I applied deodorant five times yesterday. Went for eight ten-minute walks in which I poofed breaths of air out from inflated cheeks like Dizzy Gillespie. Had more ups and downs in the course of a weekend than Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy had in their whole Narnian adventure.
Of course, I was at a Scrabble tournament.
It was the Sydney International Masters, my first internationally rated event and with a seriously strong field. Twenty games over two days, in the memorable Bankstown Sports Club, a noisy casino with blaring live country music right beneath us.
The tournament was a bit of a roller coaster. I won my first game by over 200 points, putting me in first place. Four games later, I was 1-4 and 38th among the 40 players. This was a bit nightmarish, since I'd gone in seeded tenth. I've been studying some, but not nearly enough and was doubting three letter words (not to mention the decision to pick up Scrabble again at all.)
Then things turned around wonderfully. I won 10 of the remaining 14 games, and ended up a respectable 8th. I got to play a few cool words like antiatom and dognap and oystered and yanqui and ventaile. Met some very nice folk who I'll see again at the National Championships in April. And learned a lot about what I need to focus on studying!
The non-Scrabble part of the Australia Day long weekend was fantastic. Tamar and the girls came to Sydney, and Friday we had a long visit with some friends, then wandered through Newtown's gritty charm and had momos and gelato. Over the weekend they frolicked at beaches, climbing gyms, ocean pools, ethnic markets, and playgrounds in the sunshine while I toiled away over seven tiles.
So now it's back to daily life, after a welcome dose of excitement, angst, puzzling and fun
Of course, I was at a Scrabble tournament.
It was the Sydney International Masters, my first internationally rated event and with a seriously strong field. Twenty games over two days, in the memorable Bankstown Sports Club, a noisy casino with blaring live country music right beneath us.
The tournament was a bit of a roller coaster. I won my first game by over 200 points, putting me in first place. Four games later, I was 1-4 and 38th among the 40 players. This was a bit nightmarish, since I'd gone in seeded tenth. I've been studying some, but not nearly enough and was doubting three letter words (not to mention the decision to pick up Scrabble again at all.)
Then things turned around wonderfully. I won 10 of the remaining 14 games, and ended up a respectable 8th. I got to play a few cool words like antiatom and dognap and oystered and yanqui and ventaile. Met some very nice folk who I'll see again at the National Championships in April. And learned a lot about what I need to focus on studying!
The non-Scrabble part of the Australia Day long weekend was fantastic. Tamar and the girls came to Sydney, and Friday we had a long visit with some friends, then wandered through Newtown's gritty charm and had momos and gelato. Over the weekend they frolicked at beaches, climbing gyms, ocean pools, ethnic markets, and playgrounds in the sunshine while I toiled away over seven tiles.
So now it's back to daily life, after a welcome dose of excitement, angst, puzzling and fun
 |
| My first 600+ tournament game. The other guy started tearing it down right away, but it should be PYROGEN and so on. All the 7-8 letter words were mine, plus SEZ was 66 |
 |
| Another exciting game. I was ahead til he played ZEX and ASTEROID, but luckily found yANQUI and held him off from there |
No comments:
Post a Comment