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Wellington Jighere just took the win at the 2015 World Scrabble Championship. He beat his opponent Lewis Mackay 4 games to 0. He is the first player from Africa to ever win a world championship. We...

Wellington Jighere is the first African player to win the Scrabble World Championship.

#wellington jighere #scrabble world championship #scrabble worlds #wellington #jighere #african scrabble #africa #scrabble champion #2015 scrabble champion #african scrabble champion #wellington scrabble #2015 scrabble #lewis mackay #scrabble game #australia #perth

Cesar Del Solar’s Nerd Nite East Bay presentation on Scrabble

#scrabble #nerd nite #nerd nite east bay #east bay nerd nite #nerds #scrabble player #cesar del solar #scrabble board #scrabble strategy #double word score #triple word score #scrabble tiles

Cesar Del Solar, of aerolith.org and scrabbletvlive.com, gave a Nerd Nite presentation in Oakland last month about the history of the game, prominent players, and strategy.

See the full lecture here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&t=1h33m53s&v=o8k51nz1Vpw&app=desktop

#nerd nite #east bay nerd nite #nerd nite oakland #oakland #scrabble #scrabble words #scrabble tiles #scrabble board #scrabble player #cesar del solar

US Scrabble Champion Reddit AMA

2015 US Scrabble Champion Matthew Tunnicliffe did a Reddit AMA:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3voegl/iama_north_american_scrabble_champion_ama_about/

#scrabble #matthewtunnicliffe #wellingtonjighere #wellington jighere #reddit #reddit ama #scrabble champion #scrabble game #scrabble words

gifnews

There’s a new Scrabble dictionary out and it includes ‘words’ like 'lolz’ and 'obvs.’

#scrabble #scrabble words #scrabble board #scrabble tiles #words #scrabble game

Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, a Portlander, took home last year's National Scrabble Championship. We check in to see how he fared in this year's contest.

Radio interview with 2014 North American Scrabble Champion Conrad Bassett-Bouchard

#conrad bassett-bouchard #nasc2015 #nasc #north american scrabble championship #scrabble word #scrabble board #scrabble tiles #scrabble game #portland #scrabble tournament #scrabble championship

#nasc2015 #scrabble #scrabble game #scrabble tournament #scrabble board #scrabble tiles #scrabble player #north american scrabble championship #scrabble championship #reno #silver legacy

North American Scrabble Championship: Cesar’s Report On Days 3, 4, 5

View the full article: www.scrabbletvlive.com

Day 3.

At the end of day 2 I was 7-7 and very barely in contention, with a low cumulative point spread. To make the brackets I would need to win all 7 games the next day, or maybe even 6, but they would have to be by a huge amount on average. I calculated the chances of doing so; assuming I’m about 55% to win each game (reasonable since I was a high seed), I have about a 1.5% chance of making it to the brackets. So I was about as good as done, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to try as hard as possible.

Unfortunately my dream was dead after just the second game, in which I played Steve Bush, a nice guy from Kentucky. He opened with a bingo, and a few turns later plays another one, FROWNIER through an O, to go up about 80 points. I held him on this play for a long time, trying to remember whether this was a word or not, but the problem is that for some reason it looked very familiar, and I thought there was a very good chance it was good. If I had thought harder, I would have realized that I’ve never seen the word FROWNY before, and I’ve studied the high point 6s… so I let it go, and he bingoed 3 more times and killed me.

At the end of the game I checked and sure enough it was phony. Turns out I was thinking of the word BROWNIER. Oops. Too bad I’m not Nigel Richards. In prior years I would have been upset and probably played badly the rest of the day, but I took it very stoically, got over it super quickly, and moved on to the rest of the day. I think part of my success in this tournament was due to my successfully conquering the ability to quickly move on from mistakes. The difficulty of long tournaments is a culmination of many factors. Playing against incredibly skilled opponents, luck, lack of sleep, and increasing frustration contribute to a potentially lethal potion that in past years chipped away at my focus. This year I let things slide and kept my emotions in check.

I won 3 out of 4 games in the morning, and had a great lunch at a super good tortas place (if you ever happen to be in Reno you must go – it’s across the street from the Reno Ballroom). In the afternoon, I won 2 out of 3, for a total of 5 games for the day, a good average. My sole loss came to Joel Sherman, and I made a very serious word mistake, playing a phony bingo when I had a 50-point play that also blocked the board and put me up by a bunch. Joel, being a former National and World champion, challenged very quickly and controlled the board afterwards. When I finally bingoed, he was able to triple-triple through it and I was done after this.

I had avoided looking at how close I came, but it turns out that if I had just won one more game by enough, that I could possibly have made it to the Elite Eight. If only one more of those games had gone my way, especially early on when I was facing lower seeds! Why did I have to start 1-4? Still, I wasn’t too upset and I filled out my bracket that night, guessing that my good friend Jesse Day would win it all over Thai wonder Panupol Sujjayakorn.

My stomach hurt a bit, mostly from nerves, so I didn’t have dinner until late, and it was just half of a deli sandwich. We had a NASPA town hall meeting that night and I attended; most of the questions ranged around the controversy of the bracket format. More to come on that in a later post.

Day 4.

While the Elite Eight in each division started their bracket playoff games, the rest of us were forced to play another 10 meaningless games. Just kidding, but that’s what some people thought! In order to give us something to play for, there were prizes for 9th through 12th place, and since I had missed the bracket by a game and change I was playing all the other players who had also just barely missed. As a result, I had what has possibly been my toughest Nationals day to date, in terms of my matchups – and it was a great challenge. Scrabble players take the game very seriously, and certainly no one seemed discouraged by not having made the playoffs; we were all playing super tough.

In order, my lineup was: Trey Wright, Ian Weinstein, Chris Cree, Charles Reinke, Joey Krafchick, Rafi Stern, and Doug Brockmeier. That field includes a former Nationals champion, the number 2 seed, and several other top-notch players who have all won far more events than I have :P I was lucky to finish day 4 with a 4-3 record, losing to Ian, Chris, and Rafi. More annotations on these games will come soon.

At the end of the day, since it was our last Reno dinner together, I went with a group of 6 good friends to an Italian restaurant called Johnny’s Ristorante. I had a classic spaghetti and meatballs, recommended by my friend, food aficionado, and local Reno resident Kenji Matsumoto. It was a wonderful yet bittersweet last night in Reno. It’s the one time of the year so many of my friends are all together in one place, and it’s great seeing everyone, but it’s always a little sad when it’s over.

The final day.

My field on day 4 was so tough that even though I tried my best I could not win more than 4 games.. which meant that I would have to win all 3 games on the final day to cash. Again, this was possible, but unlikely, yet I gave it my best.

The day 5 field consisted of Jason Li, Charles Reinke (for the second time), and Conrad Bassett-Bouchard. That is the same Jason and Conrad who played for the title in last year’s Nationals in Buffalo, and Charles, an excellent player who was looking for revenge for the previous day’s loss.

Charles got me this time after I tried a ridiculous phony of PALEWEED*. Why would I try that? No idea, but it seemed a little familiar. In North American rules Scrabble, challenging a valid word costs a player their turn, and maybe I felt bravado from winning our previous match on a challenge, that I thought I could get away with it. Unfortunately for me, Charles smacked it off the board pretty quickly and then got his own massive bingo a few turns later, which I had to challenge out of desperation. So a completely deserved loss and good play by him.

I did beat both Conrad and Jason, though, getting admittedly pretty lucky in both games – although at a high level, a lot of games do come down to luck. It is playing consistently well over the 31 rounds that cause good players to rise to the top, and I came up short again by one game and didn’t cash.

I was still very happy with my final result; 16th is the best I’ve ever done at a Nationals and I feel like next year I can actually cash. I am planning on studying all the words now. During this whole tournament I was very focused and I think if I can channel this focus again but with good word knowledge, I can finally prevail.

At the end of our three games, we took a quick break for lunch then headed to the awards ceremony room, where they live-streamed games 4 and 5 of the finals games between Matthew Tunnicliffe and Jesse Day. Matthew ended up prevailing in the very exciting game 5. You can see the videos on Youtube, starting with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU9z6CvM1kI.

It was an amazing tournament and I was so glad to see so many friends again and partake in all sorts of fun activities after-hours. Reno is a pretty cool city and there was always something to do. There was a big car show the final day we were there so I got to wander around a bit at lunch and check out the endless rows of candy-colored roasters.

My next big event will probably be the California Open in San Francisco, sometime in late October. I’m feeling good about my game, and I actually had the highest average score at nationals (437). I just have to keep my head in the game and stay focused.

Until next year.

-Cesar Del Solar, Aerolith.org

#scrabble #nasc2015 #scrabble tournament #scrabble board #nigel richards #joel sherman #matthew tunnicliffe #jesse day #scrabble nationals #scrabble championship #north american scrabble championship #american scrabble #reno #hot august nights #silver legacy #california open #aerolineasargentinas #scrabble tiles

North American Scrabble Championship Day 2 Vlog

#nasc2015 #scrabble #scrabble game #north american scrabble championship #scrabble tiles #scrabble board #scrabble championship #scrabble tournament #reno

North American Scrabble Championship, Day 2 – Cesar’s Report

Well, I’m still in the running for the bracket, even though it’s going to be close to a miracle if I make it. I basically need to win all 7 games tomorrow.

Scrabble went a little better than yesterday. I played decently in my three losses, but still made a few critical mistakes that possibly cost me the games. In this game against Manop, I played a cool 9 (I made YOUNGSTER through YO), but lost:

http://cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=21361

I played two other 9s today – I(SO)THERAL and R(ET)AINERS. Final record for the day was 4-3, which makes me 7-7 overall. If I’m being completely honest, I’m feeling pretty tired. But I’m hopeful. I think I have a shot and am probably good enough to win my games tomorrow but I need to be really lucky. I need a little luck and.. well, maybe just a little luck. But I’ll keep playing to the best of my ability. My average game score this tournament is on the higher side (432), so I’m not playing badly. My opponents just happen to be playing slightly better. I’m trying to not be discouraged. Every missed bingo stings a little more than the last, and I tend to stop caring the more I lose. It can be a slippery slope, one that a lot of players feel during this tournament.

Although Scrabble isn’t going as well as I wanted it to, I feel thankful to have such a fun group of friends. I went to a delicious Basque restaurant for dinner with 7 great friends, had some tasty drinks and ate way too much food. I’m happy the tournament is in Reno this year because there’s a lot to do. I didn’t find Buffalo, where the 2014 NASC was held, as fun of a location. Next year’s tournament is in Fort Wayne, Indiana so.. we’ll see how that goes.

After I ate enough for two people and felt like I had just doubled my body weight, I went to the musicale. The musicale is an event that showcases Scrabblers’ musical talents. It is an after hours event hosted by NASPA that was held in one of the Silver Legacy ballrooms. Josh Sokol and I performed our rendition of “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis, with me on guitar and him accompanying me on piano doing vocals. It was a fantastic showcase – I didn’t know so many Scrabblers were also so musically talented! We took video.. stay tuned for that.

My first game tomorrow is against my Bay Area clubmate Norases Vesdapunt (or Saint, his Thai nickname), who has been a player that rose up through the ranks quickly. I’m crossing my fingers. I could really use some luck. And good luck to all my fellow Scrabblers.

-Cesar Del Solar, Aerolith.org

#scrabble #nasc2015 #scrabble tournament #scrabble game #reno #casino #scrabble board #scrabble tiles #triple word score #bingo #how to play scrabble #north american scrabble championship

#nasc2015 #scrabble #north american scrabble championship #scrabble tournament #scrabble game #reno #hasbro #scrabble player #american scrabble #scrabble board #scrabble tiles

North American Scrabble Competition, Day 1 – Cesar’s Report

Had an exciting first day at Nationals today. The tournament feels extra intense this year because only the first three days count to get to the final 8 bracket — so having a bad day can be super rough. Luckily I was able to save a 1-4 start by winning the last two and I’m ready to keep going!

Div 1 at Nationals is always tough. Everyone is good, so one must make as few mistakes as possible. Will Anderson, who finished in the top 5 the last two Nationals, was matched against me in the third game and he played four bingos on me — but the first one hooked the new word SHEN with another S, making SHENS*. For a second, I considered challenging the play, but he had the bingo in a couple of other spots, and he wouldn’t have played it there unless he was sure! Unfortunately, I wasn’t 100% about it being a phony, so I felt like I had to let it go and the game pretty much ended shortly after.

My game 4 went as follows: http://cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=21356. I plugged it into the computer trying to figure out what I did wrong. I shouldn’t have challenged OVERLEAPT, but it was a desperation challenge and if it stays I have too little of a chance to win. Oh well.

We got some deli sandwiches from Safeway. Note to self: deli sandwich people can take up to 20 minutes to make 3 sandwiches. I came back from lunch to another defeat.

In game 6, I’m at 1-4 and although I told myself that the tournament is by no means over, I started becoming discouraged and thought to make up a word against my opponent, “SUDATIVE”. He quickly challenged it, jumped out to a lead, and just when it looked hopeless, I drew the blank, and was able to bingo twice in a row and squeak out the win. My opponent was such a good sport about it as well, and it encouraged me to keep trying, and I won the next game as well.

What do Scrabble players do after games are over for the day? I eat Thai food. I went to a fantastic spot not too far from the casino called Thai Chili and stuffed myself. I usually don’t eat too much during the day at tournaments because I don’t have much of an appetite so by 7pm I was pretty ravenous.

We drove back to the hotel and ended up running into a couple Scrabble friends in the parking lot. We headed to a bar to discuss the day’s events over beers. We snapped a selfie as we walked past the large neon sign in downtown Reno, of course.

A Scrabble trivia contest was tonight but we didn’t end up participating. A number of teams competed Jeopardy style for a cash prize.

Here’s to a good day tomorrow, and good luck to everyone else at the tournament!

-Cesar Del Solar, Aerolith.org

#nasc2015 #scrabble #scrabble tournament #competitive scrabble #tournament scrabble #north american scrabble championship #english scrabble #american scrabble #scrabble board #reno #silver legacy casino #scrabble dictionary #scrabble words #naspa #cross tables #aerolith

Scrabble Nationals and March Madness?

The North American Scrabble Championship is THE event of the year for the Scrabble community in the Americas. Hundreds of players from the US, Canada, and even places such as Thailand gather in some city in the US and play 31 games of intense, competitive Scrabble. This year’s championship starts very soon, on Saturday, August 1st, in sunny Reno, Nevada.

The championship has been held on a bi-yearly basis since 1978, and yearly since 2008. The top prize has been as big as $25K, although nowadays it is around $10K, mostly due to Hasbro withdrawing their sponsorship of the tournament. However, it is as fiercely competitive as ever, and for the first time, the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) is hosting a March Madness style bracket contest.

Nationals this year is almost 2 separate tournaments; the top 8 players in each division after 21 games will be put in a bracket to determine the two finalists for the final day. The rest of the players will continue to play the last 10 games for other prizes. Although some players are expressing skepticism regarding this format, I am optimistic about the change and of course hope to make the top 8 in my division.

NASPA’s bracket contest, called “Bracketology”, allows NASPA members to pick who they think will make the top 8. Once the top 8 is set, the contest will change to pick the winners of the quarters, semifinals, and finalists. Those who choose best can win prizes such as entry to next year’s Nationals, or money to buy items from the NASPA store (tiles, racks, shirts, and other cool swag).

You have to be a member of NASPA to sign up. Check it out here: http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/2015_Bracketology_Contest