BlitzChamps culminated this past week in a thrilling best-of-19 series between Will Anderson of the United States and David Eldar of Australia. In the end, it was Will who won the match and captured the title, topping David by a count of 10 games to 6.

On Wednesday night in North America (Thursday morning in eastern Australia), David Eldar and Will Anderson will do battle in a best-of-19 series for the title of World Blitz Scrabble Champion.

We began the World Blitz Scrabble Championship in January with 80 players, one of the largest fields ever seen on the virtual Scrabble scene; now, 95% of that field is gone. Of our original 80 entrants, 76 have been left in the dust, and just four remain.

This week, we've got four quarterfinal matchups on the docket. Let's take an in-depth look at each one - who's playing, how they got here, and what to expect in the week to come.

Nine weeks ago, we began this tournament with 80 players; we have now officially narrowed the field down to our final 16. From here, every single match will be do-or-die, and the world's best speedy Scrabble players will vie for the title of World Blitz Champion.

We began the World Blitz Scrabble Championship with 80 players, all wide-eyed and hopeful and looking to assert their speed-Scrabbling dominance. Now, as we near the end of pool play, there are just 24 players left with a shot at winning the tournament.

The penultimate week of BlitzChamps will feature two absolutely crucial matches in each group - all the No. 1 seeds will face the No. 3's, while each No. 2 battles the No. 4. We'll know a whole lot more about the playoff picture once the dust settles.

Who will make the playoffs? Who will they face? What will the competition look like? The closer we get to bracket time, the more these questions start popping up. So today, I thought I'd give a few answers.

We're now through five rounds of pool play, with four still to go. At this point, there are a number of players who began this tournament outside the top 3 seeds in their groups but are now in contention.

The 2-versus-3 matchups are now behind us, and we now have far more clarity on how the standings look in each group. Let's take stock of everything, group by group - who's winning, who else is in the hunt, and which key matches are still to come in weeks 5 through 9.

It's time for a major showdown in each group - the No. 2 seeds take on the No. 3's. In most groups, these are the two players most likely to be on the bubble for a top-two finish and a playoff spot.