July 2012: Vol. 4, No. 2 the 2012 Dallas Open: Winter in Spring by Chris Cree 2012 Marked the Final Year for the Dallas Open
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N A S P NASPA Bulletin® The monthly news bulletin of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association A July 2012: Vol. 4, No. 2 The 2012 Dallas Open: Winter in Spring by Chris Cree 2012 marked the final year for the Dallas Open. This was the seventh such event: DO7. The event was born following discussions of divisions and my belief that the players of today have no idea how good they are. Anybody can beat anyone at any time. For many years with our old rating system, one was basically stuck within a division. This was in contrast to the way SCRABBLE tour- naments were when I first started in 1980. All tournaments were single-division. After the formation of divisions, upward move- ment was extremely difficult to maintain and lower-division players never had the oppor- tunity to compare themselves to and com- pete with the best. So, to prove the point, the open tournament was resurrected and the first Dallas Open took place in 2006. In the very first game of the first Dallas Open, Phyllis Owen (Plano, TX), rated no Board 1 at the Dallas Open: (L–R) annotator Dee Segrest (Highland Village, TX), event leader more than 800, bested one of the best players Kate Fukawa-Connelly (Kittery, ME) in the seat she kept throughout the second day, her Round to ever play the game, Robin Pollock Daniel 15 opponent Patricia Barrett (Houston, TX) and annotator Kathleen Watson (Bedford, TX). (Toronto, ON). No matter what happens in the rest of her career, Phyllis has that personal What Happened in Vegas 2012 NSC Update victory that no one can ever take away. by John Chew by the Championship Committee Each year we honor the two biggest up- It was one of the most highly anticipated When we first began writing this article, sets with a prize. This year was no differ- tournaments in recent years. Sam Kantimathi it was April, and Chris Cree had just had a ent. The two biggest upsets were 889-rated (Sacramento, CA), renowned for his contribu- chance to visit the site of this year’s National Carolyn Atchison (Avery Island, LA), who tions to every other aspect of the competitive SCRABBLE Championship (NSC), the beat 1773-rated David Whitley (Monrovia, SCRABBLE tournament circuit (inveterate Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, FL. Our CA) 399-386 in the very first round; and globetrotting player, developer and distributor NSC takes place of course on August 11–15, 769-rated Joy Nees (Dallas, TX), who beat of game equipment, and active committee vol- but on that occasion it was the turn of our 1519-rated Wes Eddings (College Station, unteer), was finally inviting us all to come play at partner organization, the National SCRAB- TX) in Round 10, 441-290. his debut as a tournament impresario. Not one BLE Association, to put on their National The competition in this event was top- to do anything by half measures, Sam offered School SCRABBLE Championship (NSSC), notch. Kate Fukawa-Connelly (Kittery, ME) two levels of early registration discounts to get about which more in a future issue. We over- got off to a tremendous start, while defend- the buzz going early, beginning way back in last heard players there talking about August: for ing champion Dave Wiegand (Portland, August, and two early birds and a main event in many this was their third or fourth event at OR) struggled early on. Darrell Day (Rich- each of the TWL and Collins lexica, all directed the venue, which speaks to the appeal it holds ardson, TX) returned to form. By Round 15, by Mark Milan (Laguna Niguel, CA). for repeat visitors. A large part of that appeal 16 people were still in the running for the The event was held at the Palms Casino Re- has to do with the front-of-the-line ride ac- top prize. Winter (Houston, TX) won five sort, in its well-appointed convention space, on cess and early park entry hotel guests get to games in a row against opponents rated an February 16–20. The hundred-player atten- the two adjoining Universal theme parks. average of 1876 to vault from tenth place to dance was phenomenal for a first-time event, At this point now, in late July, we have al- second place and a showdown with Darrell especially one taking place on the same weekend most 350 paid entrants, from 46 states and for the title and the $3,000 top prize. in the crowded NASPA tournament calendar provinces, with a steady stream coming in Winter got off to a big early lead and as Ryan Fischer’s (Charlotte, NC) East Coast even at the very end of the registration peri- won going away. He won his final six games Championship. od. It’s looking very likely that we will exceed against the field’s best by a cumulative total I myself was able to play in the Collins Main last year’s 327 players by a healthy margin. In of 696 points, more than 100 per game! The Event, where I had the pleasure of playing some addition to the usual complement of OWL chances of winning six in a row against equal familiar foreign players for the first time, after lexicon divisions, this year’s event boasts the competition is 1 in 64. By that many points? directing them at many an overseas event. Sam first-ever Collins Division at an NSC. THE FUTURE OF DO continued on p. PALMS SUNDAY continued on p. NSC UPDATE continued on p. NASPA Bulletin, July 01, Vol. 4, No. John Chew, Chris Cree and Sam Kantimathi DO7 Director Bryan Pepper (Bedford, TX) keeps a watchful eye on the room as Kate for me. It would have been a 600–300 blowout Fukawa-Connelly awaits her next victim win against an ordinary player given the tiles Palms Sunday Dave got, but I was happy with the win, and The Future of DO from WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS, p. 1 kept smiling as I proceeded to lose the next four from THE 2012 DALLAS OPEN, p. 1 Kantimathi said as much himself, when he ex- straight games. Be careful of what you wish for. Certainly the odds were longer. But, Win- plained that what motivated him to organize The first OTCWL Early Bird was won by ter has certainly played all sorts of sets of six this event was wanting to give something back an undefeated Bruce D’Ambrosio and Wilma games against all sorts of levels of players and to the global SCRABBLE community, who had Pitzer (Englewood, OH). In the second, Mi- obviously has the talent to beat anyone. hosted him on so many past occasions. chael Baker (Portland, OR) beat Bruce once to This past year I decided that this year One thing that I learned from the trip is that edge him out on spread as the high 5–1; Linda would be the final Dallas Open that I would I don’t spend nearly enough time in casinos, Wancel (Flushing, NY) was 5–1 in B and Steve produce. My wife and I had our second because every time I went into the Palms and Moniz (Manchester, NH) undefeated in C. In child in May. With my other responsibilities walked through the frenetic casino area to get the Main Event, after 23 gruelling rounds of and duties, something had to be let go. to the conference elevators, I felt like I was in a play over three days, it all came down on Sunday In February at the Texas State Champion- James# Bond movie. Not a bad feeling, and one to just 61 points of spread, with Robin Pollock ship in Salado, Texas, we had a meeting of that was accentuated by the sleek, modern, high- Daniel (Toronto, ON) 17–6 +1203 ahead of Texas directors who decided they would carry tech decor of the conference rooms, and the Jesse Day (Berkeley, CA) at +1142. on the Texas Open in March. I am pleased to cosmopolitan crowd in the tournament room. I In CSW play, the Early Bird was won by say that the Houston directors have already couldn’t help thinking, “Blofeld: through an A, James Curley (New York, NY) 5-1 +461. The applied for and received sanctioning to host you describe Leiter’s poker hands. Want some Main Event, a 23-round round robin, was even the Texas Open next year in Houston. respect? Go anagram SPECTRE.” closer than in OTCWL. Going into the last Final Results round, Craig Beevers (GBR) at 18–4 +1805 1st: Winter. 2nd: Darrell Day. 3rd (Uncle led Nathan Benedict +1655, but because of the Wiggily place): Dave Wiegand. Class A: Roy round robin format, they weren’t playing each Kamen (Covina, CA). Class B: John Redding other. Nathan lost a close game 418–434 to (Dallas, TX). Class C: Glenda Short (Okla- Dave Wiegand; Craig lost a 375-546 blowout to homa City, OK). Class D: Judy Newhouse third seed Evan Berofsky (Thornhill, ON). The (Spring, TX). Class E: Josephine Flowers result? Nathan won the guaranteed $2,000 top (West Memphis, AR). prize by a margin of just five points of spread. I wonder what Sam will come up with next year to top all that! The high point of the event for me was on Sunday morning, the last day of the tournament. New & Returning Clubs I was scheduled to play top seed Dave Wiegand by Mary Rhoades (Portland, OR), then Chris Lipe (Rome, NY), We welcome the following Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) and Nathan new and returning official Benedict (Tucson, AZ), respectively sixth, fourth clubs and directors to our and second seeds.