Judy Cole

Each month, in the Spotlight On column in the <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/IContact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASPA News</a>, Mike Willis provides a broader biography of notable Scrabble players. This profile of NASPA CEO John Chew first appeared in the November 8, 2018, issue.
&nbsp;
<h3 class="p1">A Brilliant Mind</h3>
John Chew was born in Buffalo (NY) &#8211; not far from the site of the 2014 and 2018 NASPA Championships. He says of the day, &#8220;I was born just past noon on the day my obstetrician predicted. Or would have been, had someone taken the time to explain to me about Daylight Saving Time.&#8221;
John speaks of his parents: &#8220;My father is an emeritus professor of linguistic anthropology, a polyglot, with previous careers in the Foreign Service Institute (he phoneticized Kennedy&#8217;s Berliner speech), and as a code clerk for Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
&#8220;He played a lot of board games with me when I was young, inspired me to learn a few languages better than he did, and made sure the corners of the dining table were always stacked with dictionaries that we could use to explore the origins of obscure words.
&#8220;My mother is a retired Japanese language instructor born in Tokyo and raised during the WWII firebombing of that city. She made sure that I was fluent in Japanese and always appreciated that side of my heritage.&#8221;
John relates his childhood and education: &#8220;I thought for some time that I appeared intelligent because I was somewhere on the autism spectrum. Recently, I have been thinking that it might instead have been due to the adaptive effects of being at the extreme aphantasiac end of the visualization spectrum.
&#8220;I entered grade school a year early, attended a high school for gifted students, completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics, computer science, and classical studies, and a master&#8217;s degree in mathematics. I am still ABD on my Ph.D.
&#8220;I think my education is still an ongoing process, so I don&#8217;t feel as though I am the same person that I was 10 or 20 years ago. I value my skill set and the opportunities that it gives me and am always looking to expand it.&#8221;
John has been married to his wife, Kristen, for 19 years. Together they have two sons, Jamie, 14, and Liam, 11. He has intentionally devoted more time to his family, and less time to his career, than many of his peers because of the emotional reward it provides.
 <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1034" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-and-wife-300x216.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="216" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-and-wife-300x216.jpeg 300w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-and-wife.jpeg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Photo Credit: NASPA/Patty Hocker
That is not to say that he does not stay busy, however &#8211; he relates: &#8220;In addition to currently being a co-president of NASPA, itinerant Scrabble consultant, software developer, research mathematician, and translator, I have in the past been a full-time student and a full-time computer programmer &#8211; sometimes at the same time.&#8221;
John recounts getting into Scrabble: &#8220;I played online on <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LambdaMOO" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LambdaMOO</a> and ScrabbleMOO with Adam Logan and Steven Alexander in 1993. They encouraged me to visit my local club in Toronto (<a style="color: #0000ff;" href="http://www.torontoscrabbleclub.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASPA Club #3</a>), where I found I fit in well. When then Toronto director Mike Wise died only 5 years later, I was honoured to be asked to take over many of his roles.&#8221;
When asked for some Scrabble tales that involved him, John replied: &#8220;I used to play Scrabble with Sherrie Saint John on long car trips, with a pegboard travel set propped up on her dashboard, with me driving. We stopped when the engine caught fire, and I was thinking too much about my next bingo to notice.&#8221;
Also &#8211; &#8220;At NSC 1994, I&#8217;m walking to a restaurant called THAI PLACE with Adam Logan and Steven Alexander.
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">I say, &#8216;The name of the restaurant has an anagram.&#8217;</li>
<li class="li1">Adam says, &#8216;Yes, it does.&#8217;</li>
<li class="li1">After a brief interval, Steven says &#8216;HEPATICAL!&#8217;</li>
<li class="li1">Then simultaneously, Adam says &#8216;No&#8217; and I say &#8216;Yes.&#8217;</li>
<li class="li1">Adam then gently explains that HEPATICAL# is Chambers-only.&#8221; (Can you find the 1 TWL anagram?)</li>
</ul>
He spoke of his highlights while playing:
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">&#8220;I&#8217;ve played two twelves: EXTRA-UTERINE and MENSTRUA-TION.</li>
<li class="li1">My highest-scoring word was JUNKIEST (266).</li>
<li class="li1">Zev Kaufman and I set a record in 1997 for <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://click.icptrack.com/icp/rclick.php?cid=1384631&amp;mid=278081&amp;destination=http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/Records%23Highest_tie_game_score&amp;cfid=6038&amp;vh=7d494ff33c118bbe7d10c8a65df646216c0690eac3cf6104536fec44e6ad925a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highest-scoring tied tournament game</a> at 502-502.</li>
<li class="li1">I have competed in one NSC (1994) and CNSC (1996) each, finishing in 2nd place in Division 2 and 10th place overall respectively.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
John has made so many contributions that have become mainstays of organized play: &#8220;I developed <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://click.icptrack.com/icp/rclick.php?cid=1384631&amp;mid=278081&amp;destination=http://www.poslarchive.com/tsh/doc/&amp;cfid=6038&amp;vh=3760edb4497edcf8e7e70848dc4f882454a80f512194f34ea28865eb5e6e291d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TSH</a>, its scoreboard, the software used to report on major championships, the software that runs our rating system, all the software that is part of the <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://click.icptrack.com/icp/rclick.php?cid=1384631&amp;mid=278081&amp;destination=http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/Welcome_to_NASPAWiki&amp;cfid=6038&amp;vh=3676c06c4100dba1000f0836e31e85612252370667355e2b5a9c1164c2f64ddc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASPA website</a>, club data management software, word study software, MarlDOoM, and various other miscellaneous projects.
&#8220;I have overseen the online presence of competitive Scrabble in North America since 1998 and represent much of its technical institutional memory in my capacity as NASPA co-president. I edit the tournament word list. I do much of the graphic design for NASPA, including its logo and other aspects of its corporate identity.
&#8220;I influence policy and think that I am the main person responsible for such innovations as an official long words list, a rating database that includes scores, and rated Collins games. I have run several hundred tournaments of all levels and sizes. I do a lot of Scrabble-related public interviews.&#8221;
Co-President of NASPA Chris Cree says of John: &#8220;John has proven to be my best ever business partner. His talents are known by most in the Scrabble community. He is continually contracted to direct tournaments around the world. I first worked with him at the 2006 Dallas Open. The following year we worked our first large event together: The Players Championship.
&#8220;When the NSA folded and Hasbro said &#8216;you are on your own,&#8217; we were trying to determine what was to happen next. Many eyes were looking to me; my eyes went straight to him. For I knew establishing a Scrabble organization comfortable to the majority of players would be best possible with him.
&#8220;My family and I have gotten to know John, his wife, Kristen, and their boys, Jamie and Liam, very well over the years. Carla and I include them among our closest, dearest friends.&#8221;
 <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1036" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-check-300x178.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="178" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-check-300x178.jpeg 300w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/john-check.jpeg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
NASPA co-presidents John Chew and Chris Cree help NASC director Art Moore present the big check to 2018 champion Joel Sherman in Buffalo (NY).  Photo Credit: NASPA/Patty Hocker.
John has these words for his fellow players: &#8220;Remember that everything that gets done in our organization gets done because a volunteer puts in the time to make it happen. If there&#8217;s something that you&#8217;d really like to see us doing that we aren&#8217;t already, please consider joining or starting a committee to build the association you want to be a part of.&#8221;
For the future of NASPA John wishes, &#8220;More younger people playing competitively, which will lead to more people of all ages playing.&#8221;
John, thanks so much for all you have done for Scrabble, and all that you continue to do. Your efforts have created a lot of success for the organization and contentment for so many players of the game who in one way or another use some of your handiwork.
&nbsp;
<h6>Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#discussion/19/%EF%B8%8F-contribute-to-the-scrabble-blog/p1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click this link to send us your article.</a></h6>



<h6>Do you want to discuss this article with the community? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#categories/blog-discussions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visit the forum with this link to start a conversation.</a></h6>The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/scrabble-player-spotlight-on-john-chew/">Scrabble Player Spotlight on John Chew</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

Each month, in the Spotlight On column in the NASPA News, Mike Willis provides a broader biography of notable Scrabble players. This profile of NASPA CEO John Chew first appeared in the November 8, 2018, issue.
&nbsp;
A Brilliant Mind
John Chew was born in Buffalo (NY) &#8211; not far from the site of the 2014 and 2018 NASPA Championships. He says of the day, &#8220;I was born just past noon on the day my obstetrician predicted. Or would have been, had someone taken the time to explain to me about Daylight Saving Time.&#8221;
John speaks of his parents: &#8220;My father is an emeritus professor of linguistic anthropology, a polyglot, with previous careers in the Foreign Service Institute (he phoneticized Kennedy&#8217;s Berliner speech), and as a code clerk for Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
&#8220;He played a lot of board games with me when I was young, inspired me to learn a few languages better than he did, and made sure the corners of the dining table were always stacked with dictionaries that we could use to explore the origins of obscure words.
&#8220;My mother is a retired Japanese language instructor born in Tokyo and raised during the WWII firebombing of that city. She made sure that I was fluent in Japanese and always appreciated that side of my heritage.&#8221;
John relates his childhood and education: &#8220;I thought for some time that I appeared intelligent because I was somewhere on the autism spectrum. Recently, I have been thinking that it might instead have been due to the adaptive effects of being at the extreme aphantasiac end of the visualization spectrum.
&#8220;I entered grade school a year early, attended a high school for gifted students, completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics, computer science, and classical studies, and a master&#8217;s degree in mathematics. I am still ABD on my Ph.D.
&#8220;I think my education is still an ongoing process, so I don&#8217;t feel as though I am the same person that I was 10 or 20 years ago. I value my skill set and the opportunities that it gives me and am always looking to expand it.&#8221;
John has been married to his wife, Kristen, for 19 years. Together they have two sons, Jamie, 14, and Liam, 11. He has intentionally devoted more time to his family, and less time to his career, than many of his peers because of the emotional reward it provides.
 
Photo Credit: NASPA/Patty Hocker
That is not to say that he does not stay busy, however &#8211; he relates: &#8220;In addition to currently being a co-president of NASPA, itinerant Scrabble consultant, software developer, research mathematician, and translator, I have in the past been a full-time student and a full-time computer programmer &#8211; sometimes at the same time.&#8221;
John recounts getting into Scrabble: &#8220;I played online on LambdaMOO and ScrabbleMOO with Adam Logan and Steven Alexander in 1993. They encouraged me to visit my local club in Toronto (NASPA Club #3), where I found I fit in well. When then Toronto director Mike Wise died only 5 years later, I was honoured to be asked to take over many of his roles.&#8221;
When asked for some Scrabble tales that involved him, John replied: &#8220;I used to play Scrabble with Sherrie Saint John on long car trips, with a pegboard travel set propped up on her dashboard, with me driving. We stopped when the engine caught fire, and I was thinking too much about my next bingo to notice.&#8221;
Also &#8211; &#8220;At NSC 1994, I&#8217;m walking to a restaurant called THAI PLACE with Adam Logan and Steven Alexander.

I say, &#8216;The name of the restaurant has an anagram.&#8217;
Adam says, &#8216;Yes, it does.&#8217;
After a brief interval, Steven says &#8216;HEPATICAL!&#8217;
Then simultaneously, Adam says &#8216;No&#8217; and I say &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
Adam then gently explains that HEPATICAL# is Chambers-only.&#8221; (Can you find the 1 TWL anagram?)

He spoke of his highlights while playing:

&#8220;I&#8217;ve played two twelves: EXTRA-UTERINE and MENSTRUA-TION.
My highest-scoring word was JUNKIEST (266).
Zev Kaufman and I set a record in 1997 for highest-scoring tied tournament game at 502-502.
I have competed in one NSC (1994) and CNSC (1996) each, finishing in 2nd place in Division 2 and 10th place overall respectively.&#8221;

John has made so many contributions that have become mainstays of organized play: &#8220;I developed TSH, its scoreboard, the software used to report on major championships, the software that runs our rating system, all the software that is part of the NASPA website, club data management software, word study software, MarlDOoM, and various other miscellaneous projects.
&#8220;I have overseen the online presence of competitive Scrabble in North America since 1998 and represent much of its technical institutional memory in my capacity as NASPA co-president. I edit the tournament word list. I do much of the graphic design for NASPA, including its logo and other aspects of its corporate identity.
&#8220;I influence policy and think that I am the main person responsible for such innovations as an official long words list, a rating database that includes scores, and rated Collins games. I have run several hundred tournaments of all levels and sizes. I do a lot of Scrabble-related public interviews.&#8221;
Co-President of NASPA Chris Cree says of John: &#8220;John has proven to be my best ever business partner. His talents are known by most in the Scrabble community. He is continually contracted to direct tournaments around the world. I first worked with him at the 2006 Dallas Open. The following year we worked our first large event together: The Players Championship.
&#8220;When the NSA folded and Hasbro said &#8216;you are on your own,&#8217; we were trying to determine what was to happen next. Many eyes were looking to me; my eyes went straight to him. For I knew establishing a Scrabble organization comfortable to the majority of players would be best possible with him.
&#8220;My family and I have gotten to know John, his wife, Kristen, and their boys, Jamie and Liam, very well over the years. Carla and I include them among our closest, dearest friends.&#8221;
 
NASPA co-presidents John Chew and Chris Cree help NASC director Art Moore present the big check to 2018 champion Joel Sherman in Buffalo (NY).  Photo Credit: NASPA/Patty Hocker.
John has these words for his fellow players: &#8220;Remember that everything that gets done in our organization gets done because a volunteer puts in the time to make it happen. If there&#8217;s something that you&#8217;d really like to see us doing that we aren&#8217;t already, please consider joining or starting a committee to build the association you want to be a part of.&#8221;
For the future of NASPA John wishes, &#8220;More younger people playing competitively, which will lead to more people of all ages playing.&#8221;
John, thanks so much for all you have done for Scrabble, and all that you continue to do. Your efforts have created a lot of success for the organization and contentment for so many players of the game who in one way or another use some of your handiwork.
&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 Scrabble Player Spotlight on John Chew appeared first on Scrabble.

Scrabble Player Spotlight on John Chew

<img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1064 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/22-players-chanp-270x300.png" alt="" width="270" height="300" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/22-players-chanp-270x300.png 270w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/22-players-chanp.png 461w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px" />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">2022 Scrabble Players Championship &#8211; July 23 to 27, 2022 &#8211; Baltimore, MD</h3>
Join us this summer in Baltimore for the 31st North American championship presented by NASPA.
The 31-game main event will offer both NASPA Word List (NWL) and Collins divisions &#8211; unlimited play-ups. The top 2 players in the NWL and Collins divisions will face off in a 5-game playoff after 28 games to determine the champion. If that&#8217;s not enough Scrabble, there are 4-game tournaments on the day before and after the main event.
But there&#8217;s more than Scrabble &#8211; on Friday night before the competition begins, we&#8217;re having a Welcome Dinner where New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will Shortz will play word games with the group. We&#8217;ll also be playing trivia, sharing musical talents, and socializing each day after play ends.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-1065 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/will-shortz-230x300.jpeg" alt="" width="230" height="300" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/will-shortz-230x300.jpeg 230w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/will-shortz.jpeg 294w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px" />
We&#8217;re excited to be in downtown Baltimore &#8211; just steps away from Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles (who will be in town the whole week), and attractions such as the National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center, and the American Visionary Art Museum.
Check out this list of <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://baltimore.org/plan/must-do-baltimore-experiences-for-first-time-visitors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Must-Do Baltimore Experiences for First-Time Visitors</a> &#8211; many within walking distance of our hotel!
Visit our <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/2022_Scrabble_Players_Championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> for more info or download a <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://tinyurl.com/SPC2022Flyer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flyer</a>.
Attendance is limited to 360 players &#8211; over 250 players are already registered. Don&#8217;t miss out!
See you over the board this summer in Baltimore!
&nbsp;
<h6>Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#discussion/19/%EF%B8%8F-contribute-to-the-scrabble-blog/p1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click this link to send us your article.</a></h6>



<h6>Do you want to discuss this article with the community? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#categories/blog-discussions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visit the forum with this link to start a conversation.</a></h6>The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/2022-scrabble-players-championship-july-23-to-27-2022/">2022 Scrabble Players Championship &#8211; July 23 to 27, 2022</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

2022 Scrabble Players Championship &#8211; July 23 to 27, 2022 &#8211; Baltimore, MD
Join us this summer in Baltimore for the 31st North American championship presented by NASPA.
The 31-game main event will offer both NASPA Word List (NWL) and Collins divisions &#8211; unlimited play-ups. The top 2 players in the NWL and Collins divisions will face off in a 5-game playoff after 28 games to determine the champion. If that&#8217;s not enough Scrabble, there are 4-game tournaments on the day before and after the main event.
But there&#8217;s more than Scrabble &#8211; on Friday night before the competition begins, we&#8217;re having a Welcome Dinner where New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will Shortz will play word games with the group. We&#8217;ll also be playing trivia, sharing musical talents, and socializing each day after play ends.

We&#8217;re excited to be in downtown Baltimore &#8211; just steps away from Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles (who will be in town the whole week), and attractions such as the National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center, and the American Visionary Art Museum.
Check out this list of Must-Do Baltimore Experiences for First-Time Visitors &#8211; many within walking distance of our hotel!
Visit our website for more info or download a flyer.
Attendance is limited to 360 players &#8211; over 250 players are already registered. Don&#8217;t miss out!
See you over the board this summer in Baltimore!
&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 2022 Scrabble Players Championship &#8211; July 23 to 27, 2022 appeared first on Scrabble.

2022 Scrabble Players Championship – July 23 to 27, 2022

Scrabble Player Spotlight on César Del Solar

This Spotlight on Scrabble player NASPA Grandmaster Scott Appel first appeared in the February 15, 2018 issue of the <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/IContact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASPA News</a>.



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When I first started working with Scott Appel on the NASPA Advisory Board, I found him to be measured and genteel with his input, but also incredibly insightful, perceptive, and always on-point. Therefore, I have been delighted to work with him further on the NASPA Forward Energy Committee.



written by Mike Willis
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<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-689 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-1.jpg" alt="" width="156" height="235" /></figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>



Scott is really bright and funny, and the love and dedication he shows to his family is so very admirable. It is a real pleasure for me to share more about him, as I was just as anxious to know as the rest of us were.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">When the Quiet Man Speaks</h4>



The old phrase is, &#8220;When the quiet man speaks, you would be well served to listen to what he has to say.&#8221; Such is always the case with Scott Appel &#8211; Scott was adept at telling his story very well without much editing.



Scott spent his pre-teen childhood in Brooklyn (NY). He loved sports and games and got hooked on Scrabble at the early age of nine. When he couldn’t get a game with his dad, Scott would sit at his kitchen table on Saturday mornings and play both sides with full competition. He would pick a side to root for but play the other straight up, and this gave him a stake in the outcome.



He would also experiment with trying to rack up the highest game totals for both sides and frequently exceeded 1000 points. Perhaps this was the beginning of his clever set-up scenarios, which he has placed in the NASPA News and GAMES World of Puzzles magazine.



In 1984, at age 13, Scott and his family moved to central New Jersey. Scott relates, &#8220;The transition was brutal for me; I went from being really outgoing and comfortable in Brooklyn to being shy and feeling rather alone in East Brunswick. By the time high school rolled around, though, I started making lots of connections  &#8211; the friends I had made then are still some of my closest friends today.



&#8220;One of these guys, a goofball named Andrés du Bouchet (now an actor/comedian known for his work on Conan O&#8217;Brien&#8216;s show on TBS), made a big contribution to my Scrabble life during those years. I remember him going through the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary page by page and writing out every two-letter word with definitions.&#8221;



&#8220;Before that, we were just nerds who loved Scrabble. After, we were nerds who loved Scrabble who finally could get their bingos to fit the board. A few of us really got hooked with this newfound ability to score points, and we played a lot. Always open book, though  &#8211; so you could check if words were valid before playing them. Even without challenges, the games still felt rather intense.&#8221;



Describing how Scrabble moved in and out of his life, he adds, &#8220;I went to college at Miami University in Oxford (OH). It was a great four years &#8211; I majored in mathematics and statistics, played lots of Ultimate Frisbee, and got hooked on college hockey.&#8221;



&#8220;Scrabble fell out of my life then and would not be part of my life again until several years later, during the summer after my first year of grad school at the University of Michigan. My summer workload was light, and I was bored, so I searched for local Scrabble clubs and found two of them &#8211; one club led by the late Florence Laatz and one led by Carol Ravichandran. Carol, in particular, was very nurturing and really encouraged me to come to the club weekly and later on to try a tournament.&#8221;



&#8220;In 1997, I moved to the Boston area and found two fantastic local clubs to keep my Scrabble momentum going. One was a small club led by the late Hilda Siegel, the other the well-known <a href="https://www.wolfberg.net/scrabble/lexington/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lexington NASPA Club #108</a> led by Judy Horn. I officially had the bug and started playing twice a week every week, plus regularly studying. I started playing more tournaments, winning a few. I was totally smitten. I remain thankful to this day to Mike Wolfberg and to Ben Greenwood, with whom I spent tons of time battling over the board.&#8221;



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<figure id="attachment_691" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-691" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-691" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="433" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-2.jpg 640w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-2-300x203.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-691" class="wp-caption-text">Scott makes a play at the 2015 NASPA Championship in Reno (NV). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



Twenty years later, Scott is happily married and the proud father of two children. Scott has a statistical consulting position with the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys the challenges of his work but admits that it takes away from his study time for Scrabble.



Nonetheless, he still tries to carve out some time on <a href="https://www.aerolith.org/wordwalls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aerolith</a> daily. He adds, &#8220;Will Anderson got me hooked on the daily blank bingo challenge, thankfully. Without that, there&#8217;d be close to no study.&#8221; Scott is intrigued by Collins play, but without a regular study regimen, is finding the transition hard.



When asked to speak about where he is with Scrabble now, he states, &#8220;I find Scrabble plays a different role for me these days. I used to be much more intense about it &#8211; each win and loss felt self-defining. I now come to tournaments just wanting to have fun, think through each game, and enjoy the challenge of it all. Being in the mix for a high finish is gravy.&#8221;



Scott also has come to realize that a strong mental game can make a big difference. He continues, &#8220;There will always be crazy wins and painful losses, but there is also always another game in the wake of the current one. Be ready to play that one, too &#8211; never let the bad loss morph into a 3-game skid because you were busy hanging your head. Next game&#8217;s tiles are not plotting against you.&#8221;



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<figure id="attachment_692" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-692" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-692" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-3.jpg 640w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scott-Appel-Picture-3-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-692" class="wp-caption-text">Scott has attended each North American championship since 1998 – here in 2016 in Fort Wayne (IN). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



Describing his giving back to the game, he adds, &#8220;I just finished a two-year stint on the Advisory Board, which was a great learning experience for me. The Board does a lot, and I was happy to contribute. I&#8217;m a part of a Forward Energy Committee subgroup working to make things easier for new players to join the competitive scene.



&#8220;Another important dimension of growing the game involves younger players, and towards that, I run a school Scrabble club for 5th and 6th graders. Perhaps most uniquely, though, I&#8217;ve been writing a monthly column about Scrabble for GAMES World of Puzzles magazine. A typical column has an article (tournament summary, player profile, or tip for improving your game), a word puzzle, and a couple of board puzzles. GAMES magazine is great for puzzle fans of all kinds &#8211; I highly recommend it.&#8221;



Concerning his and our future, Scott concludes, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ll ever stop playing this wonderful game. My kids are 12 and 8 now, and each passing year makes it a little bit easier for me to get out there and play. As an organization, we have seen many players come and go, but I hope we can find a way to up our membership, be that through school Scrabble or better targeted messaging, or trying to bring back players we&#8217;ve lost. I&#8217;ll continue to work with the Forward Energy Committee, running the school club, and writing my column for GAMES.&#8221;



Scott, now that we know more about you, we like you even more than before &#8211; which was an awful lot. Thanks for all you do to advance the love and play of our game. Thank you for all you do to advance North American <a href="https://playscrabble.com/">Scrabble play</a>!



<h6 class="wp-block-heading">Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#discussion/19/%EF%B8%8F-contribute-to-the-scrabble-blog/p1">Click this link to send us your article.</a></h6>



<h6 class="wp-block-heading">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></h6>
The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/scrabble-player-spotlight-on-scott-appel/">Scrabble Player Spotlight On Scott Appel</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

This Spotlight on Scrabble player NASPA Grandmaster Scott Appel first appeared in the February 15, 2018 issue of the NASPA News.





When I first started working with Scott Appel on the NASPA Advisory Board, I found him to be measured and genteel with his input, but also incredibly insightful, perceptive, and always on-point. Therefore, I have been delighted to work with him further on the NASPA Forward Energy Committee.



written by Mike Willis













Scott is really bright and funny, and the love and dedication he shows to his family is so very admirable. It is a real pleasure for me to share more about him, as I was just as anxious to know as the rest of us were.



When the Quiet Man Speaks



The old phrase is, &#8220;When the quiet man speaks, you would be well served to listen to what he has to say.&#8221; Such is always the case with Scott Appel &#8211; Scott was adept at telling his story very well without much editing.



Scott spent his pre-teen childhood in Brooklyn (NY). He loved sports and games and got hooked on Scrabble at the early age of nine. When he couldn’t get a game with his dad, Scott would sit at his kitchen table on Saturday mornings and play both sides with full competition. He would pick a side to root for but play the other straight up, and this gave him a stake in the outcome.



He would also experiment with trying to rack up the highest game totals for both sides and frequently exceeded 1000 points. Perhaps this was the beginning of his clever set-up scenarios, which he has placed in the NASPA News and GAMES World of Puzzles magazine.



In 1984, at age 13, Scott and his family moved to central New Jersey. Scott relates, &#8220;The transition was brutal for me; I went from being really outgoing and comfortable in Brooklyn to being shy and feeling rather alone in East Brunswick. By the time high school rolled around, though, I started making lots of connections  &#8211; the friends I had made then are still some of my closest friends today.



&#8220;One of these guys, a goofball named Andrés du Bouchet (now an actor/comedian known for his work on Conan O&#8217;Brien&#8216;s show on TBS), made a big contribution to my Scrabble life during those years. I remember him going through the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary page by page and writing out every two-letter word with definitions.&#8221;



&#8220;Before that, we were just nerds who loved Scrabble. After, we were nerds who loved Scrabble who finally could get their bingos to fit the board. A few of us really got hooked with this newfound ability to score points, and we played a lot. Always open book, though  &#8211; so you could check if words were valid before playing them. Even without challenges, the games still felt rather intense.&#8221;



Describing how Scrabble moved in and out of his life, he adds, &#8220;I went to college at Miami University in Oxford (OH). It was a great four years &#8211; I majored in mathematics and statistics, played lots of Ultimate Frisbee, and got hooked on college hockey.&#8221;



&#8220;Scrabble fell out of my life then and would not be part of my life again until several years later, during the summer after my first year of grad school at the University of Michigan. My summer workload was light, and I was bored, so I searched for local Scrabble clubs and found two of them &#8211; one club led by the late Florence Laatz and one led by Carol Ravichandran. Carol, in particular, was very nurturing and really encouraged me to come to the club weekly and later on to try a tournament.&#8221;



&#8220;In 1997, I moved to the Boston area and found two fantastic local clubs to keep my Scrabble momentum going. One was a small club led by the late Hilda Siegel, the other the well-known Lexington NASPA Club #108 led by Judy Horn. I officially had the bug and started playing twice a week every week, plus regularly studying. I started playing more tournaments, winning a few. I was totally smitten. I remain thankful to this day to Mike Wolfberg and to Ben Greenwood, with whom I spent tons of time battling over the board.&#8221;





Scott makes a play at the 2015 NASPA Championship in Reno (NV). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.






Twenty years later, Scott is happily married and the proud father of two children. Scott has a statistical consulting position with the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys the challenges of his work but admits that it takes away from his study time for Scrabble.



Nonetheless, he still tries to carve out some time on Aerolith daily. He adds, &#8220;Will Anderson got me hooked on the daily blank bingo challenge, thankfully. Without that, there&#8217;d be close to no study.&#8221; Scott is intrigued by Collins play, but without a regular study regimen, is finding the transition hard.



When asked to speak about where he is with Scrabble now, he states, &#8220;I find Scrabble plays a different role for me these days. I used to be much more intense about it &#8211; each win and loss felt self-defining. I now come to tournaments just wanting to have fun, think through each game, and enjoy the challenge of it all. Being in the mix for a high finish is gravy.&#8221;



Scott also has come to realize that a strong mental game can make a big difference. He continues, &#8220;There will always be crazy wins and painful losses, but there is also always another game in the wake of the current one. Be ready to play that one, too &#8211; never let the bad loss morph into a 3-game skid because you were busy hanging your head. Next game&#8217;s tiles are not plotting against you.&#8221;





Scott has attended each North American championship since 1998 – here in 2016 in Fort Wayne (IN). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.






Describing his giving back to the game, he adds, &#8220;I just finished a two-year stint on the Advisory Board, which was a great learning experience for me. The Board does a lot, and I was happy to contribute. I&#8217;m a part of a Forward Energy Committee subgroup working to make things easier for new players to join the competitive scene.



&#8220;Another important dimension of growing the game involves younger players, and towards that, I run a school Scrabble club for 5th and 6th graders. Perhaps most uniquely, though, I&#8217;ve been writing a monthly column about Scrabble for GAMES World of Puzzles magazine. A typical column has an article (tournament summary, player profile, or tip for improving your game), a word puzzle, and a couple of board puzzles. GAMES magazine is great for puzzle fans of all kinds &#8211; I highly recommend it.&#8221;



Concerning his and our future, Scott concludes, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ll ever stop playing this wonderful game. My kids are 12 and 8 now, and each passing year makes it a little bit easier for me to get out there and play. As an organization, we have seen many players come and go, but I hope we can find a way to up our membership, be that through school Scrabble or better targeted messaging, or trying to bring back players we&#8217;ve lost. I&#8217;ll continue to work with the Forward Energy Committee, running the school club, and writing my column for GAMES.&#8221;



Scott, now that we know more about you, we like you even more than before &#8211; which was an awful lot. Thanks for all you do to advance the love and play of our game. Thank you for all you do to advance North American Scrabble play!



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 Scrabble Player Spotlight On Scott Appel appeared first on Scrabble.

Scrabble Player Spotlight On Scott Appel

This Spotlight on Scrabble player, North American SCRABBLE Championship (NASC) Director Art Moore first appeared in the &#8220;Spotlight On&#8221; column in the September 12, 2019, issue of the <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/IContact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASPA News</a>.



written by Mike Willis



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Work of Art</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large">
<figure id="attachment_452" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-452" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-452" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Alec-and-Art-Picture-1.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Alec-and-Art-Picture-1.jpg 640w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Alec-and-Art-Picture-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-452" class="wp-caption-text">Scrabble player Art congratulates Alex Sjoholm, the 2019 North American SCRABBLE champion. Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



When I first began to speak with Scrabble player Art, he informed me that he really didn’t care to talk about himself. Little did I know that he would try to prove to me that he is very truthful over the next few months.



He is so humble that it took quite a while to convince him to open up and share his wonderful Scrabble player story. But he finally did, and I am proud to get his message to you to enjoy. He is a great ambassador for our game, and we owe him a lot of gratitude for all he does.



Lorraine Green proudly gave birth to Scrabble player Art in Staten Island (NY), where he continued to live until 16. In 1985 he moved to central Florida and still resides there today.



Art speaks of his childhood, &#8220;My parents divorced when I was very young, and I have no childhood memories of my father Arthur Sr. We would connect not long after moving to Florida as he lived two hours away. My mother worked in child welfare while my stepfather was a corrections officer in New York City and Orlando.



&#8220;We were by no means wealthy, but nonetheless, I grew up happy, the middle child of three. This has probably best taught me how to be make the best of whatever situation I&#8217;m in a while trying to improve.



&#8220;I&#8217;ve always had a competitive streak in me, dating back to throwing temper tantrums over losing at Musical Chairs in kindergarten. And while I played some intramural softball and basketball in elementary school, it seemed I would always prefer intellectual challenges over physical.&#8221;



He continues, &#8220;I spent seven years in Catholic School with one class per grade and excelled there. However, I felt like I was only challenged once I was enrolled in public school where I was an A/B student.&#8221;



&#8220;It was in my last year of Catholic School -1981 &#8211; that a representative from Radio Shack visited our class, and from that instant, I was hooked on computers. I gobbled up every book I could on BASIC programming, and since we couldn&#8217;t afford one of our own, I would go to Radio Shack after school and type in the programs I&#8217;d written on paper.&#8221;



&#8220;I&#8217;d get a Commodore 64 for Christmas not long after, and my career path would be in the making. Oddly enough, my first exposure to the OSPD (Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) was when I wrote a game for my computer and needed a list of three and four-letter words. I saw the book at the library, circa 1995, and used it as my source.&#8221;



Art explains how he came to love the game, &#8220;SCRABBLE was my mother&#8217;s favorite game, and we played a lot of it as I grew up. I remember the excitement of buying the big blue box Deluxe Edition. The grid and rotating board were the greatest things ever! I bought the blue box SCRABBLE software years later, and it was then I learned about competitive SCRABBLE from other players on MSN Zone.&#8221;



&#8220;Even still, it would be some time before I stepped foot into a club. It was late 2006 when I decided I was going to check out a tournament. I joined NSA (National SCRABBLE Association) and sent a check to the director for the event in Clearwater (FL), which is 90 minutes from me. It was only after that that I reached out to the local NSA club and inquired about joining.&#8221;



&#8220;I walked into <a href="https://www.orlandoscrabble.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Club #438</a> in Casselberry (FL) (just outside of Orlando) on January 8, 2007, and have never looked back.  I showed up, introduced myself, and said I&#8217;m going to the Clearwater tournament next month, and I&#8217;m here to play. I won 2 of the 4 games I played that night. I came home and told my wife Diane, &#8216;I got my butt kicked. It was awesome!&#8217; I went to exactly five club sessions before the tournament.&#8221;



&#8220;I spent that weekend at my father&#8217;s home 20 minutes away. I didn&#8217;t sleep a wink the entire time. To this day, I&#8217;m still pretty wired at tournaments, but I am able to rest in the evenings. I returned to my new club with a shiny 848 rating and was completely hooked. On the last meeting of that year, I posted the highest game of the year -620 pts &#8211; on the strength of my highest ever scoring play &#8211; OVERWIND &#8211; for 212 pts.&#8221;



Soon thereafter, Art began serving the SCRABBLE community. He explains, &#8220;A few months later, it was announced that Nationals would be held in Orlando the following year, and I was ecstatic. It wasn&#8217;t long after I started playing tournaments that I decided I was going to be a director, which was a stretch for me because, by default, I&#8217;m introverted &#8211; those NASC speeches were very tough in the beginning.



&#8220;Jill Heffner (and her husband Andy) helped me through my first tournament, and I&#8217;ve run them with my wife every since. I take notes from every tournament I visit in hopes of borrowing and implement ideas from others. Within two years, I moved to up one of the &#8216;directors by committee&#8217; of Club #438, a structure that holds on today. I didn&#8217;t take over club director duties for some time after directing tournaments.



&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until the last year or so that we decided to let casual players play casually while the competitive players can still play with the official rules in mind. We do expect all players to use clocks to keep the session moving along. It has helped a lot with player retention. And it&#8217;s great to see some of the casual players start studying word lists. In their own time, they will come to play competitively, or they won&#8217;t at all. We welcome them all, and our club has seen the highest sustained attendance we have had in many years.



&#8220;My biggest highlight as a player would have to be the 2012 Championship, also in Orlando. It began with me winning 3 of 4 in the Early Bird and continued to a second-place finish (and a standing ovation) in the main event. I&#8217;d love to compete in another NASC (North American SCRABBLE Championship), but I was invited to join staff in 2013 and then again asked to lead the event.&#8221;



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large">
<figure id="attachment_453" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-453" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-453" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Chris-Picture-2.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Chris-Picture-2.jpg 640w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Chris-Picture-2-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-453" class="wp-caption-text">Scrabble player Art accepts congratulations from NASC co-president Chris Cree at the 2012 championship. Photo Credit: NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



&#8220;I&#8217;ve found my time on the Advisory Board and as NASC Director to have been the most fulfilling part of my SCRABBLE career &#8211; the former for the depth of conversations with respect to the community, and the latter for the breadth of responsibilities and if I may, a chance to marvel at the finished product. It is built on the foundation laid by both Mary Rhoades and Dallas Johnson before me and persists through the hard work of the staff and volunteers that bring it all together. We tried out a limited playoff format this year &#8211; a best of three to crown the champion of each lexicon &#8211; and I&#8217;m excited to add this to the event.&#8221;



I asked Art to share a bit of what it is like to run the NASC. He replied, &#8220;Director of NASC is an incredibly busy, sometimes exhausting task, but it is far more rewarding looking across the room of hundreds of people who have come to play their favorite game and knowing all the team, and I have put into making it happen. 



&#8220;Each NASC will be memorable for different people in different ways. Did you see in Reno that Bryn Bowen entered his first NASC in Division Two and won it by only FOUR SPREAD POINTS? That&#8217;s incredible. We had the youngest ever NASC champion this year. Stories like that make me forget about the work that&#8217;s put into the event because the results can be amazing.&#8221;



He shares how there can be a world of challenges we don’t always see: &#8220;Behind the scenes, Reno had a handful of stories &#8211; like:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Arriving in town a day ahead of my luggage. I don&#8217;t know what it did in Denver for an extra night, but I hope it had a good time.</li>
<li>Realizing not all the player badges got printed before I left home.</li>
<li>Realizing the command center color printers were shot and needed to be replaced the morning of registration so that the remaining badges would be available.</li>
<li>NOT KNOWING WHERE THE TROPHIES ARE. They were at the hotel, but I was never notified and didn&#8217;t have a tracking number, and my contact at the trophy company was out camping and disconnected from the world.</li>
<li>My wife losing her wallet in the casino and arranging for my next-door neighbor to get into my home to retrieve and overnight her passport so she could board the plane to get home.</li>
<li>Accommodating a request to move the directors meeting from the evening to lunchtime while simultaneously seeing that the kinks are worked out in the live stream. </li>
<li>Then leaving said meeting early because the shipment of dictionaries just showed up.</li>
</ul>



&#8220;While all of this is going on in the background, you still have to deliver the experience to the players and support the staff that supports you. That requires a stocked command center and constant communication with the facility staff. Thankfully, my wife Diane handles that bit for me &#8211; allowing me to focus more on direct tasks.&#8221;



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large">
<figure id="attachment_454" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-454" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-454" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Other-Directors-Picture-3.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Other-Directors-Picture-3.jpg 640w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Other-Directors-Picture-3-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-454" class="wp-caption-text">Scrabble player Art confers with Jason Idalski and Rich Baker in the Command Center at the 2019 NASC in Reno (NV). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



&#8220;The typical day starts about 5 am, so by the time I get on stage to say &#8216;You may begin,&#8217; I&#8217;m well into my groove. The moment I step off that stage, I pivot toward lunch and the committee meetings we have during that time and begin building up things for the afternoon session. And the NASC experience goes well into the evening, where you&#8217;ve got to be sure the after-hours events get off the ground and be available if they don&#8217;t. And you might have a dinner commitment or three. When I get back to my room, I&#8217;ll have plenty of emails to catch up on &#8211; usually from John Chew. Any time I think I have a lot on my plate, I glance over at everything he&#8217;s juggling, and I&#8217;m thankful this is all I&#8217;ve got.



&#8220;I&#8217;d love to earmark one weekend each year for regional championships across the US and Canada. Then, divisional winners from each region would get free entry into that year&#8217;s NASC. It would be cool.



&#8220;I have other ideas specifically for the NASC, but I should leave them for committee speak. But this year, I&#8217;ve felt like Diane, and I have just started to put our fingerprints on the event. Dallas Johnson did a great job setting up and handing over the processes to me, and I&#8217;m happy with things so far. I thought the limited playoff format worked well, along with the viewing room for those on-site. I&#8217;m looking forward to implementing a few more things next year to build the championship up a little more. Stay tuned.



&#8220;On a personal note, I&#8217;ve been married 13 years to Diane, who has never once played a game of SCRABBLE but has also never once complained about my hobby. Here&#8217;s a secret: She was ready to say yes to us taking over the directorship of NASC well before I was. I&#8217;m a father to three, stepfather to one, foster parent to another, and as of last year, a grandfather. With family, travel (we love cruising), and work (computer &amp; network technician), I stay pretty busy but at the same time, very happy.&#8221;



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large">
<figure id="attachment_455" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455" style="width: 502px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-455" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Diane-Picture-4.jpg" alt="" width="502" height="640" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Diane-Picture-4.jpg 502w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Art-and-Diane-Picture-4-235x300.jpg 235w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455" class="wp-caption-text">Diane Moore catches Scrabble player Art at the computer at this year&#8217;s NASC. Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



I asked Art to speak about his gratitude for his wonderful SCRABBLE life, and he prefaced by saying it would be difficult for him, but he spoke from the heart, &#8220;I&#8217;d have to thank my mother for loving this game so much that she taught her children how to play it at such a young age. I thank everyone who has sat down across the board with me &#8211; clubmates and tournament goers the same. 



&#8220;Since I&#8217;ll never be an expert or win a major championship, I thank Dallas Johnson for allowing me to be a Division Leader and then asking me again to follow in his footsteps as NASC Director. In addition, I thank Jill Heffner, who helped get me started on my journey as a director (and who occasionally reaches out to me for direction when she has unusual situations), and her husband, Andy, who did data entry for me at my first tournament. I think I was more nervous running that tournament than any I&#8217;d ever played in!&#8221;



Art, there will never be any doubt that in the <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community">SCRABBLE community</a> you are a true Scrabble player Champion. Thank you for all you do to advance North American SCRABBLE play!



<h6 class="wp-block-heading">Would you like to contribute to the Scrabble Blog? <a href="https://playscrabble.com/community-forums#discussion/19/%EF%B8%8F-contribute-to-the-scrabble-blog/p1">Click this link to send us your article.</a></h6>



<h6 class="wp-block-heading">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></h6>
The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/scrabble-players-potlight-on-artmoore-play-scrabble/">Scrabble Player Spotlight On ART MOORE</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

This Spotlight on Scrabble player, North American SCRABBLE Championship (NASC) Director Art Moore first appeared in the &#8220;Spotlight On&#8221; column in the September 12, 2019, issue of the NASPA News.



written by Mike Willis



Work of Art





Scrabble player Art congratulates Alex Sjoholm, the 2019 North American SCRABBLE champion. Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.






When I first began to speak with Scrabble player Art, he informed me that he really didn’t care to talk about himself. Little did I know that he would try to prove to me that he is very truthful over the next few months.



He is so humble that it took quite a while to convince him to open up and share his wonderful Scrabble player story. But he finally did, and I am proud to get his message to you to enjoy. He is a great ambassador for our game, and we owe him a lot of gratitude for all he does.



Lorraine Green proudly gave birth to Scrabble player Art in Staten Island (NY), where he continued to live until 16. In 1985 he moved to central Florida and still resides there today.



Art speaks of his childhood, &#8220;My parents divorced when I was very young, and I have no childhood memories of my father Arthur Sr. We would connect not long after moving to Florida as he lived two hours away. My mother worked in child welfare while my stepfather was a corrections officer in New York City and Orlando.



&#8220;We were by no means wealthy, but nonetheless, I grew up happy, the middle child of three. This has probably best taught me how to be make the best of whatever situation I&#8217;m in a while trying to improve.



&#8220;I&#8217;ve always had a competitive streak in me, dating back to throwing temper tantrums over losing at Musical Chairs in kindergarten. And while I played some intramural softball and basketball in elementary school, it seemed I would always prefer intellectual challenges over physical.&#8221;



He continues, &#8220;I spent seven years in Catholic School with one class per grade and excelled there. However, I felt like I was only challenged once I was enrolled in public school where I was an A/B student.&#8221;



&#8220;It was in my last year of Catholic School -1981 &#8211; that a representative from Radio Shack visited our class, and from that instant, I was hooked on computers. I gobbled up every book I could on BASIC programming, and since we couldn&#8217;t afford one of our own, I would go to Radio Shack after school and type in the programs I&#8217;d written on paper.&#8221;



&#8220;I&#8217;d get a Commodore 64 for Christmas not long after, and my career path would be in the making. Oddly enough, my first exposure to the OSPD (Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) was when I wrote a game for my computer and needed a list of three and four-letter words. I saw the book at the library, circa 1995, and used it as my source.&#8221;



Art explains how he came to love the game, &#8220;SCRABBLE was my mother&#8217;s favorite game, and we played a lot of it as I grew up. I remember the excitement of buying the big blue box Deluxe Edition. The grid and rotating board were the greatest things ever! I bought the blue box SCRABBLE software years later, and it was then I learned about competitive SCRABBLE from other players on MSN Zone.&#8221;



&#8220;Even still, it would be some time before I stepped foot into a club. It was late 2006 when I decided I was going to check out a tournament. I joined NSA (National SCRABBLE Association) and sent a check to the director for the event in Clearwater (FL), which is 90 minutes from me. It was only after that that I reached out to the local NSA club and inquired about joining.&#8221;



&#8220;I walked into Club #438 in Casselberry (FL) (just outside of Orlando) on January 8, 2007, and have never looked back.  I showed up, introduced myself, and said I&#8217;m going to the Clearwater tournament next month, and I&#8217;m here to play. I won 2 of the 4 games I played that night. I came home and told my wife Diane, &#8216;I got my butt kicked. It was awesome!&#8217; I went to exactly five club sessions before the tournament.&#8221;



&#8220;I spent that weekend at my father&#8217;s home 20 minutes away. I didn&#8217;t sleep a wink the entire time. To this day, I&#8217;m still pretty wired at tournaments, but I am able to rest in the evenings. I returned to my new club with a shiny 848 rating and was completely hooked. On the last meeting of that year, I posted the highest game of the year -620 pts &#8211; on the strength of my highest ever scoring play &#8211; OVERWIND &#8211; for 212 pts.&#8221;



Soon thereafter, Art began serving the SCRABBLE community. He explains, &#8220;A few months later, it was announced that Nationals would be held in Orlando the following year, and I was ecstatic. It wasn&#8217;t long after I started playing tournaments that I decided I was going to be a director, which was a stretch for me because, by default, I&#8217;m introverted &#8211; those NASC speeches were very tough in the beginning.



&#8220;Jill Heffner (and her husband Andy) helped me through my first tournament, and I&#8217;ve run them with my wife every since. I take notes from every tournament I visit in hopes of borrowing and implement ideas from others. Within two years, I moved to up one of the &#8216;directors by committee&#8217; of Club #438, a structure that holds on today. I didn&#8217;t take over club director duties for some time after directing tournaments.



&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until the last year or so that we decided to let casual players play casually while the competitive players can still play with the official rules in mind. We do expect all players to use clocks to keep the session moving along. It has helped a lot with player retention. And it&#8217;s great to see some of the casual players start studying word lists. In their own time, they will come to play competitively, or they won&#8217;t at all. We welcome them all, and our club has seen the highest sustained attendance we have had in many years.



&#8220;My biggest highlight as a player would have to be the 2012 Championship, also in Orlando. It began with me winning 3 of 4 in the Early Bird and continued to a second-place finish (and a standing ovation) in the main event. I&#8217;d love to compete in another NASC (North American SCRABBLE Championship), but I was invited to join staff in 2013 and then again asked to lead the event.&#8221;





Scrabble player Art accepts congratulations from NASC co-president Chris Cree at the 2012 championship. Photo Credit: NASPA.






&#8220;I&#8217;ve found my time on the Advisory Board and as NASC Director to have been the most fulfilling part of my SCRABBLE career &#8211; the former for the depth of conversations with respect to the community, and the latter for the breadth of responsibilities and if I may, a chance to marvel at the finished product. It is built on the foundation laid by both Mary Rhoades and Dallas Johnson before me and persists through the hard work of the staff and volunteers that bring it all together. We tried out a limited playoff format this year &#8211; a best of three to crown the champion of each lexicon &#8211; and I&#8217;m excited to add this to the event.&#8221;



I asked Art to share a bit of what it is like to run the NASC. He replied, &#8220;Director of NASC is an incredibly busy, sometimes exhausting task, but it is far more rewarding looking across the room of hundreds of people who have come to play their favorite game and knowing all the team, and I have put into making it happen. 



&#8220;Each NASC will be memorable for different people in different ways. Did you see in Reno that Bryn Bowen entered his first NASC in Division Two and won it by only FOUR SPREAD POINTS? That&#8217;s incredible. We had the youngest ever NASC champion this year. Stories like that make me forget about the work that&#8217;s put into the event because the results can be amazing.&#8221;



He shares how there can be a world of challenges we don’t always see: &#8220;Behind the scenes, Reno had a handful of stories &#8211; like:




Arriving in town a day ahead of my luggage. I don&#8217;t know what it did in Denver for an extra night, but I hope it had a good time.
Realizing not all the player badges got printed before I left home.
Realizing the command center color printers were shot and needed to be replaced the morning of registration so that the remaining badges would be available.
NOT KNOWING WHERE THE TROPHIES ARE. They were at the hotel, but I was never notified and didn&#8217;t have a tracking number, and my contact at the trophy company was out camping and disconnected from the world.
My wife losing her wallet in the casino and arranging for my next-door neighbor to get into my home to retrieve and overnight her passport so she could board the plane to get home.
Accommodating a request to move the directors meeting from the evening to lunchtime while simultaneously seeing that the kinks are worked out in the live stream. 
Then leaving said meeting early because the shipment of dictionaries just showed up.




&#8220;While all of this is going on in the background, you still have to deliver the experience to the players and support the staff that supports you. That requires a stocked command center and constant communication with the facility staff. Thankfully, my wife Diane handles that bit for me &#8211; allowing me to focus more on direct tasks.&#8221;





Scrabble player Art confers with Jason Idalski and Rich Baker in the Command Center at the 2019 NASC in Reno (NV). Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.






&#8220;The typical day starts about 5 am, so by the time I get on stage to say &#8216;You may begin,&#8217; I&#8217;m well into my groove. The moment I step off that stage, I pivot toward lunch and the committee meetings we have during that time and begin building up things for the afternoon session. And the NASC experience goes well into the evening, where you&#8217;ve got to be sure the after-hours events get off the ground and be available if they don&#8217;t. And you might have a dinner commitment or three. When I get back to my room, I&#8217;ll have plenty of emails to catch up on &#8211; usually from John Chew. Any time I think I have a lot on my plate, I glance over at everything he&#8217;s juggling, and I&#8217;m thankful this is all I&#8217;ve got.



&#8220;I&#8217;d love to earmark one weekend each year for regional championships across the US and Canada. Then, divisional winners from each region would get free entry into that year&#8217;s NASC. It would be cool.



&#8220;I have other ideas specifically for the NASC, but I should leave them for committee speak. But this year, I&#8217;ve felt like Diane, and I have just started to put our fingerprints on the event. Dallas Johnson did a great job setting up and handing over the processes to me, and I&#8217;m happy with things so far. I thought the limited playoff format worked well, along with the viewing room for those on-site. I&#8217;m looking forward to implementing a few more things next year to build the championship up a little more. Stay tuned.



&#8220;On a personal note, I&#8217;ve been married 13 years to Diane, who has never once played a game of SCRABBLE but has also never once complained about my hobby. Here&#8217;s a secret: She was ready to say yes to us taking over the directorship of NASC well before I was. I&#8217;m a father to three, stepfather to one, foster parent to another, and as of last year, a grandfather. With family, travel (we love cruising), and work (computer &amp; network technician), I stay pretty busy but at the same time, very happy.&#8221;





Diane Moore catches Scrabble player Art at the computer at this year&#8217;s NASC. Photo Credit: Patty Hocker / NASPA.






I asked Art to speak about his gratitude for his wonderful SCRABBLE life, and he prefaced by saying it would be difficult for him, but he spoke from the heart, &#8220;I&#8217;d have to thank my mother for loving this game so much that she taught her children how to play it at such a young age. I thank everyone who has sat down across the board with me &#8211; clubmates and tournament goers the same. 



&#8220;Since I&#8217;ll never be an expert or win a major championship, I thank Dallas Johnson for allowing me to be a Division Leader and then asking me again to follow in his footsteps as NASC Director. In addition, I thank Jill Heffner, who helped get me started on my journey as a director (and who occasionally reaches out to me for direction when she has unusual situations), and her husband, Andy, who did data entry for me at my first tournament. I think I was more nervous running that tournament than any I&#8217;d ever played in!&#8221;



Art, there will never be any doubt that in the SCRABBLE community you are a true Scrabble player Champion. Thank you for all you do to advance North American SCRABBLE play!



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 Scrabble Player Spotlight On ART MOORE appeared first on Scrabble.

Scrabble Player Spotlight On ART MOORE

Effective September 1st, NASPA returns to normal operations, subject to any restrictions imposed or recommended in governmental guidance, laws, or regulations.



Until that date, groups of fully vaccinated players can participate in sanctioned tournaments and club sessions.



Directors may impose stricter rules about the need for vaccination, the use of masks and face coverings, hand washing, etc. Click <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/COVID-19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> for more details.



Clubs have begun to meet for live play over the past few weeks.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Charlottesville (VA) NASPA Club #543 met for the first time in over a year on July 8th.</h4>



<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
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<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-666 aligncenter" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/clubs1-2.jpeg" alt="" width="525" height="700" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/clubs1-2.jpeg 720w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/clubs1-2-225x300.jpeg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px" /></figure>
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&nbsp;
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</div></div>



Congratulations to the following NASPA players who have won tournaments over the past few weeks!



Joplin (MO) &#8211; June 12 to 13



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Class A &#8211; 1st &#8211; Joey Krafchick &#8211; 10-1 +1290</li>
<li>Class A &#8211; 2nd &#8211; Sid Murali &#8211; 9-2 +669</li>
<li>Class B &#8211; 1st &#8211; Kay Adam &#8211; 7-4 +197</li>
<li>Class B &#8211; 2nd &#8211; Nick Purifoy &#8211; 6-5 +44</li>
</ul>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized">
<figure id="attachment_668" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-668" style="width: 448px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-668" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image11.jpeg" alt="" width="448" height="481" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image11.jpeg 700w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image11-280x300.jpeg 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-668" class="wp-caption-text">Congratulations to Joplin (MO) winners Kay Adam, Nick Purifoy, Joey Krafchick, and Sid Murali!</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



Allentown (PA) &#8211; June 12



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Div 1 &#8211; Glenn Filzer &#8211; 5-1 +162</li>
<li>Div 2 &#8211; Marty Fialkow &#8211; 5-1 +603</li>
</ul>



<div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
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<figure id="attachment_673" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-673" style="width: 584px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-673" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image3-2.jpeg" alt="" width="584" height="438" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image3-2.jpeg 668w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image3-2-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-673" class="wp-caption-text">Allentown (PA) players met at the home of Sally Reeser (top right)</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>
</div>



<div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
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<figure id="attachment_674" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-674" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-674" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1.jpeg" alt="" width="512" height="384" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1.jpeg 512w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-674" class="wp-caption-text">The tournament directed by Judy Cole (center)</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>



Philadelphia (PA) &#8211; June 13



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Div 1 &#8211; Judy Cole &#8211; 5-2 +44</li>
<li>Div 2 &#8211; Marie Filandro &#8211; 6-1 +409</li>
</ul>



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<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<figure id="attachment_675" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-675" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-675" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-2.jpeg" alt="" width="512" height="384" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-2.jpeg 512w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-2-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-675" class="wp-caption-text">Connie Creed held a 7-game tournament for 12 players.</figcaption></figure>

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</div>



<div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
<div class="wp-block-image">
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<figure id="attachment_676" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-676" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-676" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed1.jpeg" alt="" width="512" height="384" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed1.jpeg 512w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed1-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-676" class="wp-caption-text">In her apartment with a panoramic view of Philadelphia.</figcaption></figure>

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</div>



Teaneck (NJ) &#8211; July 7



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Jon Kent &#8211; 6-1 +498</li>
<li>Fran Shaw &#8211; 5-2 +141</li>
<li>Jay Levin &#8211; 4-3 +249</li>
</ol>



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<figure id="attachment_677" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-677" style="width: 580px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-677" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image7.jpeg" alt="" width="580" height="435" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image7.jpeg 700w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image7-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-677" class="wp-caption-text">Jay Levin (far right) hosted the Teaneck tournament directed by Jon Kent (far left). The players were not new to the Scrabble scene &#8211; between them, over 20,000 rated tournament games have been played!</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>



Allentown (PA) &#8211; July 10



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Div 1 &#8211; Cheryl Allen-Munley &#8211; 5-1 +288 </li>
<li>Div 2 &#8211; Greg Fox &#8211; 5-1 +187</li>
<li>Div 3 &#8211; Jeri Diamante &#8211; 5-1 +338</li>
</ul>



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<figure id="attachment_678" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-678" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-678" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-3.jpeg" alt="" width="512" height="384" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-3.jpeg 512w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-3-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-678" class="wp-caption-text">Players returned to Allentown (PA) in July for another tournament.</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>
</div>



<div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
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<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<figure id="attachment_679" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-679" style="width: 512px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-679" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1-1.jpeg" alt="" width="512" height="384" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1-1.jpeg 512w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/unnamed-1-1-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-679" class="wp-caption-text">This time with 20 players instead of 12!</figcaption></figure>

</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How to Interpret the Results</h4>



Results appear in the W-L +/- S format, where W is the number of wins, L is the number of losses, and +/- S is the net margin of victory for all games. A tie counts as a 0.5 win. A player with a higher spread places ahead of players with the same number of wins.
The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/naspa-resumption-of-normal-operations/">NASPA Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

Effective September 1st, NASPA returns to normal operations, subject to any restrictions imposed or recommended in governmental guidance, laws, or regulations.



Until that date, groups of fully vaccinated players can participate in sanctioned tournaments and club sessions.



Directors may impose stricter rules about the need for vaccination, the use of masks and face coverings, hand washing, etc.Click here for more details.



Clubs have begun to meet for live play over the past few weeks.



Charlottesville (VA) NASPA Club #543 met for the first time in over a year on July 8th.




















&nbsp;






Congratulations to the following NASPA players who have won tournaments over the past few weeks!



Joplin (MO) &#8211; June 12 to 13




Class A &#8211; 1st &#8211; Joey Krafchick &#8211; 10-1 +1290
Class A &#8211; 2nd &#8211; Sid Murali &#8211; 9-2 +669
Class B &#8211; 1st &#8211; Kay Adam &#8211; 7-4 +197
Class B &#8211; 2nd &#8211; Nick Purifoy &#8211; 6-5 +44






Congratulations to Joplin (MO) winners Kay Adam, Nick Purifoy, Joey Krafchick, and Sid Murali!






Allentown (PA) &#8211; June 12




Div 1 &#8211; Glenn Filzer &#8211; 5-1 +162
Div 2 &#8211; Marty Fialkow &#8211; 5-1 +603








Allentown (PA) players met at the home of Sally Reeser (top right)










The tournament directed by Judy Cole (center)








Philadelphia (PA) &#8211; June 13




Div 1 &#8211; Judy Cole &#8211; 5-2 +44
Div 2 &#8211; Marie Filandro &#8211; 6-1 +409








Connie Creed held a 7-game tournament for 12 players.










In her apartment with a panoramic view of Philadelphia.








Teaneck (NJ) &#8211; July 7




Jon Kent &#8211; 6-1 +498
Fran Shaw &#8211; 5-2 +141
Jay Levin &#8211; 4-3 +249






Jay Levin (far right) hosted the Teaneck tournament directed by Jon Kent (far left). The players were not new to the Scrabble scene &#8211; between them, over 20,000 rated tournament games have been played!






Allentown (PA) &#8211; July 10




Div 1 &#8211; Cheryl Allen-Munley &#8211; 5-1 +288 
Div 2 &#8211; Greg Fox &#8211; 5-1 +187
Div 3 &#8211; Jeri Diamante &#8211; 5-1 +338








Players returned to Allentown (PA) in July for another tournament.










This time with 20 players instead of 12!








How to Interpret the Results



Results appear in the W-L +/- S format, where W is the number of wins, L is the number of losses, and +/- S is the net margin of victory for all games. A tie counts as a 0.5 win. A player with a higher spread places ahead of players with the same number of wins.
The post NASPA Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play appeared first on Scrabble.

NASPA Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play

<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Got Vaccine? Let&#8217;s Play!</h4>



On May 20th, the North American SCRABBLE Players Association (NASPA) Resumption of <a href="https://playscrabble.com/">Live SCRABBLE Play</a> was announced. As of June 1st, small groups of fully vaccinated players could participate in sanctioned tournaments and club sessions.



The total number of Scrabble participants &#8211; including staff &#8211; may not exceed 12. All participants must have completed a government-authorized course of vaccination against COVID-19 and waited the recommended duration for it to take full effect.



Click <a href="https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/Vaccinated_Play" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> for the full details of what is Cyan Play for the NASPA Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play



If the group of players exceeds 12 or all participants are not vaccinated, play continues to be governed by the existing <a href="https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/COVID-19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SCRABBLE Safety Level Guidelines</a>.   



NASPA expects to announce the date for the end of the COVID-19 moratorium and the resumption of normal operations by July 1st.



Last year, on March 15th, Ben Greenwood directed the last sanctioned tournament before the COVID-19 moratorium took effect. It is, therefore, only fitting that Ben directed the first tournament under the Cyan Play rules on June 1st in Florence (MA).



<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized">
<figure id="attachment_281" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-281" style="width: 566px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-281" src="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Florence-MA-tournament.jpg" alt="" width="566" height="403" srcset="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Florence-MA-tournament.jpg 934w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Florence-MA-tournament-300x214.jpg 300w, https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Florence-MA-tournament-768x548.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-281" class="wp-caption-text">Ben (seen at the far right) won the tournament with a 3-1 +346 record. Coming in second was fellow western Massachusetts director Brett Constantine (seen at the far left) with a 3-1 +259 record.</figcaption></figure>
</figure>
</div>



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Tournaments are scheduled for the weekend of June 12th in Allentown (PA), Philadelphia (PA), and Joplin (MO) – the latter a 2-day event.



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The post <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com/naspa-resumption-of-live-scrabble-play/">NASPA Resumption of Normal Operations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scrabbleblog.wpengine.com">Scrabble</a>.

Got Vaccine? Let&#8217;s Play!



On May 20th, the North American SCRABBLE Players Association (NASPA) Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play was announced. As of June 1st, small groups of fully vaccinated players could participate in sanctioned tournaments and club sessions.



The total number of Scrabble participants &#8211; including staff &#8211; may not exceed 12. All participants must have completed a government-authorized course of vaccination against COVID-19 and waited the recommended duration for it to take full effect.



Click here for the full details of what is Cyan Play for the NASPA Resumption of Live SCRABBLE Play



If the group of players exceeds 12 or all participants are not vaccinated, play continues to be governed by the existing SCRABBLE Safety Level Guidelines.   



NASPA expects to announce the date for the end of the COVID-19 moratorium and the resumption of normal operations by July 1st.



Last year, on March 15th, Ben Greenwood directed the last sanctioned tournament before the COVID-19 moratorium took effect. It is, therefore, only fitting that Ben directed the first tournament under the Cyan Play rules on June 1st in Florence (MA).





Ben (seen at the far right) won the tournament with a 3-1 +346 record. Coming in second was fellow western Massachusetts director Brett Constantine (seen at the far left) with a 3-1 +259 record.





&nbsp;



Tournaments are scheduled for the weekend of June 12th in Allentown (PA), Philadelphia (PA), and Joplin (MO) – the latter a 2-day event.



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.



&nbsp;
The post NASPA Resumption of Normal Operations appeared first on Scrabble.