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March 2011: Vol. 3, No. 3

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N A S P NASPA Bulletin® The monthly news bulletin of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association A March 2011: Vol. 3, No. 3 Can-Am in Calgary: Com- petition & Camaraderie By Chris Cree In golf, pressure has been defined as trying to make a five-foot putt for $10 when one only has $5 in one’s pocket. What goes through one’s mind when get- ting ready to make a SCRABBLE play? “This will win the game. This can lose the game. If he has the Z it is all over. Is this word good? If I win this game my rating will be at its highest. I just cannot open the triple at this stage.” Etc. When playing in the Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge, add these thoughts to the mix: “This is for my country and my team. My country and my teammates are depending upon me. I cannot let them down.” Seven players from the U.S. faced seven players from Canada in the 2011 Can- Am. Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), Brian Bowman (Villa Hills, KY), Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL), Sam Kantimathi (Sacra- mento, CA), Jerry Lerman (Foster City, CA), Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA) and Wanda Fleming from Washington D.C. was the SCRABBLE Flash winner at the Bethesda, M.D. I faced off against Adam Logan (Ottawa, Tournament that took place March 20, 2011. ON), Eric Tran (Calgary, AB), Ron Hoekstra (Vancouver, BC), Tony Leah (Toronto, ON), Dallas Open VI NSC 2011 Update Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto, ON), Dean by Sherrie Saint John by the Championship Committee Saldanha (Richmond, BC) and Sinna Vijaya- Like a well-oiled machine, the sixth an- The National SCRABBLE Championship kumar (Mississauga, ON). nual Dallas Open took place on a bright (NSC) returns to the Hotel InterContinental Each player played his or her counterpart spring March weekend at the Crowne Plaza Dallas on August 6-10. Online registration twice, and each went first one of those games. Dallas Park Central. The SCRABBLE world is now available at the NASPA website, and Thus, each player played 14 games and there has seen a lot of change since Chris Cree will remain open through July 20; a late fee were 98 possible wins. The U.S. held the cup founded this event five years ago, but this will apply after June 22. The Championship going into the match and needed 49 wins to event remains a jewel on the calendar. Mary Committee has been hard at work reviewing retain the cup while Canada needed 49½ to Rhoades did her usual bang-up job directing, last year’s event and the helpful suggestions take possession of the cup. John Chew did his tsh pairing and web thing on the hundreds of comment cards received After 12 rounds, the US held a command- with me, and the best annotation duo ever from players and staff. Here are some of the ing 46–38 lead with Captain Dave Wiegand — Dee Segrest (Highland Village, TX) and changes we’ve made for this year’s event. leading the team. Kate Watson (Bedford, TX) — brought on The most major change is that we are re- After 13 rounds, it was all but over as the a third annotator, Chris Canik (Austin, TX). ducing the number of divisions from 5 to 4, US led 48–43. All it would take was one win It was wonderful to have Chris on hand to split at (OWL) ratings 1700, 1400 and 1100. in the final round to retain the cup. The first relieve Kate since her real job beckoned for Unlimited play-up continues to be in effect. result came in. Dave Wiegand edged Adam part of the DO, and his attention to detail We hope this will help balance the sizes of Logan and the US, with its 49th win, would was fantastic! the divisions and our staff workload. retain the cup. Then the other results started What makes the DO special is a combi- Regular entry fees remain unchanged coming in: Tran over me, Vijayakumar over nation of Southern hospitality, terrific play- at US$175 for Division 1 and $150 for all Lerman, Hoekstra over Bowman, Saldanha ers from all over the US, fantastic culinary other divisions, but we are adding a special over Whitmarsh, Daniel over Kantimathi, choices, and the open format itself. Call it a youth rate of only $50 for players who are and finally, Leah over Gabriel. The Canadians throwback to the old days when opens were under 18 as of the start of the championship. had taken the final 6 games to tie the match the only kind of tournaments held, but the We had a large number of requests to at 49 wins each! growing popularity of one big division isn’t bring back Activity Director Robin Gates, One thing I love about hockey is the way just for the elites who want to win all the who amazed us all with her tireless efforts to the players talk about each other. The words cash: there are fifteen other open events on act as the event’s concierge, arranging after- “grit” and “competitor” seem to be used the the calendar in the first half of this year. The hours events for out-of-town visitors and CAN-AM CONCLUDED continued on p. 3 DALLAS STORIES continued on p. 3 NSC NEWS continued on p. 2 2 NASPA Bulletin, Mar. 2011, Vol. 3, No. 3 NSC News last year, there were no spills. Free coffee ser- WSC Goes to Warsaw from NSC 2011 Update, p. 1 vice would be nice for coffee drinkers, but by the Championship Committee coordinating airport transfers. Some people given the availability of hotel coffee and Star- Philip Nelkon (London, GBR) an- asked us to ask Robin to also post sign-up bucks coffee on the premises, together with nounced this month that the 2011 World sheets for group dinner outings and lunch- the high cost of hotel-catered coffee service, SCRABBLE Championship (WSC) would time carpooling; these sound like excellent we prefer not to have non-coffee drinkers be held on October 12–16, 2011 at the Hil- ideas to us. subsidizing their coffee-drinking friends. ton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, with a record We’re also very happy to have been able Many people praised the more than 200 prize fund of US$50,000, up from $30,500 to bring back most of the rest of the NSC restaurants within two miles of the event. in 2009. This is the first time that the event 2010 staff, who inspired the most positive Some hotel restaurants were closed due to has been held in continental Europe, and the comments we received, such as: “I was very renovation last year, but their reopening will first time since 2001 in Las Vegas# that the impressed with the excellent organization give more choice for people who want to eat event has been held in a city whose name is and the patience and kindness of the Divi- on site. acceptable in SCRABBLE play. NASPA Co- sion Leaders” and “Smooth as silk! Wonder- Some people complained about problems president John Chew has been confirmed as fully run!” with the hotel WiFi service. We have been the event’s webmaster and assistant director, We had a few requests to switch from four told that their service has been upgraded, as and registration at the event website is now games in the morning and three in the af- their customer base shifts away from WiFi- live. ternoon to three in the morning and four in averse security-conscious government sector Based on their past performance, the Unit- the afternoon. We are going to stay with our guests to more general business travellers. ed States is entitled to send a 15-player team current schedule, because starting the lunch Some players were also disappointed that and Canada an 8-player team. As explained break at 1:00 lets our players avoid the rush their discounted online hotel stays did not in the previous issue and on NASPAWiki, at local restaurants. include WiFi access or other amenities spe- U.S. players must register with the NASPA We had many requests to shorten the cifically negotiated for our group; please be International Committee by May 31st; Ca- lunch break from two hours to one, and careful to read the fine print when trying to nadian players wanting to qualify based on some to play more than seven games a day find the best deal. peak rating must do so by April 30th. In the or to have more side events. We have to keep Finally, some people complained that Dal- 20-year history of the biennial event, North the two-hour lunch, because it’s the only las is too hot in August, too far from New Americans have won six of the ten titles. We time for our several dozen committee mem- England, and the hotel too far from the air- wish them good luck again this year. bers to hold valuable face-to-face meetings. port. All of these factors have a significant However, we are adding an optional “Lunch impact on the cost of the event and therefore Player Accommodations Bird”: a four-round side event, held in the its entry fees. We welcome suggestions for by Dallas Johnson second half of each lunch break. We will also affordable venues that our site searches may A list of accommodations granted to be having an after hours trivia competition. not yet have identified, and will examine each players with special needs is now available Details about side events be posted on the one carefully.
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