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October 2011: Vol. 3, No. 10

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October 2011: Vol. 3, No. 10 N A S P NASPA Bulletin® The monthly news bulletin of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association A October 2011: Vol. 3, No. 10 Worlds in Warsaw by Chris Cree SPECIAL 2011 WSC EDITION This past month I had the privilege of participating in the World SCRABBLE Championship in Warsaw, Poland. Over 100 players qualified of which 15 were from the United States and 8 were from Canada. The Team U.S.A. members (see photo below) were myself, John O’Laughlin, Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX), Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA), Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ), David Koenig (Silver Spring, MD), Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), Brian Bow- man (Villa Hills, KY), Mark Kenas (Madi- son, WI), Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN), Laurie Cohen (Tempe, AZ), Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY), Chris Lipe (Rome, NY), Mar- ty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) and Sam Rosin (Bernardsville, NJ). Nigel Richards (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), the first two-time World SCRABBLE Champion, receives the winner’s cheque from Sanjay Luthra and Philip Nelkon. Photo: John Chew. 2012 NSC Registration 2011 WSC Report by the Championship Committee by John Chew The 2012 National SCRABBLE Cham- The following is a condensed version of the pionship will take place on August 11–15, official coverage of the event: for the original 2012 at the Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, version, please visit live.wscgames.com. FL, the venue of such past events as the 2011 If you have never been to the WSC, do not The Team Canada members (see photo National School SCRABBLE Championship make the mistake of thinking it is just like below) were Nick Ball (Victoria, BC), David and the 2008 National SCRABBLE Cham- any other SCRABBLE tournament, but big- Boys (Dorval, QC), Andrew Golding (Ver- pionship. Players familiar with the site will ger. No other event comes close to attracting dun, QC), Tony Leah (Ajax, ON), Adam appreciate its family-friendly location: all players from almost forty different countries, Logan (Ottawa, ON), Dean Saldanha (Rich- guests staying at the resort get front-of-the- nor can any event generate the the tension mond, BC), Dielle Saldanha (Richmond, line access to Universal Theme Park rides. of having over a hundred competitors each BC) and Joel Wapnick (Montreal, QC). There is a wide range of food and accom- hoping in their heart that this will be their modation within a reasonable distance of year, the year that they will prove that they the hotel, and Orlando International Airport can beat the very best in the world and be- (MCO) is well-connected, a hub for AirTran come the champion. To be sure, there’s a lot and focus city for SouthWest and JetBlue. of friendly camaraderie, especially at meal Division cutoffs will remain unchanged breaks and after hours, but when people sit from 2011 at 1700, 1400 and 1100, with down to play the game, they do so with a unlimited play-up permitted. The guaran- seriousness that isn’t matched even at our teed top prize for Division 1 will be $10,000; National SCRABBLE Championship. Warsaw is a wonderful city rich in history. further details about the rest of the prize pool Before the Event I felt the sadness from years of heartache will be announced as registration progresses. I arrived in Warsaw late Monday evening, emanating from the old walls about the city. Entry fees will remain the same as last after missing a connection at Frankfurt Air- I felt joy and hope looking at all of the new year: $175 in Division 1 and $150 in Divi- port, so my first view of the city was by night. construction already up and taking place. I sions 2, 3 and 4. Youths (under 18 years as As I would find throughout my first trip to saw happiness in the eyes of the people. It of August 11, 2012) are eligible for a special the city, it lived up to my expectations: in made me feel very good. rate of $50. An additional late fee of $50 this case, its architecture looked predomi- We had the benefit of being in the compa- will apply to any player registering after June nantly Communist, but here and there I ny of NASPA’s corporate attorney, Elizabeth 30, 2012. would catch sight of prewar structures, and CHRIS CREE IN WARSAW continued on p. 2011 NSC UPDATE continued on p. 2011 WSC BEGINS continued on p. NASPA Bulletin, October 011, Vol. 3, No. 10 2012 NSC Update Chris Cree in Warsaw Nigel Richards (MYS) won the World from 2012 NSC REGISTRATION, p. 1 from WORLDS IN WARSAW, p. 1 SCRABBLE Championship to become the New this year: registration opens on De- Phifer, who teaches a class annually in War- first person ever to win this prestigious event cember 1, 2011, several months earlier than saw. She introduced us to a couple of young twice. Nigel bested Andrew 3 games to 2 in a in previous years; and if you register by De- attorneys whom she had taught, Alicja Low- very exciting best of 5 finals. cember 31, 2011, you get a $25 early regis- sowska and Kasper Piotr, who chaperoned us tration discount. Yes, that does mean that about and made things a lot easier by com- some youths could be paying only $25 for municating in Polish with taxi drivers and five days of top-level SCRABBLE competi- restaurant employees. They also described tion. the sites for us that we saw in historic Old There will be side events, as in past years, Town. Without them, we could not have which will also be announced as the event been able to grasp the import of what we approaches. New this year is John Robertson saw. It was uplifting to listen to these two fas- (Cambridge, ON) as organizer of the Trivia cinating young adults and envision them as Contest on Saturday night. If you are inter- integral parts of the future for Poland. ested in running other after-hours events, please apply to the Championship Commit- tee as soon as possible, before the schedule fills up. Also new this year is Dallas Johnson (Stow, OH) on the Championship Committee, who replaces Mary Rhoades (Bedford, TX) as NSC Director. Dallas is an experienced NSC Division Leader, as well as chair of the NASPA Tournament Committee. We are Soon-to-be two-time World SCRABBLE Cham- grateful to Dallas for bringing his expertise pion Nigel Richards, deep in contemplation in a to this new position, and of course to Mary final match against Andrew Fisher. Rhoades for her many years’ service. If you have any questions about next year’s You can play along with all of the anno- event, whether you are a prospective player, tated games at http://live.wscgames.com/ volunteer, or vendor, please email us at nsc@ games/2011/ These games were all played scrabbleplayers.org. Wilma Vialle, Chris Cree, Elizabeth Phifer. with the Collins Word List so you will see See you all in Orlando! words that are not in our Tournament Word The championship had a good familiar List. feel to it with two-time World Players Cham- NATIONAL pionship director, Wilma Vialle (AUS), in 2011 WSC Begins ® charge along with my peripatetic copresident, from 2011 WSC REPORT, p. 2 John Chew, whose programming, pairing occasionally isolated SCRABBLE and big screen display had the participants new skyscrapers. The out in the foyer (where John wanted them!) Warsaw Hilton was CHAMPIONSHIP oohing and aahing while watching the im- one such structure, mediate updated standings with photos of attached to a smaller the players, their won/loss record, cumula- 24-hour casino and tive point spread, who they last played, who mall, with a good they will play next, who will go first and all view of nearby vacant N1SC 1 3 firsts and seconds for each player by round to lots and what used to that point – simply amazing. be the Jewish ghetto. ORLANDO 2012 Dave Wiegand was the highest finishing I got to work set- North American by virtue of his magnificent ting up the website 4th place finish. Dave was one game out of and my part of the Addendum: Collins Play at the NSC the best of 5 finals. The last finals spot was technical equip- There was limited interest in a Collins determined in the 34th of 34 rounds in be- ment at 10:00 A.M. (SOWPODS) event last year, and based on tween Dave and the ultimate 2nd place fin- Tuesday. We would the continued growth of Collins play, we will isher, Andrew Fisher (AUS). be using two five- offer it conditionally this year. foot plasma screens to display the electron- The event would take place in parallel to ic scoreboard, and the opening ceremony the NSC, with the same general schedule and would be professionally produced, with a the same entry fees as Division 1. A guar- press conference, panel discussion and video anteed 50% of the entry fees received would presentation, all of which involved gear that be returned in cash prizes. The event will I had to work around. Players gradually ac- take place if there are 40 paid registrants as cumulated in the hotel lobby over the course of May 4, 2012. Entry fees to this event are of the day, playing games until it was time not refundable after April 6, 2012, but may for registration in the evening (in the end: be transferred to regular TWL play by the 2011 WSC Winners receiving their prizes: 106 players from 39 countries), followed by same player at the NSC, or retained as credit Adam Logan, Paul Gallen, Brett Smitheram, a reception with hors d’oeuvres.
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