March 28 Battle Creek Tournament, Part Two
This post is Part Two in a three-part series about my adventures at the “Cereal Bowl” Battle Creek Tournament held on March 28. Part One
Game #1: Joyce
I told Joyce right up front: “I’m a rookie, be gentle.” Full disclosure, always. She replied, “Great. Whenever I’m nice, I always end up getting beat.” Foreshadowing.
Joyce was great. One of the top players in my division, Joyce was very nice, exceedingly patient, walked me through all the procedures and protocol, and put up with my inability to calculate score.
And I’m quite certain she wanted to strangle me when I bingoed with altered to take a 30-point lead late in the game. I gave her an opening – I played anger in an effort to get rid of my tiles – leaving an a hook with lots of room.
She gave it a good throw with outages, coming just short of a bingo (and damn near giving me a heart attack). I held on for a 346-313 victory.
Did I feel like a chump for beating her? Kinda. But there is karmic justice; Joyce didn’t lose the rest of the day, and she won our division with a 6-1 record.
Game #2: Chuck
I didn’t know it at the time, but Chuck is kinda famous in my industry. He’s the guy behind No Pattern, a prominent illustrator who has worked with some big name clients. You know, that guy who makes you look at your own work and client list, go fetal and start sobbing.
But at that moment, he was just Chuck, the other tournament newbie. Surprisingly, we both won our first game, so I knew this was going to be a challenge.
I play an awesome opening move – qua – giving me a quick 24 points and the chance to use my d on my next play. Apparently Chuck had the same thought, as he dumped a 64-point bingo in created. Uh oh.
I stayed with it though, and managed to take the lead after my seventh word. Things were looking very good when I was looking at sitting on my rack. Unfortunately, there was no place to put it!
Experienced Scrabble players know the rest of the story. My next five plays were one-letter low-point dumps (3, 3, 6, 8, 12), hoping a spot would open up. Chuck went 27, 32, 36, 37, 14, and my fate was sealed. Final score: 391-291.
Game #3: Merran
Merran was a sweet old gal who was very fun to play, conversing throughout the game. We touched on the “new generation” of Scrabble players – the good and the bad. On one hand, it’s new blood, and it’s great to see the game spreading to a new generation.
On the other hand, most newcomers only know online Scrabble. Most play very fast, and most struggle with the mechanics of the physical game. It’s hard to argue – I can assure online players, playing the actual board game against a live opponent is quite a different experience.
A good analogy: the world of poker. Before No-Limit Hold ‘Em was on every television channel, high-stakes poker was played by a tight-knit group of veterans, playing for the love of the game as much as the actual jackpots.
After the explosion, thousands of 20-somethings crashed the party – each armed with thousands of hours of TV exposure and online poker. But when they sat down to the table, most quickly realized that it’s not the same game.
My match with Merran was a back-and-forth game, we were never separated by more than 25 points. She got me right at the end with towns over the triple-word score, and it was over. Final score: 318-293.
Lunchtime
I ended the morning session with a 1-2 record. While I was a bit disappointed to lose the last game, I was feeling pretty good about being able to hang in at this level. Little did I know what was to come…
