Players are paired so that, as the tournament unfolds, those at the top of the pack have to play each other more to get a place in the finals, Greenway explained: After the 28 games, the two players with the highest standing play against each other in a best-of-five final. Each competitor plays seven games on each of the tournament’s first four days. There were four divisions based on skill level at the competition. Getting enough sleep and eating well “cause you to think more clearly and make better decisions,” he said. Studying word lists before a tournament is helpful. For Fagen, one of seven players from the Montreal Scrabble Club, it was his fourth Scrabble Championship. The Baltimore tournament, cancelled in 20 by the pandemic, brought together 290 players from Canada, the United States and overseas from July 23 to 27. Being unable to play in person “definitely took its toll on me.” “During the pandemic, I missed Scrabble more than ever,” he said. He enjoys data entry and data analysis when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, he left a job in data entry. There is also a lot of math in competitive Scrabble, “lots of computations - I have always known I am amazing at mathematical calculations.”įagen was a strong student in pure and applied science at Dawson College and started an accounting degree at Concordia University, although he did not complete it. “Sometimes you know your best play and sometimes it’s not so obvious and you can spend five to 10 minutes making a play.”Ĭompetitive players use tracking sheets to monitor what tiles have been played, especially important “when the bag is low on tiles and you can figure out what tiles your opponent most likely has,” Fagen said. Standard time allotment in club and tournament games is 25 minutes for each player. “You want to hold back for the next turn.” Too many vowels can make prospects quite slim, so there is an element of luck,” Fagen said.Īnd which tiles a player holds back is almost as important as the tiles he plays. “You need a good balance of consonants and vowels. ![]() The goal is to get more points than your opponent. Each player’s rack - the shelf holding the tiles - must hold seven tiles. Each Scrabble game has 100 tiles - there are nine As, two Bs, 12 Es, and so forth - and each letter is marked with a specific point value, ranging from one to 10 points (Q and Z). In Scrabble, each player draws tiles with letters from a bag to form words on a 15-by-15-inch crossword-style grid. “You can learn from other people who play well.” “I got to meet some really good players,” he said. Since his first tournament in 2011, Fagen has played 800 games in more than 50 tournaments. When he plays, he’s very focused and immersed in his thinking and concentration.” He’s a very strong player whose word power and strategy are awesome. Playing against Fagen is “like playing against a computer,” said Bernard Gotlieb, the club’s founding president. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But he learned Scrabble basics from them, then advanced strategy. “There were a lot of good players and when I first started at the club, it was fairly intimidating,” he recalled. He enjoys the challenge as well as the social aspect of gathering with people to do something they all love.įagen started to form words with fridge magnets when he was three and It occurred to his parents, casual Scrabble players, that “I had a talent.”Īt 14, he joined the Montreal Scrabble Club, which meets Wednesday evenings in Côte-St-Luc. “A lot of people think of me as a bit nerdy, but I really enjoy the game,” he said. If the word is one I know, there is a good chance I will find it,” said Fagen, a self-described “word nerd.” ![]() Finding places on the board where you can score is also important. Word knowledge is important in Scrabble, of course, but so is how a player views the board and controls it, he said. “What he pulled off here is really important in our community.” “Michael was coming into the tournament definitely as an underdog,” said Josh Greenway, a competitive player and tournament organizer and media director for the Baltimore event. “It was memorable - and thrilling,” he said. ![]() Activate your Online Access Now Article content ![]() If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is included in your subscription. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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