SCRABBLE - The Last Word Newsletter

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2 0 1 3 N A T I O N A L SAfter Collins’ Round 20, contestant Sam Kantimathi of Sacramento, Ca., withdrew from the eventafter an accusation of cheating by opponent Mark Kenas. NASPA has suspended Kantimathi;however, an appeal is expected.Kantimathi has been a well-known vendor of SCRABBLE products as well as a tournament director.He has played in more than 5,500 tournament games going back to 1982, according to crosstables.com,and was the winner of the Collins division at the 2012 NSC. He had entered the Collinsdivision this year seeded third, with a CSW rating of 2030.It was the second major incident in the national tournament in two years. Last year, a 13-year-oldcontestant was ejected for cheating.There were several special awards at the event.NASPA named journalist Stefan Fatsis, author of WordFreak, as the NASPA Person of the Year. Fatsisaddressed the tournament, acknowledging that he iscredited for recruiting many SCRABBLE players tocompetitive play because of his book and that he wantsto “give something back” to the game.Stefan Fatsis, NASPA’s “Person of theYear.” (Photo courtesy of Patricia Hocker, NASPA)Fatsis is an active supporter of School SCRABBLE andthe week before the tournament wrote a commentary inthe New York Times chiding Hasbro for its withdrawal ofsupport for NSA’s School SCRABBLE work. (Themanufacturer has said it will continue backing SchoolSCRABBLE.)Michael Baker of Portland, Or., won a lifetimeachievement award for playing more than5,000 tojurnament games.Each year the “Rose Award,” sponsored byBob Schoenman’s Protiles and honoring thelate Rose Kreiswirth, is presented to theplayer best exemplifying Rose’s fiercecompetitiveness and compassion. Thisyear’s receipient was 84-year-old ConchitaDeprospo of Palm Coast, Fl., who finished25th of 95 players in Division 4 with an 18-13-182 record.Studio Remy’s display of original SCRABBLE art by J&K Kieffer.Winners received limited-edition framed prints. (Photo courtesyof Patricia Hocker, NASPA)For complete results of the 2013 NSC, with commentary, photos, and annotated games, go to http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/index.html18
2 0 1 3 N S C D I V I S I O N 1 W I N N E RDivision 1 Winner: Nigel RichardsBy Evans Clinchy; photos courtesy of Patricia Hocker, NASPANigel Richards won the NationalSCRABBLE® Championship again this year,besting 126 other players in the top divisionto take home the glory, the winner's plaqueand the oversized check for $10,000.Unlike many of the other top contenders towin Nationals, Richards hails from far beyondthe United States -- there are approximately9,000 miles separating the NSC site in LasVegas from his hometown of Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. Yet, undaunted, Richards bravedthe distance and the jetlag (not to mentionthe challenge of unlearning tens of thousandsof Collins words not playable in TWL) todemolish all of us pathetic Americans for thefifth time in six years.What keeps him coming back? It's a difficult question to answer. He lives a modest lifestyle by allaccounts and likely doesn't need much money, and unless he takes pride in collecting plaques andoversized checks in his living room (unlikely), that isn't the reason either. So what, then? Whatbrings him here? Richards himself declined to comment on that (or any other questions, for thatmatter) when asked."It's the money and the legacy, maybe?" guessed Dave Wiegand, the only person not named Nigelto win a Nationals since 2007. "I don't know if that matters to him. It would matter to me... but whoknows what goes on in his mind? He's not human."No one really knows what goes on in the brain of the great Nigel. What motivates him, what fuelshim, what makes him the great player that he is... it's all largely a mystery. Some say his brain iswired like a computer, unlike any other human; some say there's no real magic to it, he's just really,really good. Still others dismiss his dominance as a stroke of fortuitous luck, a statistical fluke.Casual observers of top-level SCRABBLE might callRichards' reign "boring," bemoaning the monotony ofseeing the New Zealander win Nationals after Nationalson American soil. A closer examination of hissuccesses, though, reveals that they've been anythingbut monotonous. Each win has been different.In 2008, he had to beat Brian Cappelletto, arguablyAmerica's best at the time, in three consecutive games.He amazingly did it, including an impressive challengeof Cappelletto's disconnected nine of SULPHITIC# inthe penultimate game. In 2010, he annihilated the field,going 25-6 and clinching the victory before the final day 19
Page 1 and 2: W O R D G A M E N E W SThe Last Wor
Page 3: F R O M T H E E D I T O RFrom the E
Page 8 and 9: A D V E R T I S E M E N TAsheville
Page 10 and 11: A D V E R T I S E M E N TNEWTOWN, c
Page 12 and 13: A L B A N YAlbany Fourth of July To
Page 14 and 15: Annette’s Barbecue on the HudsonA
Page 16 and 17: 2 0 1 3 N A T I O N A L S2013 Natio
Page 20 and 21: 2 0 1 3 N S C D I V I S I O N 1 W I
Page 22 and 23: 2 0 1 3 N S C C O L L I N S D I V I
Page 28 and 29: S C E N E S F R O M N A T I O N A L
Page 30 and 31: 2 0 1 3 R O S E A W A R D W I N N E
Page 32 and 33: Music at NationalsM U S I C A T N A
Page 34 and 35: M U S I C A T N A T I O N A L SSupr
Page 36 and 37: MOUNTAIN VIEW CA(WGPO) 7/211. Pat D
Page 38 and 39: Word-Finder Challenge:S C R A B - D
Page 40 and 41: L E T T E R F R O M A M E R I C ALe
Page 42 and 43: Tuesday night we were taken out to
Page 44 and 45: L E T T E R F R O M A M E R I C ARa
Page 46 and 47: T H E N E R V O U S R A C KCigarett
Page 48 and 49: DweebovisionBy David WebbD W E E B
Page 50 and 51: D W E E B O V I S I O NAlthough the
Page 52 and 53: Word StarBy Jeff KastnerW O R D S T
Page 54 and 55: W O R D S T A RWord Star Solution f
Page 57 and 58: S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W S
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Page 61 and 62: Arctic SCRABBLES C R A B B L E I N
Page 63 and 64: The Write StuffS C R A B B L E I N
Page 65 and 66: The WordsmithGood Old English, craf
Page 67 and 68: O N L I N E S C R A B B L E G A M E
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F I L L I N T H E B L A N K SANSWER
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2 0 1 3 N S C T O W N H A L L M I N
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Word Trivia QuizBy Siri Tillekeratn
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N E W N A S P A A D V I S O R Y B O
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Real or Phony?By Adam HendersonR E
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Tournament TalkT O U R N A M E N T
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Linda’s LibraryBy Linda WancelL I
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S C R A B B L E : T H O R E A U & T
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JUMBLETIMEA free web site for pract
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SCRABBLE®TOURNAMENT & CLUBWORD LIS
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T O U R N A M E N T C A L E N D A R
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