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Posted on the Cooperative Chess Coalition ( CCC ) Facebook chess discussion page, " CCC - Chess Posts of Interest " :
CCC Discusses Chess – Posts of Interest – Chess and Scrabble
As a chess player, I occasionally find it interesting to compare the chess tournament scene with that of other board games. The US National Scrabble Championship concludes today in Orlando Florida. This event, consisting of 31 rounds of play over 5 days, attracted about 350 players. First prize in the top division is $10,000. Lower divisions have top prizes ranging from $1500 to $2500. Top entry fee is $175.
Meanwhile, the US (Chess) Open recently finished in Vancouver, Washington, with about 500 participants. It consisted of 9 daily rounds (with several shorter options, as has become common in the large US tournaments). Top prize was $8000, with $2500 class prizes. The basic entry fee was $145.
In addition to prize money, there are other similarities between tournament Scrabble and Chess. Both use similar rating systems to rank players and determine eligibility for class sections. Both games require a combination of strategic ability as well as memory. While chess players are memorizing variations of the Sicilian Dragon opening, Scrabble enthusiasts learn strange words such as PIBAL (a small balloon used in weather fore-casting), YOWE (a ewe), AMITROLE (an herbicide), SANTOUR (a Persian dulcimer) and HERL (a feathered fishing lure), or words containing the letter ‘q’ not followed by ‘u’ (they do exist!)
And both games now have issues with cheating. In the current Scrabble championship a scandal erupted when a young male competitor was kicked out of the competition for hiding blank letter tiles. He was caught trying to conceal the ‘wild card’ tiles by dropping them on the floor.
“It's the first time it's happened in a venue this big though. It's unfortunate”
“The Scrabble world is abuzz. The Internet is abuzz”
were two reactions.
In an earlier incident reminiscent of the World Chess Championship’s Toiletgate scandal of a few years ago, at an international tournament an English player was accused of hiding a letter 'G' during a match. A Thai player wanted him to be taken to a toilet so he could be searched, although authorities refused.
One difference that does stand out- the current leader of the Scrabble Championships is a national and Scrabble All-Star champion David Gibson, a 61-year-old math teacher from Spartanburg, South Carolina. An earlier leader was a 62-year-old banker. Chess on the other hand is increasingly being dominated by younger people, with tournament winners typically in their teens or twenties (but don’t tell that to Viktor Korchnoi!). Makes me (age 61) wonder whether I should change games...
Ken Kurkowski CCC Member
CCC Discusses Chess – Posts of Interest – Chess and Scrabble
As a chess player, I occasionally find it interesting to compare the chess tournament scene with that of other board games. The US National Scrabble Championship concludes today in Orlando Florida. This event, consisting of 31 rounds of play over 5 days, attracted about 350 players. First prize in the top division is $10,000. Lower divisions have top prizes ranging from $1500 to $2500. Top entry fee is $175.
Meanwhile, the US (Chess) Open recently finished in Vancouver, Washington, with about 500 participants. It consisted of 9 daily rounds (with several shorter options, as has become common in the large US tournaments). Top prize was $8000, with $2500 class prizes. The basic entry fee was $145.
In addition to prize money, there are other similarities between tournament Scrabble and Chess. Both use similar rating systems to rank players and determine eligibility for class sections. Both games require a combination of strategic ability as well as memory. While chess players are memorizing variations of the Sicilian Dragon opening, Scrabble enthusiasts learn strange words such as PIBAL (a small balloon used in weather fore-casting), YOWE (a ewe), AMITROLE (an herbicide), SANTOUR (a Persian dulcimer) and HERL (a feathered fishing lure), or words containing the letter ‘q’ not followed by ‘u’ (they do exist!)
And both games now have issues with cheating. In the current Scrabble championship a scandal erupted when a young male competitor was kicked out of the competition for hiding blank letter tiles. He was caught trying to conceal the ‘wild card’ tiles by dropping them on the floor.
“It's the first time it's happened in a venue this big though. It's unfortunate”
“The Scrabble world is abuzz. The Internet is abuzz”
were two reactions.
In an earlier incident reminiscent of the World Chess Championship’s Toiletgate scandal of a few years ago, at an international tournament an English player was accused of hiding a letter 'G' during a match. A Thai player wanted him to be taken to a toilet so he could be searched, although authorities refused.
One difference that does stand out- the current leader of the Scrabble Championships is a national and Scrabble All-Star champion David Gibson, a 61-year-old math teacher from Spartanburg, South Carolina. An earlier leader was a 62-year-old banker. Chess on the other hand is increasingly being dominated by younger people, with tournament winners typically in their teens or twenties (but don’t tell that to Viktor Korchnoi!). Makes me (age 61) wonder whether I should change games...
Ken Kurkowski CCC Member