Kentucky Players at 2009 NSC, Dayton

(Updated July 21 at 2:02 PM to reflect new cross-tables.com data)

Here are the names, grouped by division, of players from Kentucky who have registered for the 2009 National Scrabble Championship at Dayton, Ohio, from Saturday, August 1, through Wednesday, August 5. Information given is from cross-tables.com's 2009 NSC entrants' list, as of the most current date and time shown in the listing at the end of this entry.

Registration ends July 15. This year there is unrestricted playing up at the NSC.

Division 1 (1700+) -- 128 players

15. Brian Bowman, of Villa Hills (1870)

86. Marc Broering, of Louisville (1693) (playing up)

91. Kelly McKenzie (1686) (playing up)

Division 2 (1500-1699) -- 83 players

15. Tyler Hannan, of Winchester (1603)

Division 3 (1300-1499) -- 129 players

57. Will Scott, of Versailles (1328)

61. Steve Bush, of Richmond (1320)

Division 4 (1000-1299) -- 94 players

33. Kevin Sears, of Louisville (1149)

34. Kathi Cann, of Leitchfield (1146)

92. John Spangler, of Versailles (838) (playing up)

Division 5 (under 1000) -- 53 players

3. David Meredith, of Bowling Green (956)

487 registrants, including 10 from Kentucky, as of July 21, at 12:16:55 p.m., per cross-tables

473 registrants, including 10 from Kentucky, as of July 16, at 12:12:23 a.m., per cross-tables.com

415 registrants, including 8 from Kentucky, as of July 11, at 11:20:48, per cross-tables.com

402 registrants, including 7 from Kentucky, as of July 10, at 8:44:02 PM, per cross-tables.com

390 registrants, including 6 from Kentucky, as of July 9, at 11:10:41 PM, per cross-tables.com

377 registrants, including 6 from Kentucky, as of July 8, at 6:01:36 PM, per cross-tables.com

Some Dates to Take Notice of

JULY 1 (today!)

Beginning today, a player must be a member of the new North American Scrabble Players Association in order to play in any sanctioned tournament in the United States and Canada. It is no longer necessary to retain your membership in the National Scrabble Association, which will continue to operate through Hasbro funding but will focus on school and casual Scrabble playing.

Right now, a search of NASPA's membership database shows 15 NASPA members in Kentucky, 10 of them from our club's playing area.

Membership dues are $30 yearly, but individuals joining throughout 2009 will have an initial membership extending through December 31, 2010. Click here for NASPA's webpage about how to join.

JULY 2 (tomorrow!)

Don't forget that the first Monday of each month is Scrabble Night at the Central Library branch of the Lexington Public Library at 140 East Main Street downtown from 6 to 9 p.m.

JULY 15 (two weeks from today!)

The deadline for registering for the 2009 National Scrabble Championship at Dayton, Ohio, is July 15, two weeks from today.

Last year there were six us from the Lexington club at 2008 NSC at Orlando. Dayton is a lot closer! 2009 NSC will be played at Dayton from Saturday, August 1, to Wednesday, August 5.

As of now, with only two weeks left to register, there are 312 registrants, with five from Kentucky -- in Division 1: Brian Bowman (1870), Marc Broering (1693, playing up), Kelly McKenzie (1686, playing up); in Division 4: Kathi Cann (1146); and in Division 5, John Spangler (838, but considering playing up to Division 4). This year unrestricted playing up is allowed.

It's not too late to join in the fun of five days of competitive Scrabble at Dayton. Check out NASPA's 2009 NSC page. A lot of people wait until near the deadline to decide whether they will be able to come. Last year there were 662 players at 2008 NSC, Orlando.

Indianapolis and Knoxville Tourneys, June 20-21

It was a big weekend for Lexington Scrabblers.

First, Marc Broering and Andy Wade drove up to Indianapolis on Saturday for a 7-game, 1 day tournament.

According to the Scrabble Association's posted results, Marc had a rough day, going 2-5 in Division 1. His rating dropped from 1734 to 1693, but we all know that number is going to go up again soon.

Andy had a very good day. As the fourth seed, he won Division 4, going 6-1 with a plus-431 spread. His rating jumped from 945 to 1019.

On Saturday and Sunday, Tyler Hannan, Steve Bush, John Spangler, and I played a 15-game, 2-day tournament in Knoxville.

Tyler went 8-7 in Division 1, finishing fifth. His rating will go from 1583 to over 1600, just three months after cracking 1500.

I went 8-7 in Division 2, finishing fourth, and winning a "Bob's Bible." My rating will go over 1300, so I can play in Division 3 at Nationals without making excuses.

Steve went 7-8 in Division 2, finishing seventh. Ever the gentleman, he graciously let me outdraw him in two games over the weekend. His rating will stay over 1300, so he might be able to exact his revenge on me at Nationals.

John went 8-7 in Division 4, finishing sixth. His rating might slip a bit, but he's due for a breakout performance, maybe at Nationals.

Another Kentuckian but not a club member, Mark Edward Owens, also played at Knoxville. He finished 7-8, finishing seventh, but he exceeded his expected number of wins, so his rating, currently 1580, is certain to rise a bit.

The official results and ratings haven't been posted yet, but our combined performance means a net gain in ratings points for Kentucky, and especially for the Lexington club members. Woohoo!

MODERATOR'S ADDENDUM (6/23/2009, at 11:15 PM) -- The National Scrabble Association now has ratings changes posted for the Knoxville tourney. Here are the numbers (name, old rating, new rating, change) for the Kentucky contingent at Knoxville:

Tyler Hannan, 1583, 1603, +20

Mark David Owens, 1580, 1580, 0

Will Scott, 1297, 1328, +31

Steve Bush, 1307, 1320, +13

John Spangler, 849, 838, -11

Congratulations to Tyler for breaking into the 1600's! What makes this even more noteworthy is that Tyler has been playing in tournaments for only nine months! His first tournament was a local club tournament at Huntington, WV, in October of last year, with his initial rating at 1163. Great work, Tyler. Onward and upward!

Charleston, WV Tourney in a Nutshell

Just a short, initial post while I am still in Charleston about this past weekend's tourney here. Four of us from the Lexington Scrabble Club (NASPA Club No. 637) attended the tournament, and here is a photo of us at its conclusion, thanks to photographer Peggy from Columbia, SC --

The Lexington contingent at the May 2009 Charleston, WV tournament
Eric, Margaret, John, Tyler

Club member Will sent us all an e-mail pre-tourney wishing us luck and telling us to bring home ratings' points. Well, three of the four of us took him to heart -- Eric, Margaret, and Tyler are all returning with higher ratings -- and Tyler is doing it really big time! They are projected to have rating increases of 50, 20, and 107 points, respectively -- with Tyler breaking the 1500 mark!!!

Tyler won his division, 11-1 (+993), winning the first place prize of $325.

And although I didn't have a ratings' increase, I had a great time and did better, playing up again this year (4-8, -700) than I did playing up last year (2-10, -736), and there's always next year, right?

Complete results were up already last night on the host club's website.

Many, many thanks from all of us to Brad Mills, director of the Kanawha Valley Scrabble Club, for organizing and directing a really fine and fun tournament again this year. The new venue was great, and very positively received by those attending, 60 players in the main event this year. Special personal thanks to local club member Lisa, who very kindly arranged for my Sunday afternoon at Charleston's Clay Center of the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia, which I thoroughly enjoyed visiting for the first time. What a great complex! The movie on Hurricane Katrina in the center's planetarium/cinema, projected on the domed ceiling, was awesome and moving, and the special exhibition of movie and television costumes (including Margaret Hamilton's witch hat from The Wizard of Oz, Harrison Ford's leather jacket and whip from The Raiders of the Lost Ark, Darth Vader's outfit from Star Wars, and Star Trek costumes, among others) was great fun to see.

More text and more photos when I get back to Versailles! Still have to pack up and check out.

And club tonight back home, too! :-)

Charleston WV Day 2

I went 3-1 today and finished up the tournament 11-1 +993, coming in first and winning 375 bucks. Estimated rating gain +107 to bring to 1583. It was a very enjoyable weekend for me, a great tourney and great people.

Charleston WV Day 1

Day 1 went very well for me, I finished 8-0 +904. I definitely drew very well, and I feel like I played well too. The second place player is 7-1 +449 so I have a very large lead on spread, and I think if I can go 2-2 or better tomorrow I should win the division. My estimated rating gain at the moment is +94 however that will go down drastically with even 1 loss because I will lose all of the acceleration points. I am just happy that I should be breaking 1500 and placing in the money.
The tourney venue is a pretty big nice hotel, with a bar right outside the tourney room and a TV where we watched the Derby. (1-50 shot winning the derby???)
Off to play a doubles scrabble variant.