Countdown in Nottingham- 26th July

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:19 pm

Julian Fell wrote:Hi everyone, looking forward to meeting you all. I would just say - please don't be offended if I don't recognize some of you - I've seen very little Countdown in the last 4 years or so and have completely missed the likes of Paul Howe, Jono and others on-screen.

Yeah I'm the same, I wouldn't recognise Paul H, Dan or Dinos I don't think as my Countdown viewing was spasmodic before I applied to go on. Is that what the anagrammatical name badges are for?

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:40 pm

Rich Priest wrote:
Julian Fell wrote:Hi everyone, looking forward to meeting you all. I would just say - please don't be offended if I don't recognize some of you - I've seen very little Countdown in the last 4 years or so and have completely missed the likes of Paul Howe, Jono and others on-screen.
Yeah I'm the same, I wouldn't recognise Paul H, Dan or Dinos I don't think as my Countdown viewing was spasmodic before I applied to go on. Is that what the anagrammatical name badges are for?

Ah shit. Guess what I forgot to do.

James Hurrell · Post by **James Hurrell** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:21 pm

Just to say hope you all have a great tournament tomorrow. I'll be wishing I was there instead of the wedding I'll be attending instead. 80 degrees in a suit on a Saturday - joy.

Have fun.

Paul Howe · Post by **Paul Howe** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:18 am

I'm now officially bricking it about tomorrow.... because I've just seen the labyrinth of roads between the M1 and the venue and I'm scared I'm going to be spending my day meandering around Nottingham in a state of increasing desperation.

See you all tomorrow

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:56 am

Paul Howe wrote:I'm now officially bricking it about tomorrow.... because I've just seen the labyrinth of roads between the M1 and the venue and I'm scared I'm going to be spending my day meandering around Nottingham in a state of increasing desperation.

See you all tomorrow

Probably too late now, Paul. What looks to be the best route is to leave M1 at J26. Then use A610. Left onto A6514. Right onto A60. Then left into Woodthorpe Drive. Left into Plains Road, and then quickly right into Westdale Lane West.

Best of luck.

Hope it works ok, cos that's the way I'm using too.

Matt Coates · Post by **Matt Coates** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:17 pm

Well Done Dan Van, winner of CONOT 2008

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:55 pm

Matt Coates wrote:Well Done Dan Van, winner of CONOT 2008

Well done Dan Van

.

Paul Howe · Post by **Paul Howe** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:25 pm

Congratulations Dan, awesome stuff!

I'd also like to point out that I probably would've won if that twunt Neb hadn't tampered with the sacred CoBris format and added an extra round

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:10 pm

Hi all

Many thanks to everyone for making CoNot a great day despite my increased panic throughout the day.

Congratulations of course go to Dan for his superb victory over some of the greatest Countdowners of all time. Here's the results (the bottom table was played between three players, with 1 point for a win and half for second place)-

R1

Dan Vanniasingham 61-48 Dave Coulthurst
Julian Fell 71-45 Andrew Laycock
Paul Howe 61-50 Richard Priest
Charlie Reams 54-49 Jerry Humphreys
Jason Cullen 57-46 Kirk Bevins
Jack Rudd 51-37 Nick Wainwright
Dinos Sfyris 55-52 Jon O'Neill
Stewart Gordon 69-59 Mike Brown
Joyce Cansfield 59 : Matt Coates 48 : Howard Somerset 23

R2

Dan Vanniasingham 53-49 Paul Howe
Julian Fell 64-27 Stewart Gordon
Jason Cullen 61-40 Dinos Sfyris
Jack Rudd 42-32 Charlie Reams
Mike Brown 55-33 Joyce Cansfield
Dave Coulthurst 47-35 Kirk Bevins
Jon O'Neill 55-36 Matt Coates
Richard Priest 50-46 Jerry Humphreys
Nick Wainwright 60 : Howard Somerset 30 : Andrew Laycock 21

R3

Paul Howe 56-46 Jack Rudd
Kirk Bevins 60-47 Dinos Sfyris
Charlie Reams 69-39 Joyce Cansfield
Jason Cullen 54-52 Julian Fell
Nick Wainwright 59-40 Stewart Gordon
Mike Brown 60-50 Dan Vanniasingham
Jerry Humphreys 67-37 Howard Somerset
Richard Priest 63-60 Jon O'Neill
Dave Coulthurst 53 : Matt Coates 44 : Andrew Laycock 43

R4

Dan Vanniasingham 59-52 Richard Priest
Paul Howe 60-50 Julian Fell
Kirk Bevins 70-20 Jack Rudd
Charlie Reams 54-27 Nick Wainwright
Jason Cullen 68-31 Mike Brown
Dinos Sfyris 56-36 Matt Coates
Jon O'Neill 63-43 Jerry Humphreys
Andrew Laycock 50-Joyce Cansfield 37
Stewart Gordon 50 : Howard Somerset 36 : Dave Coulthurst 33

R5

Dan Vanniasingham 42-41 Charlie Reams
Julian Fell 61-51 Jon O'Neill
Paul Howe 64-31 Jason Cullen
Kirk Bevins 58-43 Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright 60-28 Howard Somerset
Dinos Sfyris 57-47 Mike Brown
Jerry Humphreys 56-43 Joyce Cansfield
Matt Coates 52-44 Stewart Gordon
Jack Rudd 48 : Dave Coulthurst 45 : Andrew Laycock 33

R6

Dan Vanniasingham 40-35 Jason Cullen
Julian Fell 57-37 Dinos Sfyris
Kirk Bevins 49-47 Paul Howe
Charlie Reams 62-52 Dave Coulthurst
Nick Wainwright 46-36 Jon O'Neill
Jack Rudd 50-27 Matt Coates
Stewart Gordon 59-31 Joyce Cansfield
Andrew Laycock 45-20 Howard Somerset
Mike Brown 46 : Jerry Humphreys 37 : Richard Priest 33

Final table-

wins pts
Dan Vanniasingham 5 305
Julian Fell 4 355
Paul Howe 4 337
Kirk Bevins 4 318
Charlie Reams 4 312
Jason Cullen 4 306
Nick Wainwright 4 289
Jack Rudd 4 257
Mike Brown 3 298
Dinos Sfyris 3 292
Stewart Gordon 3 289
Jerry Humphreys 2.5 298
Dave Coulthurst 2.5 278
Jon O'Neill 2 317
Richard Priest 2 291
Matt Coates 2 243
Andrew Laycock 2 237
Joyce Cansfield 1 242
Howard Somerset 1 174

Fuller post-mortem and facebook-powered photos to come tomorrow when I've had a bit of much-needed sleep.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:02 pm

Thanks Ben for a thoroughly enjoyable day. Congrats to Dan for winning. And great to see all of you, some for the first time. Now looking forward to the next one I can get to.

Hope you all caught your trains.

Matt Coates · Post by **Matt Coates** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:46 pm

yea great day Ben, unlucky Jason, really thought you was going to win, well done to Dan for winning, hope everyone got back safe

Kirk Bevins · Post by **Kirk Bevins** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:09 am

Well played Dan and unlucky Jason. You were quality against me - well played.

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:52 am

Oh I'm the median score. Well that was unexpected against such high calibre players! Well done everyone! You all racked up at least 1 win (or 2 half wins

) The only person whose points stick out from their wins is Jono, who I still think was robbed on that first controversial conundrum (albeit by me) as you could kinda guess it before the last letters were revealed but they seemed to be obscured from his view by Neb's presence.

Congrats again DanVan and hope everyone had a good time

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:39 am

A special thanks to Ben and his mum for a thoroughly enjoyable day

. In regards to my own performance, I let myself down big time in my final two matches after such a promising start in which I was the only unbeaten player after 4 games. But in the end pressure and fatigue took its toll and Dan defeated me 40-35 in the "winner-takes-all" match to secure first place

. However, despite bottling it at the final hurdle, I had a fantastic time and met up with some old faces and also many new ones which was great.

Very well played to Dan Van for gaining revenge on the COOT defeat to me earlier in the month

.

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:35 am

Wow Jason, Im very impressed. I bet you wish you could go back on the show now eh?

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:49 am

What a great event, with many memorable moments. And what a pleasure to finally meet the one and only Joyce Cansfield! Thanks once again to Ben and his mum for organizing another succesful Co- Event.

And a message to Dan - BOLETI wasn't in after all (it's BOLETUSES, apparently, despite its Latin origins), but thankfully (for me) it didn't affect the outcome of our game too much.

Mike.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:51 am

Yep, great day. As usual it was a pleasure to see those of you I know and to meet those of you I didn't. Well done to Dan, a new name on a trophy at last!

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:52 am

Just a few pics of the day, including recreation during the intervals.

CoNot 2008

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:43 pm

I had a brilliant day, despite the poor results - thanks to Ben and his ma for all their hard work, even if some of it was not used fully...

Again, it was great to see all the faces, new (Julian, Jason) and old (Joyce). Roll on Leicester!

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:09 pm

Here's my effort with the photos- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3 ... 3998&saved

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:12 pm

My only regret of the day is that I didn't get a chance to talk to Jason. Oh, and getting 0/20 on the numbers against Dan Van.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:15 pm

Charlie Reams wrote:My only regret of the day is that I didn't get a chance to talk to Jason.

I know Charlie! When I wanted to approach you, you were always in big company and so I felt extremely awkward in butting in one of your conversations

. But you did say something like "That'll do good for your rating Jason!" at one point in the day

. I'll put it at the top of my list to talk to you face-to-face at COLIN 09 next time round and sorry for bottling it this time round.

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:17 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Wow Jason, Im very impressed. I bet you wish you could go back on the show now eh?

That was the plan

. But except for a change of heart by Damian or a gender change, it looks like my chance is over!

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:22 pm

Howard Somerset wrote:Just a few pics of the day, including recreation during the intervals.

CoNot 2008

On one of the photos when I am on the fence, I am looking like a miserable sod when i was actually on 4 wins and no losses

. Imagine what my face was like when I lost at the depth

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:23 pm

jasoncullen wrote:On one of the photos when I am on the fence, I am looking like a miserable sod when i was actually on 4 wins and no losses . Imagine what my face was like when I lost at the depth

Ah, but you certainly cheered up later in the day when we got lost on the way to the station, and got mixed up in that Gay Pride event.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:17 pm

Ben Wilson wrote: Joyce Cansfield 1 242
Howard Somerset 1 174

Wow! Only one position behind the great Joyce Cansfield. That really is something to boast about.

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:07 pm

Howard Somerset wrote:Just a few pics of the day, including recreation during the intervals.

CoNot 2008

You sneaky bastard Howard! You caught me during one of my random bouts of catatonic schizophrenia. I look like a spread-eagle doing a shit! http://picasaweb.google.com/howards46/C ... 5737172034

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:36 pm

Mike Brown wrote:What a great event, with many memorable moments. And what a pleasure to finally meet the one and only Joyce Cansfield! Thanks once again to Ben and his mum for organizing another succesful Co- Event.

I echo those sentiments. It was great to meet up again with familiar faces and also meet those I'd never encountered before. I was quite starstruck when I saw Joyce, and I don't think many ladies her age would have had the nerve to drive down to Nottingham alone and play in a tournament with people they didn't know (even though I know we're all a friendly bunch) so my hat is off to her. And thanks to Ben and his mum for organising a great day.

By the way did the pub-goers manage to find that pub in the end?

DaveC · Post by **DaveC** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:20 am

Dinos Sfyris wrote:You sneaky bastard Howard! You caught me during one of my random bouts of catatonic schizophrenia. I look like a spread-eagle doing a shit!

You were weren't you? Does my bum look big in this...haha.
http://picasaweb.google.com/howards46/C ... 8270512882

Howard Somerset wrote:Wow! Only one position behind the great Joyce Cansfield. That really is something to boast about.

Yes, coming only one position behind the person that came next to last. Better phrase it carefully.

Thanks for the lift Howard, and a fantastic game. Looking forward to our next one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Had a fantastic day on Saturday, thanks a lot everyone for the great games, organisation and everything that went into it. Much appreciated. Looking forward to COLIN already if I'm still in the UK by then.

Dave C.

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:28 am

Rich Priest wrote:
Mike Brown wrote:What a great event, with many memorable moments. And what a pleasure to finally meet the one and only Joyce Cansfield! Thanks once again to Ben and his mum for organizing another succesful Co- Event.
I echo those sentiments. It was great to meet up again with familiar faces and also meet those I'd never encountered before. I was quite starstruck when I saw Joyce, and I don't think many ladies her age would have had the nerve to drive down to Nottingham alone and play in a tournament with people they didn't know (even though I know we're all a friendly bunch) so my hat is off to her. And thanks to Ben and his mum for organising a great day.

By the way did the pub-goers manage to find that pub in the end?

We found.. A.. pub..

Kirk Bevins · Post by **Kirk Bevins** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:36 am

Jon O'Neill wrote:
Rich Priest wrote:
Mike Brown wrote:What a great event, with many memorable moments. And what a pleasure to finally meet the one and only Joyce Cansfield! Thanks once again to Ben and his mum for organizing another succesful Co- Event.
I echo those sentiments. It was great to meet up again with familiar faces and also meet those I'd never encountered before. I was quite starstruck when I saw Joyce, and I don't think many ladies her age would have had the nerve to drive down to Nottingham alone and play in a tournament with people they didn't know (even though I know we're all a friendly bunch) so my hat is off to her. And thanks to Ben and his mum for organising a great day.

By the way did the pub-goers manage to find that pub in the end?
We found.. A.. pub..

The wrong one I believe as it wasn't named whatever Coates said it would be named. And it was longer than 2 damn minutes Coates - I didn't mind as I could do with some exercise!

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:47 am

Yes and there was the whimsical moment with Kirk and the wasp on the way down to the pub!

Caption competition anyone?

JasonCullen · Post by **JasonCullen** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:09 am

Howard Somerset wrote:
jasoncullen wrote:On one of the photos when I am on the fence, I am looking like a miserable sod when i was actually on 4 wins and no losses . Imagine what my face was like when I lost at the depth
Ah, but you certainly cheered up later in the day when we got lost on the way to the station, and got mixed up in that Gay Pride event.

Hahaha, oh yeah! By the way, we did get their just on time but only to find out that the last train from Nottingham to manchester was cancelled

. As a result, we had to get on a train to Derby then from there to Sheffield, then Sheffield to Manchester and then through to Bolton

. It took the biscuit big time and I arrived back at 22:30 as opposed to 21:00

.

Anyhow, thanks for the lift Howard and I look forward to COLIN 09

Nick Wainwright · Post by **Nick Wainwright** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:00 pm

Thanks to everyone for a fun day, particularly Ben (and Ben's mum) for organising / running the tournament, and also to Howard for speedily getting me back to the station just in time for my train. I look forward to seeing everyone again at the next Co-event.

Dan Vanniasingham · Post by **Dan Vanniasingham** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:12 pm

Hi all, apologies for the late response but I got back from Notts late last night and am still recovering from the weekend

.

I'd like to say thanks for everyones kind words - they're much appreciated. There's no way I was the best player at the event, but various results and draws went my way to leave me with 5 wins - despite a dire points total. Without wishing to be derogratory, I felt I played better in my COOT loss to Jason that I did at any point on Sat, which perhaps highlights why a 15 round live event is desirable for the 'elite' players.

Especially as I can't make CoLei, I'll say a massive thanks to Ben and his mum for another successful event to fill the void in the calendar. Also to Paul and Charlie for generously allowing me to get the conundrums in our games (I don't think I got one quicker than 10 secs at any point due to being sat in the corners unable to read the scramble every time), and Kirk for preventing Paul winning his 6th game for the title (a form of revenge I think). Jason Cullen also showed beyond doubt that he can more than hold his own in this company, and he'll only get better.

Finally, I hope the new faces enjoyed their first taste of a Co-event, and that they'll come along to more (along with others yet to have a go).

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:21 am

Hi sorry for the late reply, have been busy organizing moving house. It was really good meeting everyone, and hats off to Ben and his mum for taking it on themselves to run another tournament. Where would we be without them?

I got an insight into just how difficult these real-life tournaments are - as several people said on the day, in most games if you make one mistake then you've got no chance of winning except on a crucial conundrum, which is always a bit of a lottery. And with everyone choosing 3 or 4 large or 6 small on the numbers, it's tricky if you're not too hot on that part of the game! Looking over my notes, I don't think a single one of the 12 numbers rounds played on Saturday could really be described as 'easy'... not that I'm complaining though, it made things more interesting.

Last couple of things - I would like to award the 'Steve Baines award for sportsmanship' to Andrew Laycock - in my game vs. him, he was 16 points down when he saw HARLOTS just outside the 30 seconds, which would have beaten me and gotten him back within crucial-conundrum range, but he refused to declare it - top guy. Dinos & Dan Van, stop being so modest, you're both excellent players. And my one big frustration of the day was cocking up a numbers round against Jono, where I basically had the solution, which would've beaten Jono and everyone else in the room, but said it in the wrong order under pressure

Me beating Jono on the numbers would've been something

Dinos Sfyris wrote:Yes and there was the whimsical moment with Kirk and the wasp on the way down to the pub! Caption competition anyone?

Oh yeah that was genius

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:24 pm

Julian Fell wrote:I would like to award the 'Steve Baines award for sportsmanship' to Andrew Laycock

I'll certainly second that. I played against Andrew in a threesome. Due to the scoring system in use for table 9, I was placed above him. However, had we been scoring our encounter as a twosome, he would have beaten me. When discussing this with him afterwards, he simply shrugged it off, not complaining in any way.

Andrew Laycock · Post by **Andrew Laycock** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:08 pm

Hi Guys,

Just registered now I have my internet up and working. Was great meeting everyone on Saturday and hopefully I'll make the Lincoln event in January.

Just wanna say thanks to everyone especially Howard who gave myself, Jason and Dave a lift to station through the lesbian filled streets of Nottingham! Also to Dave for some travel conundrum rounds on the train to Derby...surreal!

Anyways, it's great to join the infamous forum at last!

PS. I gracefully accept the "Steve Baines" Award for Sportsmanship...lol. Was great playing you, Julian.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:20 pm

*moves to Nottingham*

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:47 pm

Jon Corby wrote:*moves to Nottingham*

Only one day a year, Jon. And we chose the right day, and the right part of Nottingham.