Scrabble babble

By now, if you read my blog, you know the nerdy habit I am extremely proud of and will boast to the world if not stopped: I play competitive Scrabble. Michael does too. This is a crazily fun pastime, both because it unleashes the competitive bug in me that hasn't seen the light of day since middle school spelling bees, and because I'm actually okay at it. Middle-of-last-division okay, but the people in the last division and a few from the one above it know who I am. Some even think I'm pretty cool - the grad student who just got into Scrabble and is sort of slowly rising through the standings at the pace of a snail who accidentally digested half a dose of speed.

This is okay with me. I like being known. I like name notoriety. I like knowing that I'm the young kid - often among the three or four youngest at a tournament - who is doing comparatively well with some of these middle-aged men and women who have been playing Scrabble competitively for years. I like when my rating slowly, steadily rises so that I see happy numbers every time but also I'm not expected to do THAT well because my rating still is not stellar. The last tournament wasn't my greatest - I won half my games but my rating dropped by 2 points - but that's okay; I've risen by 45 and 23 points after my second and third tournaments, respectively, so I'm not terribly sad.

The problem is this: some tournaments are big. Yay, more players! I like having a big field of nice people who actually become acquaintances and sometimes friends, at least in the Scrabble world. I enjoyed talking to a 15-year old I met in a past tournament. A woman I met last time who'd been to tournaments before but who had this one as her first in many years was incredibly friendly to me. Others are smiley, happy, and welcoming (with the occasional one who's not terribly pleased after you unexpectedly beat them, but you'll have that...)

But in any case: some tournaments are big. This means that there are a lot of players; this also means that there are numerous divisions. Say you have twenty players signed up for a tournament. There might be three divisions: top six players in Division 1, next seven in Division 2, next seven in Division 3. If you have thirty two players, there might need to be another division - so there'd be eight players each in Divisions 1-4.

But the Farmington tournament tomorrow?! That, my readers (whoever and how many ever you may be), has 40 registered players. Which means there are FIVE divisions - eight people per division. Because I have risen somewhat in ranking over the course of four tournaments, that puts me - the rookie, the newbie, the wouldn't-know-a-strategy-if-it-ran-me-over-with-a-semi one, as fourth seed in the last division.

On one hand: I'm fourth from the bottom, ranked 36 out of 40 here. What sort of pressure does that put on me for ANYTHING in the least?! On the other hand: I'm competing against only the other seven in Division 5, and against that field, I am expected to win four games out of my seven. I have never gone 4-3 (four wins, 3 losses) at a tournament in my life. But I have to tomorrow, to keep my rating where it is. I know I can beat a lot of the people here - because I HAVE beaten three, have never played two, and have narrowly lost to two - but there are two I'm especially nervous about. One woman I have never beat although I've played her twice, and one woman who will certainly be out for my blood tomorrow since I unexpectedly pulled one out against her at the last tournament (she had no losses up until that point - I was kind of proud of myself, lol)
Granted, that puts me still hypothetically at 5-2 even if I do lose to those two. Which would place me quite happily somewhere near the top of this division and would ensure my rating would go up. But I'd only have a grace of one game of the remaining five that I could unexpectedly falter on and still have a good performance at the tournament.

This puts me in study mode today. When in doubt today, I am studying my Scrabble words. There is so much I don't know, and so much I am determined to learn before tomorrow, so that I can take the field by storm and maybe, maybe, maybe, even win it all?! It's possible, but only if I severely buckle down today. So - I shall.

I do, however, understand that my life does not depend on this Scrabble tournament. I am not irrationally stressed about it, nor am I obsessing about the different outcomes possible for tomorrow. I am just a competitive little bugger who will wake up at 7 to spend her Saturday looking at tiles with people mostly 20-40 years older than she is....but who also thrives on these sort of within-my-reach stakes! And I shall put my best effort forth at this tournament tomorrow. Wish me luck!

To make use of some of my newfound vocabulary:

PAX (Latin form of the word peace) and XU (Vietnamese money) to all in this holiday season ;-)