Austin Shin

Hey everyone, I’m Austin Shin, former UK and US National Scrabble Champion, and here is Austin’s Annotated Scrabble Games #1
I’m going to go through one of my annotated games move by move with you from 2017, the final game of the US National Championship. It may be one of the most nerve-racking games that I’ve ever played, and it was the deciding game of that National Championship. 
The game was live-streamed with commentary, and a video of the finale is on YouTube, so please feel free to watch the game here if you have spare time.
Setting the Scene
I traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, to participate in the 2017 North American Scrabble Championship (NASC, commonly known as the US National Championship), a 31-game tournament played over five days. Going into the final day with three games to go, I was in second place, a win behind the leader, the tournament’s top seed, and one of the GOATs of US Scrabble, Dave Wiegand (DW). We had just played in the tournament’s penultimate game, where I had to beat Dave to keep my tournament chances alive, which you can watch here too. Fortunately, after several errors on my part, I managed to come from behind and win by 28 points. This forced a final round showdown, where we play again, and the winner will take the championship.
DW Rack: AIJNNOU 
DW Move 1: UNJOIN D8a for 28 points
DW Move 1
AS Rack: DLNOOSZ
AS Move 1: ZOON G7a for 50 points
My first mistake had already happened before I had even made a move. UNJOIN is not an acceptable word in the Collins lexicon, and I didn’t challenge the move! However, ZOON plays for a ton of points and sets up my S in column K for future use. ZOON is better than ZOO as my leave (the tiles kept for the next move) consists of three consonants instead of four. This allows for more chances to pick up some vowels to balance out this heavy consonant rack while scoring an extra point.
DW Rack: AEHKOPY 
DW Move 2: OAKY F9a for 55 points. Total Score: 83
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
DW Move 2
AS Rack: DLNRSSU
AS Move 2: DURNS K3d for 26 points. Total Score: 76
I have only one vowel and six consonants and no bingo, so playing off many tiles while continuing to score is the general idea here. DURNS (or RUNDS or NURDS) keeps a substantial leave of LS, unduplicates the S, and scores decently.
DW Rack: AEEHIPP 
DW Move 3: HEAP L1d for 37 points. Total Score: 120
DW Move 3
AS Rack: AEEFILS
AS Move 3: FIE D10a for 20 points. Total Score: 96
HEAP just blocked my bingo of FILA(R)EES (G5a), so I no longer have a playable bingo. Now, this move requires some extra thought. We need to consider three aspects of the play: the move score, your leave, and what dangerous plays you may give away to your opponent.
Plays like FLES(H) (H1a) or S(H)ELF (K1a) score well, but my leave is AEI, which is absolutely terrible. These plays also use my S, which I hope to score more points with later in the game. Keeping an F is not conducive to bingoing, so playing along row 1 is not the strongest play. You should not feel the need to always use a triple word whenever it becomes available, as it could be detrimental to your rack. This is one of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced Scrabble players.
As my tiles here aren’t far away from a bingo, I should be trying to work towards one. To give myself the best chance to get a bingo, the F should be played, an E should be played as I have two of them, and another vowel. The additional vowel to play is to ensure that there is a better balance between vowels and consonants on my rack. Most words in English generally have the same or more consonants than vowels; therefore, we should always try to keep in mind the ratio of consonants to vowels. Having two of each as a leave is good. Keeping one or two more consonants than vowels is also a good ratio. As keeping an A is more beneficial than keeping an I, playing FIE is what I’m looking at, and I can play this at D10a. Not only does it score 20 points which is not bad, but the move also sets up a bingo lane for my S in row 11, making JOE(S). 
The triple letter at F10 is a hotspot that requires more attention than the triple word scores on row 1. Any word-making JO(W) or JO(Y), or any 5-letter word starting at B10, could be a high-scoring move for my opponent.
Playing FIE is a way to accomplish what I set out to do: the score isn’t too bad, it blocks high-scoring plays, and my leave of AELS is very strong. A high percentage of three-letter combinations will result in a bingo.
DW Rack: AEEEHIP
DW Move 4: EPHA(H) H1a for 39 points. Total Score: 159
DW Move 4
AS Rack: AAEILS?
AS Move 4: AvAILES B2a for 68 points. Total Score: 164
The previous play paid off as I now have a bingo to play. There are two candidate plays, AvAILES or ALgESIA (B4a), for 71 points. Other bingos like AErIALS or mALAISE (B2a) allow for easy access to the triple word in the top left. AvAILES offers a defensive option as there are no 2-letter words with a V, so parallel plays on row 1 are hugely limited. I heavily preferred this more defensive option as three points are worth the sacrifice over ALgESIA, which allows my opponent to get an easy, high-scoring play using the triple word.
DW Rack: CEEIIST
DW Move 5: CI(N)E I6a for 21 points. Total Score: 180
DW Move 5
AS Rack: DEILNRT
AS Move 5: T(U)R(F)ED D7d for 20 points. Total Score: 184
I have unplayable bingos of TENDRIL and TRINDLE. An important point to consider is the balance between leave and score, i.e., whether I should aim to hit another bingo or break up this nice rack and score well. There are no high-scoring options available which effectively makes my decision to go for a bingo. I could play a short word at D1d, but there’s no easy way of setting up a good bingo lane.
My next idea is to look at the F in FIE. I could play some parallel plays like LED (C11a), but then I don’t have an E or S in hand to bingo there with either ID-E or ID-S or S-LED, which may benefit my opponent more greatly. Another option, like TILED (A11a), opens up the triple words needlessly and asks for trouble.
Plays down from the F like (F)IL or (F)ID don’t score much and leave me with a shortage of vowels. (F)LINT is dangerous as that opens up the triple word scores in row 15 with FLINT-S or FLINT-Y.
So I came up with the idea of playing T(U)R(F)ED. Scores relatively well keeps a decent leave, and doesn’t give much away. Generally, here, the onus would be on my opponent up the board, which I hope to capitalize on later. Not many great options to play here, but it pays to weigh up as many options as possible as these are the kind of tricky moves that can make or break a game.
 DW Rack: DEGIOST
DW Move 6: (D)ODGIEST D12a for 62 points. Total Score: 242
DW Move 6
AS Rack: FGILNRT
AS Move 6: R(E)F I11d for 10 points. Total Score: 194
No doubt about it, (D)ODGIEST was a HUGE setback. I’m now about 60 behind on a pretty congested board, tiles are not good, and my chances of winning are at about 20% at best.
The mindset has to change like a flick of a switch. If I’m behind, then I have to play more attack-minded to mount a comeback. The first step is to see where I can realistically play a bingo on the board and whether these options are sufficient. Currently, the only places to bingo are parallel to DODGIEST in rows 11 or 13, which is difficult without vowels, column M with CINE(S) (though I would need an S or blank), or in column B through AvAILES, which does not score too well. 
Therefore, I felt the need to shake things up and get creative. I could easily go for a safer option like F(A)NG (D1d), but this doesn’t help too greatly in terms of having a good spot to play a bingo. This also allows Dave another chance to further shut down this board even more.
Instead, I played R(E)F (I11d). I keep GILNT, which does have a useful -ING combo, and as a one vowel and one consonant pickup is most likely, this has a decent shot at giving me a bingo on the next turn. Not only that, but R(E)F also opens up a more flexible bingo lane where I can hook an I or T (making REFI or REFT), which I have in hand. This is not the easiest to block as any play hooking REF would likely give me a triple word or another bingo lane in response. An important consideration to think about is not just about having a bingo on your rack, but also where it can be played.
DW Rack: ABGILTU
DW Move 7: B(R)UIT H11a for 24 points. Total Score: 266
DW Move 7
AS Rack: EGILNTV
AS Move 7: V(A)LETING B1d for 64 points. Total Score: 258
Phew! My only playable bingo wasn’t blocked, and if it was, honestly, I’m not quite sure what I’d do! 
DW Rack: AGLNVWX
DW Move 8: WAX A4d for 37 points. Total Score: 303
DW Move 8
AS Rack: ABDEOSY
AS Move 8: YOB M3d for 35 points. Total Score: 293
On this turn, not many options rival YOB, apart from YOBS, which scores 9 more points. As a general rule, keeping an S can be valued somewhere between 9-15 extra points as this gives you future scoring potential, though this depends on the situation and how the board is shaping up. With very few openings, keeping the S for BRUITS or REFS and having the last S tile in the game pushes the value of the S to the higher end of that evaluation scale. ABSEY (A8d) is a very high-scoring option, but the leave of DO is not ideal and may hinder me in future moves. Knowing one bingo can take the game, YOB leaves ADES and is highly conducive to a bingo, so this was the deciding factor for me.
DW Rack: AGILNRV
DW Move 9: V(A)NG D1d for 24 points. Total Score: 327
DW Move 9
AS Rack: ACDEEST
AS Move 9: ACTED A8d for 39 points. Total Score: 332
There are no playable bingos here, so I went with the high-scoring play, ACTED, keeping ES, one of the best two letter leaves in Scrabble (aside from blanks). Knowing that there is a blank unseen, playing off more tiles here gives you a greater chance of picking up the blank.
DW Rack: AEIILRW
DW Move 10: WAI J10a for 33 points. Total Score: 360
DW Move 10
AS Rack: ELQSTU?
AS Move 10: SQUEaL I14a for 75 points. Total Score: 407
Absolutely unreal pickup after ACTED, not only picking the blank but the QU combo as well! It’s very easy to play this 75-point word in a heartbeat, but… composure! We’re nearing the end of the game, so let’s see what tiles are unseen.

There are 12 tiles unseen, which means that there are five tiles in the bag. SQUEaL plays six tiles, which empties the bag and leaves me susceptible to losing the game if Dave plays a bingo on his next move. A host of bingos like ARMOIRE, ARRIERO, EARLIER, EMAILER, and IMMORAL can fit on row 14 with the REF-I hook and at N5d, in which case I’ve already lost the game. It would be impossible to block both bingo lanes but my play blocks the most probable spot for Dave to bingo.
All other options don’t score enough or don&#8217;t block a bingo lane. 
DW Rack: EEILMRR
DW Move 11: EMIR L15a for 29 points. Total Score: 389
DW Move 11
AS Rack: AMOORT
AS Move 11: MOTOR B11d for 21 points. Total Score: 428
Not much to say here, just don’t play a phony word and I would win!
DW Rack: ELR
DW Move 12: (WAI)LER J10a for 11 points. Total Score: 400
AS Rack: A, worth 1 point.
Final Score &#8211; DW: 402, AS: 428.
DW Move 12
And there we have it, the deciding game of the 2017 NASC. To date, this was my first and only US National Championship title, and I didn’t attend the following year to defend it, though I was runner-up in the 2019 NASC, my first since emigrating to the US. As of the time of writing, 2019 remains the last NASC to be held due to the pandemic, though the next NASC is due to take place in Baltimore, Maryland in 2022.
I hope this gave you an insight into the thought processes of a Scrabble Grandmaster and provided some learning points that you can use in your Scrabble games. More deep dives into top level Scrabble strategies coming soon!
					
	The post Austin Shin&#8217;s Annotated Scrabble Games #1 appeared first on Scrabble.

Austin Shin’s Annotated Scrabble Games #1


<p>Hey everyone, I&#8217;m Austin Shin. I don&#8217;t particularly like talking about myself. But as I&#8217;m here to stay, I feel that an introductory post is in order. So let me begin with the Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years.</p>



<p>First of all, who is Austin Shin? I&#8217;m currently <strong>ranked in the world’s top 15</strong> and within the <strong>top 5 in North America</strong>. I am the <strong>only</strong> player in history to have won National Scrabble Championship titles in the <strong>UK and US (both in 2017)</strong>. I was runner-up at the 2006 World Youth Championship. Placed 3rd in the World Scrabble Championships in 2017 and won over 60 tournament titles worldwide. I&#8217;ve traveled worldwide to play in the biggest and most prestigious Scrabble tournaments on the planet. Competing in Thailand, Australia, Nigeria, England, US, Canada, and Malaysia… all on at least two occasions and many other countries that I’ve competed in that one time. Therefore, I feel like I&#8217;m in an excellent position to share my experiences and exciting stories from my Scrabble trips abroad.</p>



<p>I hope to <strong>teach</strong> you how to improve your <a href="https://playscrabble.com/">Scrabble game</a>. Provide insight into game analysis, explain move selection, and share ways to boost your scores in those many tricky Scrabble Go modes in my blog posts. So please feel free to drop a comment or ask a question on any of my posts in the <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community">Scrabble forum</a>. I may end up writing some unique blog posts to answer them!</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years</h4>



<p>Let’s start from the very beginning. I was born and raised in <strong>Milton Keynes, England</strong>, and I was introduced to Scrabble by my father when I was five years old. I was hooked from the start. My family recall times when I would jump out of bed set up the Scrabble board on the floor, and start playing with a dictionary beside me. Not like I remember that now, of course! I’ve always had a natural knack for spelling and math, so these elements as a 5-6-year-old were not a problem for me at that time.</p>



<p>I always played against my father, and I quickly improved and started beating him with regularity. To help me improve further, he took me to the weekly <strong>Aylesbury Scrabble Club</strong> located about 20 minutes away from my home. I just turned seven years old. There were seasoned tournament Scrabble players in attendance with many decades of experience, and I was there to learn the ropes. On my first day, I played against a lady rated about 1200 and was the second strongest player at the club. For scale, the highest-rated players in the world are over 1900, and beginner level is around 500. It was fair to say that I was immediately thrown in the deep end, and it was an instant litmus test. I ended up playing two games that night, both against her, and I went 1-1 (win-loss record). As you can imagine, a seven-year-old rookie that turns up to a Scrabble club for the first time and beats a seasoned tournament player would turn some heads. But at the time, I was playing the game that I loved, utterly oblivious to what was going on around me.</p>



<p>It was only when I got home that the club’s best player told my father that I already had the ability to play in an officially sanctioned tournament. But, unfortunately, there are no youth or school Scrabble events in the UK, so what she meant was that I was ready to test my talent in adult competition.</p>



<p>My father wanted to make sure I was fully ready before playing in an in-person tournament. As I said, counting the move scores, keeping scores on paper, and learning new words were not a problem. However, I needed guidance in terms of which words to learn first, improving my strategy and skills against better players, and understanding the nuances of in-person competition. These nuances include playing with a 25-minute timer per player for the entire game. Getting into good habits to keep score and picking tiles from the tile bag above eye level. Remembering the protocol for challenging your opponent’s words and knowing the official tournament rules.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">ABSP</h4>



<p>A year later, I played in my first official <strong>ABSP (Association of British Scrabble Players)</strong> rated tournament. From what I remember, it was a big one-day tournament with about 150 players, all packed into a room in Swindon, ready to play five games of tournament Scrabble. I’m not sure at the time that I was even aware that there were six divisions separated by ability. Still, the consensus between my father and clubmates was to immediately place me straight into division 2, with players rated in the 1250-1500 range and in the same division as the two strongest players at my club. And yes, this was my very first tournament against adults as an eight-year-old. Usually, unrated players would be placed in the very bottom division, but they had other ideas clearly.</p>



<p>Admittedly, I don’t remember a great deal about the day itself, as this was in March 1998, so it happened a long time ago. Nevertheless, I beat a player rated 1450, and I ended the day with a respectable record of 2-3 and a spread of -43, finishing 18th out of 28 players.</p>



<p>Buoyed by a successful outing, I continued my rookie year playing in more tournaments across the country. However, just two months after my first tournament, I was already competing in my fourth tournament in Pinner, London. This was a tournament of three divisions and about 80 players in total. I eventually won division 3 with a perfect 6-0 record.</p>



<p>Other notable occurrences happened in my <strong>rookie year</strong> as an eight-year-old: </p>



<ul>
<li>I finished the year rated about 1300.</li>
<li>I had played in my first multi-day tournament of 11 games over an entire weekend in my hometown.</li>
<li>In one tournament, I was playing Harrow’s mayoress in North London. She was an older lady, and I played a very rude word against her, but I can’t tell you what it was. No, really, I can’t.</li>
</ul>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="349" height="563" class="wp-image-255 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen12.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen12.jpg 349w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen12-186x300.jpg 186w" sizes="(max-width: 349px) 100vw, 349px" />
<figcaption><strong>Me as an 8 year old; picture taken for an article written in the UK Daily Mail newspaper.</strong></figcaption>
</figure>
</div>



<p>Almost a year from my tournament debut, I won a division 2 event in Melton Mowbray with a 5-0 record. At that same event the following year, I was rated high enough to play in my first ever division 1 tournament. A sign of things to come as my rating steadily increased and pushed through the 1400 and 1500 rating barriers. In July 2001, I won my last ever division 2 tournament and never played in division 2 ever again.</p>



<p>December 2001 was also notable because, merely days after my 12th birthday, I had become a <strong>Guinness World Record holder!</strong> Fellow UK tournament Scrabble player and blitz player Chris Hawkins and I beat an existing world record for scoring the most combined points playing Scrabble over a 24 hour period and was played in a shopping mall in Peterborough as we raised money for charity. In August 2002, we succeeded in further breaking our record by scoring a combined total of 162,171 points over a day’s worth of play. A world record that stood for about a decade. This world record was also published in the 2004 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="601" height="624" class="wp-image-256 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen3.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen3.jpg 601w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen3-289x300.jpg 289w" sizes="(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px" />
<figcaption><strong>My name in the Guinness Book of World Records 2004.</strong></figcaption>
</figure>
</div>



<p>Speaking of setting records in 2002, Melton Mowbray was the backdrop for my first ever division 1 tournament win. I became the youngest ever UK division 1 tournament winner at 12 years and four months old, an ABSP record that still stands today.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="481" height="571" class="wp-image-257 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen4.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen4.jpg 481w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Imagen4-253x300.jpg 253w" sizes="(max-width: 481px) 100vw, 481px" />
<figcaption><strong>Winning my first UK-rated division 1 title in Melton Mowbray, 2002</strong></figcaption>
</figure>
</div>



<p>By 2004, I had added three more tournament titles, my rating was approaching 1800, and I was beginning to travel abroad to play Scrabble internationally. However, the trials and tribulations of international Scrabble will wait for another day. I have plenty of funny, compelling, and bizarre stories to tell, as I have traveled abroad almost every year since then to compete in at least one international tournament!</p>



<p>But for now, that’s how I started making the ascent from a small child playing at home to hitting the big lights of the international tournaments over the space of a decade… as a slightly bigger child.</p>



<p>Thanks for reading Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years; if you’ve got this far &#8211; I’ll be looking to share my knowledge with you very soon!</p>



<p><strong>Twitter and Instagram: @austinho9</strong></p>



<p>For more information on sanctioned Scrabble tournaments and clubs in the UK and how you can start your very own Scrabble tournament career, please visit the ABSP website at <a href="http://www.absp.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.absp.org.uk</a>. </p>



<p>&nbsp;</p>



<h6 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><sup>Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? </sup></strong><a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#discussion/19/%EF%B8%8F-contribute-to-the-scrabble-blog/p1"><sup><strong>Click this link to send us your article</strong>.</sup></a></h6>



<h6 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><sup>Do you want to discuss this article with the community? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#categories/blog-discussions">Visit the forum with this link to start a conversation.</a></sup></strong></h6>
		<div class="wpulike wpulike-default " ><div class="wp_ulike_general_class wp_ulike_is_not_liked"><button type="button"
					aria-label="Like Button"
					data-ulike-id="148"
					data-ulike-nonce="7fdda29d46"
					data-ulike-type="post"
					data-ulike-template="wpulike-default"
					data-ulike-display-likers="0"
					data-ulike-likers-style="popover"
					class="wp_ulike_btn wp_ulike_put_image wp_post_btn_148"></button><span class="count-box wp_ulike_counter_up" data-ulike-counter-value="0"></span>			</div></div>
	<p>The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/austin-shin-scrabble-biography-play-scrabble/">Austin Shin Scrabble Biography</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.</p>


Hey everyone, I&#8217;m Austin Shin. I don&#8217;t particularly like talking about myself. But as I&#8217;m here to stay, I feel that an introductory post is in order. So let me begin with the Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years.



First of all, who is Austin Shin? I&#8217;m currently ranked in the world’s top 15 and within the top 5 in North America. I am the only player in history to have won National Scrabble Championship titles in the UK and US (both in 2017). I was runner-up at the 2006 World Youth Championship. Placed 3rd in the World Scrabble Championships in 2017 and won over 60 tournament titles worldwide. I&#8217;ve traveled worldwide to play in the biggest and most prestigious Scrabble tournaments on the planet. Competing in Thailand, Australia, Nigeria, England, US, Canada, and Malaysia… all on at least two occasions and many other countries that I’ve competed in that one time. Therefore, I feel like I&#8217;m in an excellent position to share my experiences and exciting stories from my Scrabble trips abroad.



I hope to teach you how to improve your Scrabble game. Provide insight into game analysis, explain move selection, and share ways to boost your scores in those many tricky Scrabble Go modes in my blog posts. So please feel free to drop a comment or ask a question on any of my posts in the Scrabble forum. I may end up writing some unique blog posts to answer them!



Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years



Let’s start from the very beginning. I was born and raised in Milton Keynes, England, and I was introduced to Scrabble by my father when I was five years old. I was hooked from the start. My family recall times when I would jump out of bed set up the Scrabble board on the floor, and start playing with a dictionary beside me. Not like I remember that now, of course! I’ve always had a natural knack for spelling and math, so these elements as a 5-6-year-old were not a problem for me at that time.



I always played against my father, and I quickly improved and started beating him with regularity. To help me improve further, he took me to the weekly Aylesbury Scrabble Club located about 20 minutes away from my home. I just turned seven years old. There were seasoned tournament Scrabble players in attendance with many decades of experience, and I was there to learn the ropes. On my first day, I played against a lady rated about 1200 and was the second strongest player at the club. For scale, the highest-rated players in the world are over 1900, and beginner level is around 500. It was fair to say that I was immediately thrown in the deep end, and it was an instant litmus test. I ended up playing two games that night, both against her, and I went 1-1 (win-loss record). As you can imagine, a seven-year-old rookie that turns up to a Scrabble club for the first time and beats a seasoned tournament player would turn some heads. But at the time, I was playing the game that I loved, utterly oblivious to what was going on around me.



It was only when I got home that the club’s best player told my father that I already had the ability to play in an officially sanctioned tournament. But, unfortunately, there are no youth or school Scrabble events in the UK, so what she meant was that I was ready to test my talent in adult competition.



My father wanted to make sure I was fully ready before playing in an in-person tournament. As I said, counting the move scores, keeping scores on paper, and learning new words were not a problem. However, I needed guidance in terms of which words to learn first, improving my strategy and skills against better players, and understanding the nuances of in-person competition. These nuances include playing with a 25-minute timer per player for the entire game. Getting into good habits to keep score and picking tiles from the tile bag above eye level. Remembering the protocol for challenging your opponent’s words and knowing the official tournament rules.



ABSP



A year later, I played in my first official ABSP (Association of British Scrabble Players) rated tournament. From what I remember, it was a big one-day tournament with about 150 players, all packed into a room in Swindon, ready to play five games of tournament Scrabble. I’m not sure at the time that I was even aware that there were six divisions separated by ability. Still, the consensus between my father and clubmates was to immediately place me straight into division 2, with players rated in the 1250-1500 range and in the same division as the two strongest players at my club. And yes, this was my very first tournament against adults as an eight-year-old. Usually, unrated players would be placed in the very bottom division, but they had other ideas clearly.



Admittedly, I don’t remember a great deal about the day itself, as this was in March 1998, so it happened a long time ago. Nevertheless, I beat a player rated 1450, and I ended the day with a respectable record of 2-3 and a spread of -43, finishing 18th out of 28 players.



Buoyed by a successful outing, I continued my rookie year playing in more tournaments across the country. However, just two months after my first tournament, I was already competing in my fourth tournament in Pinner, London. This was a tournament of three divisions and about 80 players in total. I eventually won division 3 with a perfect 6-0 record.



Other notable occurrences happened in my rookie year as an eight-year-old: 




I finished the year rated about 1300.
I had played in my first multi-day tournament of 11 games over an entire weekend in my hometown.
In one tournament, I was playing Harrow’s mayoress in North London. She was an older lady, and I played a very rude word against her, but I can’t tell you what it was. No, really, I can’t.






Me as an 8 year old; picture taken for an article written in the UK Daily Mail newspaper.





Almost a year from my tournament debut, I won a division 2 event in Melton Mowbray with a 5-0 record. At that same event the following year, I was rated high enough to play in my first ever division 1 tournament. A sign of things to come as my rating steadily increased and pushed through the 1400 and 1500 rating barriers. In July 2001, I won my last ever division 2 tournament and never played in division 2 ever again.



December 2001 was also notable because, merely days after my 12th birthday, I had become a Guinness World Record holder! Fellow UK tournament Scrabble player and blitz player Chris Hawkins and I beat an existing world record for scoring the most combined points playing Scrabble over a 24 hour period and was played in a shopping mall in Peterborough as we raised money for charity. In August 2002, we succeeded in further breaking our record by scoring a combined total of 162,171 points over a day’s worth of play. A world record that stood for about a decade. This world record was also published in the 2004 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.





My name in the Guinness Book of World Records 2004.





Speaking of setting records in 2002, Melton Mowbray was the backdrop for my first ever division 1 tournament win. I became the youngest ever UK division 1 tournament winner at 12 years and four months old, an ABSP record that still stands today.





Winning my first UK-rated division 1 title in Melton Mowbray, 2002





By 2004, I had added three more tournament titles, my rating was approaching 1800, and I was beginning to travel abroad to play Scrabble internationally. However, the trials and tribulations of international Scrabble will wait for another day. I have plenty of funny, compelling, and bizarre stories to tell, as I have traveled abroad almost every year since then to compete in at least one international tournament!



But for now, that’s how I started making the ascent from a small child playing at home to hitting the big lights of the international tournaments over the space of a decade… as a slightly bigger child.



Thanks for reading Austin Shin &#8211; The Early Years; if you’ve got this far &#8211; I’ll be looking to share my knowledge with you very soon!



Twitter and Instagram: @austinho9



For more information on sanctioned Scrabble tournaments and clubs in the UK and how you can start your very own Scrabble tournament career, please visit the ABSP website at www.absp.org.uk. 



&nbsp;



Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? Click this link to send us your article.



Do you want to discuss this article with the community? Visit the forum with this link to start a conversation.
					
	The post Austin Shin Scrabble Biography appeared first on Scrabble.