Lessons from National Scrabble Championship 2009 August 7, 2009
Posted by Hans in Analysis, Tips & Advice, Tournament Results.1 comment so far
Well, I finished in 27th place with a record of 17-14 (+234). Not great, but not too bad considering the lack of preparation leading up to the tournament.
Having played at my second national tournament, here are some "lessons learned":
- Stay calm: In several games, I would fall behind but managed to pull out a win because I stayed calm and played the tiles that I had. No need to panic if your opponent opens with a bingo or plays a high-scoring word.
- Study word hooks: On a few occasions, I wasn’t able to capitalize on opportunities because I didn’t know the front/back hooks to words well enough. For example, I knew DUI doesn’t take an S, but I couldn’t remember DUIT. That cost me an opportunity to lay down a bingo and take advantage of a TWS and block my opponent from scoring at the same time.
- Minimize low scoring plays: After looking at several of my games, I realized that the winner had the fewest low scoring plays. By "low scoring", I mean <10 points per play. These low value plays can come back and haunt you.
- Try and score 30+ per turn: As a follow-up to the previous point, I took Shaun Goatcher’s past advice about trying to maximize each turn and score an average of 30 points per turn. If you don’t, winning becomes that much harder.
- Check the bag for tiles: On two occasions, there were incidents involving tiles at the end of the game: one was a "missing tile" that fell on the ground and the other was a tile left in the bag. Check the bag to make sure it is empty! Also, look around to see if any tiles were inadvertently dropped on the floor.
- Have fun: Seems like a no-brainer, but I realized that it’s important to have fun. Scrabble is a game and should be enjoyed.
While the above hold true for playing in the tournament, the one major lesson I learned is that I need to study. Hanging around other players (especially Kevin Turner) made me realize just how poor my word knowledge is. Here’s to my goal of studying 30 minutes each day.
The next two national championships are in Dallas. Hope to see you there.
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Day 4 @ 2009 National Scrabble Championship August 4, 2009
Posted by Hans in Tournament Results.add a comment
Didn’t get a chance to write yesterday but I had a good day (6-1) ending the day in 13th place (Division 4). After the day’s games ended, I was able to get in a session of yoga at a local studio (Practice Yoga on Fifth).
After the first four games of today, I’m currently in 12th place. After winning my first two games of the morning and rising to 8th, I got some unlucky tiles (only one E in two games) and lost two games in a row. The last game of the morning session was bad as I forgot DUIT and had a word challenged off – everything well down hill from there.
We have six games remaining (three games this afternoon and three tomorrow) and I’m hoping to finish the tournament very strong.
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On Sunday night, a few of us made the trek to a local Cheesecake Factory – I must say that the cheesecake is excellent. I highly recommend both the classic and the "red velvet".
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What goes up … – Day 2 @ 2009 National Scrabble Championship August 2, 2009
Posted by Hans in Tournament Results.add a comment
Ugh…what a brutal day. Today was 2-5 and overall I’m at 7 – 7 +162 or so. This result puts me in the middle of the pack. With 17 games to go, I hope there’s still time to finish with a respectable record.
Not much to talk about today except that the tiles weren’t falling for me. I made some good plays, but they weren’t enough to make-up for some poor tiles. On one turn, I had AEEGOOU and was about to exchange. Saw a free P and made A(P)OGEE for a respectable 30 point play. In another game, I had DEEIUUV and was about to give-up, but managed to find (Q)UEUED to get another 32 points. the IV leave isn’t great, but it sure is better than exchanging tiles.
Will have a bit of a break tonight before making a move tomorrow 
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NSC 2009 – Day 2 Midday August 2, 2009
Posted by Hans in Tournament Results.add a comment
Ugh. Tough morning session in which I lost my first three games. Tiles weren’t that great, but nothing too bad. I seemed to get bad combinations of tiles at the wrong times. Currently sitting at 6-5 (+213) and I’ve fallen to the middle of the pack. Hopefulyl things will turnaround after lunch.
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2009 National Scrabble Championship: Day one is done August 1, 2009
Posted by Hans in Club Results, Tournament Results.1 comment so far
At the end of the first day, I’m 5-2 +293 and am keeping up with the leaders. Not having played for a year, I sure do feel rusty.
Started off slowly, but seemed to pick-up after lunch. The game immediately following lunch, I had a monster of a game – 5 bingos!
Some quick recaps of the games:
- Game 1 vs. BG: Think I should’ve won. Missed DEPLANED near the end.
- Game 2 vs EJ: Found STUN(T)MEN but let AGAZED stay on the board (yikes!)
- Game 3 vs. PM: Very close game and I realized far too late that mis-read TORTISE (phoney)
- Game 4 vs. LT: Kept it close, but I lost a turn by challenging WAKED and couldn’t make up the difference
- Game 5 vs. KC: Here are the bingos: G(R)OWLERS, UN(T)IMELY, iNQUIRE, COVERI(N)G, and UN(L)EASEd. I almost had a bingo bango bongo but got foiled when the opponent blocked my spot to play JItNEYS
- Game 6 vs. MB: A fun game that came down to the end.
- Game 7 vs. BM: A close game that I almost lost – my opponent tried REBRONZE which is not good
If you’re interested, you can follow the overall tournament results or follow my progress.
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