Group Therapy

Special Thanks!

I just completed a 2-day run through of my Zyzzyva cardbox to which I've added all the three-letter words. It's my three-pronged approach to Scrabble study...anagram recognition, word list recall, and flash card study of bigger words.

So I have to send out a special thanks to Brad, our club director, for his help. Last week I was stuck on the three-letter K words which was more of a mental block than an inability to learn them by rote. Brad supplied me with mnemonics for my three-letters Ks and also those flash cards I mentioned earlier (my very first set!). It was a huge help.

But these mental blocks aren't new. When I was in high school and played softball, I went through a time when I was terrified to swing at the ball, because I had developed some kind of fear that any given pitch wasn't in the strike zone and, if I swung, it'd be a bad hit. Finally, after many weeks, I told the coach...who had the perfect solution. He threw pitch after pitch, instructing me to swing at each and every one, no matter if it looked like it was coming through the strike zone or not. Turned out I could get a pretty good hit off of almost every one and starting swinging again during games. (What a good coach. He died in an accident a few years later and they renamed the baseball/softball complex after him.)

So thank you, Brad! I feel a lot better now that I've gotten back into studying. In the end, I think this particular mental block is gone. Now, I'd say the only thing standing between me and memorizing a great, big, giant word list, if anything...is procrasti

Wordle

I just created a Wordle using text from the blog entries on this page.
Click to enlarge...

XX v. XY: The Gender Factor

If you look at a roster of all the top Scrabble players, you'll notice that there are some who are women, but that they are few and far between. I have some crazy theories as to why there aren't more top women players, and I would love to get some feedback on it.

1. A lot of women have a LOT on their plates. A full-time job, a household to keep, kids to care for. That doesn't leave a lot of time for studying. Trust me.

2. Women, generally speaking, are just not as competitive as men. Women don't have that "go for the jugular" gene that is necessary to climb up the ranks. I've been thinking about this since my first tourney win, which was in Pittsburgh this past weekend. I really forced myself to focus on winning each game, rather than enjoying the ride...and whadd'ya know? It worked. But it was work. And oddly, not as enjoyable.

There have been games where I pulled way ahead, early on, and I could sense the stress and discomfort emanating from my opponents. My natural response was to slack back, take it easy, try to ease the tension. Taking that approach will never get you ahead in Scrabble, or any other competitive endeavor!!

3. Scrabble truly is a math game. And let's face it ladies, Barbie will back me up here, "Math is hard." Women are wired for communication, and while Scrabble may use words, the only thing those words communicate is points.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Bring 'em on!

Pirate Scrabble?

This weekend the crew of Club #620 journeyed up to Pittsburgh for the Three Rivers Revival Scrabble Tournament. It was very cool and my review of the weekend can be found on my blog linked here.

Between the first and second days I went over to Barnes and Noble for a bit and I always look through the games section (plus I'm watching out for the new Deluxe Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition). Anyway, they had a Pirates of the Caribbean edition of Scrabble out that just looks so wrong on so many levels. Yes, those are round tiles you see in the picture! What are your thoughts gang?

Check out all of my Scrabble posts here or from my blog's sidebar.

Pittsburgh tournament weekend

Last weekend, the Pittsburgh Scrabble Club had its first tournament in eight years. 48 players were in attendance and played in three divisions. Four of those players were from our club, and three of those four finished in the money - while the fourth had a strong showing in an afterhours poker tournament.

In Division C, Chris Ross picked up second place (8.5-3.5, +399) and a cash prize of $215. Martha grabbed first place (8.5-3.5, +498) and brought home $300. This was Martha's first tourney win and her first finish in the money. Huzzah! This was also Chris's first finish in the money. Double huzzah! And in case you were wondering, the tie game in Chris's record and Martha's record is from when they played each other... and they didn't do a recount.

Up in Division B, strange miracles were unfolding as I won my first five games and moved into the top spot after the third round. I managed to stay there through the rest of the tournament, and I was Gibsonized after round 11, which has never happened to me before. My final record was 10-2, +448 and I pocketed $400. Terry has estimated (with a little help from tsh) that I gained 190 rating points from this, putting me just short of 1200. Wow! I'd hoped to break 1000 again at this tournament and saw 1100 as a very remote possibility - I certainly didn't expect to get near 1200.

Overall, West Virginia brought home $915 from this event, which represented 30% of the cash prize pool - and the state had a net gain of about 165 rating points over the weekend. (Some of this also depends on how Jeff Cook did in the Annapolis tourney, but from what I've heard, he finished 3-4, -111 - so it doesn't look like he's going to make any huge changes to these numbers.)

Tina played in the Texas Hold-Em tournament hosted by Mr. Lucky, Jeff Clark - and finished in third place, making a profit of $10. Tina was also kind enough to drive us up and down I-79 on the journey in her van and put up with Star Trek: Insurrection on the trip up and my snoring on the trip back.

Stan Angrist, the director of the Pittsburgh Club, is perhaps most aptly placed in the Steel City - for he is a man of steel. We're all looking forward to our next big road trip and to returning to Pittsburgh's next event.

Soak up the sun...

My brilliant husband left our Scrabble board, the newer deluxe edition, in his car for about a week (I didn't know it was there!) and when we got it out to play today, the grid was wavy and warped from heat. In certain areas, the letters would not stay in place. GRRRRRRRR. Then on top of that, he won the game! What nerve.

We have weighted it down with books, but if that does not work, I told him he owes me a custom for Christmas if not earlier. This could be a win-win...well, except that I keep LOSING to him lately...