Recapping an epic 9 rounds of Scrabble in Sterling, VA
It may sound counterintuitive but in a way, the super-small tournaments are actually the most challenging ones. Whenever the pairings dictate that you play the same player two or even three times in a row, you invariably end up getting these grueling mano a mano battles. You find yourself playing tense, difficult, grind-it-out games, which beget tense, difficult, grind-it-out series, which beget tense, difficult, grind-it-out tournaments. Any time you sign up for a double or triple round robin, you just know that you're in for a tough day.
Such was the case this weekend in Northern Virginia, where a quartet of players descended upon the town of Sterling for a long Saturday of Scrabble. With 4 people signed up, all parties involved agreed to tweak the schedule a little bit and play 9 games instead of 8, which allowed each entrant to enjoy 3 matchups against each of their 3 opponents. Ah, yes. The dreaded triple round robin.
Though as it turns out, the format was less dreadful for some than for others. Two entrants in particular, Josh Castellano and Rob Robinsky, took advantage of the triple RR format and ran the table in each of their first two series! This led to a scenario that's, as far as I can recall, unprecedented in Scrabble history - we had a tournament in which the standings after 6 rounds read 6-0, 6-0, 0-6, 0-6. Needless to say, it was a two-man race for the title.
Ultimately, Josh prevailed in the two-man race, though it was close the whole way. He prevailed in a nailbiter in round 7, besting Rob 465-421; then, when Rob equalized with a win in the following round, Josh won another close one in the finale, 446-418, to win the tournament. Congrats to Josh on an incredible 8-1 performance, and to Rob as well, whose mark of 7-2 +931 is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. And hey - Zach Dang and Ather Sharif, after each starting 0-6, both won games before all was said and done! Multiple games, in Zach's case. Cheers to both players on finishing out the day against a brutally tough field with their heads held high.
Additionally, thanks to Zach and Ather for continuing to run these Northern Virginia tournaments. This is the second one they've hosted at Zach's home this year, coming on the heels of the first one on Feb. 7. The two of them are doing a great job running regular events for the thriving community of NoVa Scrabblers. I'm already excited to see what they have in store for us next.
And so, we move forward! That's the thing about Scrabble tournaments - there's always the next one, and it's always a new day. No matter how easy or how hard your tournament was, there's always a clean slate next time. Whether you started your tournament 6-0 or 0-6, you'll be 0-0 again before you know it.
Until then...