control over the swivel in another player’s neck? I am not talking here about honest players with genuine health problems. Those do keep tiles out of their sight.

The second common cheating technique is really fascinating, but is even easier to detect. During the process of replenishing tiles, the cheat will handle tiles with both hands. The cheat would take some tiles from the bag and put them in the hand holding it, then proceed to get more tiles from the bag. In the process, tiles are examined and unwanted tiles are dropped back into the bag. There is no reason whatsoever, other than the intention to cheat, that would warrant the following:
• handling tiles with two hands on top of the bag;
• holding tiles in the vicinity of the top of the bag;
• examining tiles while on top of the bag.
Tiles should be taken from the bag straight to the table or rack. No more tiles should be taken from the bag before other withdrawn tiles are put on the table or rack.

The third cheating method, generally called “palming”, is when a cheat take an unwanted tile back to the bag, while replenishing tiles. This is done quickly and is much harder to detect*. You have to count the tiles played by your opponent and quickly add up the sum of tiles played plus tiles remaining on the rack, while the opponent's hand is still in the bag. The total should not be less than seven. In this situation, a cheat might try to block your view of the rack.

A variation to this cheating method is when the hand of the cheat make several trips to the bag in order to replenish tiles. In the process, unwanted tiles are taken back to the bag. I guess this is why North American rules insist on always showing an empty palm before the hand can be put into the bag.

Some material on the internet talk about palming in the context of having a hidden extra tile, which allows the cheat to always select from among eight tiles. I have never detected this type of cheating, but I will keep my eyes open, and would report any occurrence of this devious method.

It is quite amusing for me to hear this comment from the mouths of some seasoned cheats, "Cheating? You are too suspicious a person. We have no cheats here."
-----------------------------------
* EUREKA!
It is much easier, than I initially thought, to detect this type of cheating. After playing a word and writing the score, the cheat will not directly replenish the rack. The cheat will first rearrange and fiddle with the tiles remaining on the rack, usually with two hands. This is when the unwanted tile is palmed. This is when the number of tiles remaining on the rack become momentarily less than it should.

Some might argue that it is normal to check what you can make of tiles remaining on your rack. No, it is not. What is logical is to wait until you have seven tiles on your rack. Just observe yourself when you play: Do you rearrange the small number of tiles on your rack before replenishing it? The answer is NO. I have made a point of observing players in order to confirm my assumption. Not a single honest player touched the remaining tiles on their rack before replenishing it. I am not saying that players should not touch the remainder of tiles on their rack; what I am saying is that they simply do not do so, because there is no need to do so.

In order to be able to palm that unwanted tile, the cheat unnecessarily rearrange the remaining tiles on the rack, prior to replenishing it. This is when that unwanted tile is quickly palmed. You have to wonder, what is the point in rearranging a small number of tiles on the rack, prior to replenishing it? Logically, you have to wait until you have the full component of seven tiles. You can then rearrange the tiles the way you prefer, whether you would rearrange them alphabitically, separate vowels from consonant, or keep on rearranging them in ways that would bring a bonus word to your mind. Any of such choices can only be achieved with seven tiles on your rack, unless you are considering which tile to take back to the bag!

On a certain occasion, the process of rearranging the remaining tiles on the rack was too suspicious when it was frantically done, to four tiles, with two hands. As I counted, those four tiles momentarily became three, before quickly being seven.

The moral of the story is: Be wary of players who unnecessarily rearrange the remainder of tiles on their rack, prior to replenishing it.

An honest way of handling the bag and replenishing tiles is very simple:
(1) Whether the bag is hitting the ceiling, or is simply placed on the table, the opening of the bag should always face away from the player. No tiles should be made visible.
(2) The time between tiles leaving the bag until they reach the rack or table should be very close to zero seconds. There is no need to examine tiles before they are placed on the rack.
(3) Tiles drawn must be placed on the rack or table, before proceeding to draw more tiles. While this is clearly part of the rules, many cheats would hold some tiles in one hand and draw more tiles with the other.

(4) The hand must be shown to be empty before entering the bag. This is not part of Australian rules, most likely because some Australian players have vested interest in not introducing this North American rule. I might follow this rule myself in future tournaments, hoping that the notorious Kow does not require me to also show her my backside!

EXTENT OF SCRABBLE CHEATING

2008-06-12T00:01:00.000+10:00

The aim of this blog is not to defame certain players, but to raise awareness of two facts, of which I have had first-hand experience:
a) Scrabble rules are not perfect; they require more attention in order to prevent cheating. Improvement could be achieved by borrowing some already-trialled rules such as North American Rule (III.A) requiring one to show an empty palm before drawing tiles. Personally, I do not like American rules, but they must have had a reason for this one.
b) Pretending that cheating does not exist exacerbate the problem instead of solving it. My own personal experience, after half a decade of playing, yielded the following statistics:
* About one third of the players I competed against in tournaments were potential cheats. Albeit that most cheating attempts were in the form of simple peeking into the bag.
* This ratio is much higher at a couple of clubs I frequented.

Your personal experience could be quite different from mine. Scrabble players are diverse; they are not expected to see eye to eye on every issue. As far as I am concerned, I can put players who categorically deny the existence of cheating into three categories:
(1) A small number of naive trusting individuals who believe that all humans are intrinsically honest;
(2) hypocrites who would rather deny the obvious, for whatever reasons. An example is the rambling on the internet of one individual who wrote, "Mohammed, stop your crusade against cheating. Stop accusing everybody; the reason you always lose is because you are not good."(punctuation corrected). Obviously, I never accused everybody and I do not always lose; I do win a few games every now and then;
(3) the cheats themselves. A funny example that comes to mind is a certain lady. I once moved a motion aimed at cheating players who pretend to have physical impairments that prevent proper bag handling. The motion was unanimously defeated. As the lady in question walked past me, she made the solemn pronouncement, "This is a sad day in the history of scrabble." I felt guilty for hurting the feelings of the poor innocent-looking lady, until I faced her in a recent tournament. She had the collapsed bag in her lap and freely sifted through the tiles. My guilty feeling was eased. Poor trusting "J" might still be wondering why he also lost to her that night.
"S" blamed me for taking a harsh stand against another player. When "S" played me the day before, she was struggling to keep ahead. So, she began to handle tiles with both hands, on top of the bag. I watched quietly and preferred to give her the benefit of the doubt. She benefited, no doubt!

according to a scrabble player of the name Steven Alexander (stevena@teleport.com): "People get away with things for years because no one pays close enough attention."