Twin Cities Redeye Page

This is a continuing post last revised January 5, 2010.

THE TWIN CITIES REDEYE SCRABBLE TOURNAMENT, held annually at Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the most grueling Scrabble tournament in the United States, two days of almost nonstop Scrabble playing (30 games in 42 hours in 2010). The Redeye has been played in January each year since 2006 on the weekend preceding the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.

LIST OF TWIN CITY REDEYES

Linked to each tourney's results page on Cross-Tables.com

Redeye I, January 14-15, 2006, 24 games, 68 players in 3 divisions

Redeye II, January 13-14, 2007, 26 games, 63 players in 3 divisions

Redeye III, January 19-20, 2008, 28 games, 75 players in 3 divisions

Redeye IV, January 17-18, 2009, 29 games, 58 players in 3 divisions

Redeye V, January 16-17, 2010, 30 games, 61 players registered as of 1/5/2010

DIVISION WINNERS

Division 1

2006 -- Daniel Fogel

2007 -- John O'Laughlin

2008 -- Tim Adamson

2009 -- Rob Robinsky

Division 2

2006 -- Carol Dustin

2007 -- David Herfel

2008 -- Andrew Soloman

2009 -- David Wood

Division 3

2006 -- Mary Krizan

2007 -- Niko Tomlinson

2008 -- Derek Martinez

2009 -- Shayla Dunn

Happy New Year!

Hope 2010 is a great year for us all.

Yes, the blog is back, but there will only be occasional postings. Never got around to deleting the entries here, and I decided that the blog might as well stay up even though I won't be posting frequently -- I've gotten used to using Facebook instead.

Next Scrabble tournament is two weeks away; it's the Twin Cities Redeye V -- 30 games of Scrabble in 42 hours! It will be my third one of these marathons, the most grueling Scrabble tournament in the country, but a lot fun!

Snowing here this morning and currently 14 degrees. Winter is NOT my favorite season!

Tournaments Played by State

This is a continuing post that will be revised in the future.

Last revised January 2, 2009

For a chronological listing of tournaments in which I have played, see my Cross-Tables page.

As of the end of 2009, I have played in Scrabble tournaments in 13 of the fifty states of the United States of America, viz. --

FLORIDA

Orlando -- July 2008 (NSC)

GEORGIA

Alpharetta -- Sept. 2009

ILLINOIS
Urbana -- July 2007

INDIANA

Plainfield -- Mar. 2009

KENTUCKY

Lexington -- Nov. 2009, Apr. 2009, Nov. 2008, Nov. 2007

MICHIGAN

Waterford -- Mar. 2008

MINNESOTA

Bloomington -- Jan. 2009, Jan. 2008 (Twin Cities Redeye III & IV)

NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque -- Sept. 2008

NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville -- Nov. 2009 , Nov. 2007
Durham -- Oct. 2008

OHIO
Dayton -- Aug. 2009 (NSC)

Elyria -- Oct. 2007
Hudson -- Jan. 2008
Strongsville -- Dec. 2008 (Cleveland Classic I)

Westlake -- Dec. 2009 (Cleveland Classic II)

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia -- Dec. 2007
Pittsburgh --June 2009, June 2008 (Three Rivers Revival I & II)

TENNESSEE

Knoxville -- June 2009

WEST VIRGINIA

Charleston -- May 2009, Apr. 2008
Huntington -- Sept. 2009 (W.Va. Open); Oct. 2008 (Charleston Club Tourney)

Only 37 more states to go!

Plus the District of Columbia.

E pluribus unum, nonne?

110 years young and STILL playing Scrabble!

From the July 24, 2009 issue of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune, via a Google alert:

A MINNESOTA MARVEL -- A SUPERCENTARIAN -- IS 110

Ruth Anderson faces her birthday with an open mind and a mean game of Scrabble. She may be the last Minnesotan alive who was born before 1900.

(Excerpted from article:)

At their weekly Scrabble game Thursday, Ruth Anderson beat [her 81-year-old friend and Scrabble partner Muriel Cadwell] 220 to 210. They began playing three years ago, after Cadwell's church served coffee at the home and they recognized each other as Scrabble lovers. Anderson also plays twice a week with relatives.

"It's about words -- I've always loved words and reading -- and it's about strategy," Anderson said. "You have to keep going for the double- and triple-word scores."

"It's a good game," she said. "It teases your mind."

The full article is well worth reading. It made me smile a lot this morning. I wonder if 53 years from now I will still be around and playing Scrabble!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUTH ANDERSON!

Blowing My Own Horn -- Sorry!

Forgive me for bragging just a little, but I am pleased and proud of a Scrabble accomplishment of mine during this past week.

No, I didn't break 1000 in my national rating. Improvement there is dependent on structured and concentrated study, and that's not possible or even appealing to me at present. But I enjoy playing Scrabble regardless of whatever my national rating is, as I have been doing for more years than I am going to mention here!

And, no, I didn't beat Tyler at club last Monday. Those wins are few and far between these days, but I am really glad that our local wunderkind is continuing to develop and use his abilities at Scrabble. It has been great seeing his phenomenal progress in less than a year at club and tournament Scrabble. All of us enjoy having him with us at club.

Here's what has happened.

This week when I got home from club Monday night, the director's test for the North American Scrabble Players Association was waiting for me in my e-mail. Determined not to let it linger as I had done last fall with the old test from the National Scrabble Association, I worked overnight until nearly dawn both Monday and Tuesday nights, and on Thursday afternoon I e-mailed back my answers to Mary Rhoades, of Texas, NASPA's Director of Clubs and Tournaments.

That very evening Mary e-mailed me back advising me that I had passed my test and that I was now a NASPA apprentice director. Full sanctioning occurs when my mentor, our local club director, certifies that she feels that I am able to direct a tournament on my own.

My purpose in taking the test was to master that level of Scrabble expertise and to be able to help out in a limited way at our local club, when needed and as circumstances allow in caring for my mother.

In playing in tournaments and visiting clubs around the country these past two years, I have been very impressed with the obvious love of the game and enthusiasm for structured Scrabble shown by all the directors I have met. They are a special group of people. I am very happy and privileged to be joining their ranks.

UPDATE (7/23/2009): My apprenticeship was a very short one; because of prior experiences helping out with club and with a local club tournament, my mentor was able to give me the required recommendation in short order, and today I received an e-mail from that wonderful Mary Rhoades advising me that I am now a fully-sanctioned NASPA director.

To play up or not to play up, that is the question.

The 2009 National Scrabble Championship, at Dayton, Ohio, from August 1 to 5, is getting closer. Right now with my rating of 838, I am seeded 20th of the 49 players already registered for the Division 5 of the tournament, the division for players rated under 1000. In this position, cross-tables.com projects that I would need to win 16.8 of the 31 games at the tournament to maintain my current rating.

This year, however, there is unrestricted playing up at the NSC. So, a player in Division 5, like I am, could opt to play instead in Divisions 1, 2, 3, or 4 with higher-rated players.

I am considering playing up to Division 4, the division for players rated 1000 to 1299. If I were to play up, right now I would be seeded 74th of 76 players in Division 4 and would need to win approximately 9.5 of 31 games in order to maintain my current rating.

To help me make this decision, here is a listing of currently registered players that I have played in both Divisions 4 and 5, with my win-loss record against them and the net number of ratings points gained or lost from playing them. Data is from cross-tables.com's 2009 NSC entrants' list as of July 11 at 11:20:41 PM.

Division 4 previous opponents

17. Christopher Walleck (1201), 1-0-0, +18

27. Kevin Sears (1149), 0-4-0, -13

32. Zbigniew Wieckowski, (1128), 1-1-0, +6

33. Cecilia Huber (1112), 2-4-0, +11

34. Barbara Dixon (1109), 0-1-0, -1

38. M W Schroeder (1104), 0-1-0, -4

39. Noah Lieberman (1091), 2-1-0, +22

46. Joyce Stock (1054), 0-3-0, -24

53. Michael Bassett (1028), 2-1-0, +9

56. Gail Opperman (1020), 0-1-0, -2

63. Linda Bianca (998), playing up, 0-1-0, -5

66. Melissa Brown (986), playing up, 2-3-0, -2

69. Linda Robinson (928), playing up, 0-1-0, -8

74. Janet Griesel (787), playing up, 0-1-0, -12

Division 5 previous opponents

2. Beth Palmer (979), 0-1-0, -3

5. Doug Symkowiak (937), 0-3-0, -27

10. Josephine Flowers (889), 0-1-0, -10

12. Janice Konkol (886), 0-1-0, -10

13. Polly Lenzen (885), 0-1-0, -8

14. Jim Laris (884), 1-0-0, +8

23. Ruth Brower (830), 0-1-0, -6

25. Sophia Murzin (815), 0-1-0, -8

32. Blossom Thompson (738), 0-1-0, -10

34. Marion Brien (730), 2-0-0, +26

35. Lisa Green (712), 3-2-0, +11

39. Christopher Ross (648), 5-3-0, +2

42. Lillian Zoller (623), 1-0-0, +6

I am inclined to play up and have a couple of days to decide. Having to win fewer games to maintain my current rating (10 as opposed to 17) is appealing; there would be less pressure to win games. A good number of Division 4 players are people whom I have played, and I have beaten nearly half of those. Being at the bottom of Division 4 and playing players of higher ratings would mean that I would likely add more rating points for wins and lose fewer rating points for losses than I would staying in Division 5. Playing individuals with higher ratings would likely result in more challenging games from which I would learn more. Although it is less likely that I would end up in the money in Division 4, a gain in ratings is more important to me than winning money.

Currently, 13 of the 75 registrants in Division 4 are people who have opted to play up from Division 5.

So what do you think? Should I play up to Division 4 at 2009 NSC or stay put in Division 5? Your comments are welcome. They may help me decide.

UPDATE (7/16): I elected to play up into Division 4.