SCRABBLE - The Last Word Newsletter

MACK MELLER REACHES 2000 AT BATB A T 2 0 1 3First appearing on the tournament scene in November, 2010, when he wonDivision 3 at Ardsley at the age of 10, Mack Meller has been on an unprecedentedupward trajectory in the world of SCRABBLE. He won his division at the 2011Albany--his first multi-day tournament--at 10. He reached “expert” status of 1600+that June--at 11--then finished the year with his first Division 1 win at the Stamfordmulti-day in December, crossing into the 1800s. At 12 he had three Division 1wins, finishing the year as the Gibsonized Division 1 winner at the Albany NewYear’s Tournament--and bringing his rating to 1997.Seeded eighth in the prestigious 16-player Premier division at this year’s BAT, 13-year-old Mack finishedthird to end the tournament with a 2014 rating. Currently ranked eighth in the United States, Mack islooking forward to competing in his first Nationals this summer--and hopefully to playing Nigel Richards!The Saturday Newcomers Tournament attracted 12 players,including 4 first-time players. The winner was Ken Weiner,who beat the leader, Youth Player Aron Klopper, in the finalgame to finish 5-1 +451. Aron, who had beaten Ken in thefourth game, was second with a 5-1 +186 record. MarlaChoslovsky was third, 4-2 +239.Jason Keller ran this year’s BAT Roto, where players can beton “teams” of players to see whose team finishes with themost wins. The winner was Steve Pellinen, whose teamincluded himself and Stefan Rau, Will Anderson, Joe Edley,Daniel Blake, and Puneet Sharma, for a total of 71 out of 83possible wins.Stefan Rau, BAT Premier winner for thesecond straight year, with his wife, TerryKang Rau.Thanks to Sherrie, Judy, and Jason for a great 2013 BAT!Youth Players at BAT L-R): Evan McCarthy,Mack Meller, Nathaniel Sandalow-Ash, SamHeinrich, and Brad Robbins.Division winners!Robert Felt Award winner Mack Meller18