From Larry Rand:
The 32nd annual Phoenix tournament was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Phoenix-Tempe. It was the first Phoenix tournament that Barbara Van Alen has missed. Presently, she is the group leader for a Scrabble™ cruise to Antarctica!
Pictures of all the winners are available at vanrandtravel1.smugmug.com Excerpts are below.
The Early Bird was held on Friday and attracted a “perfect” 40 players for five divisions of eight players each. About 92% of the entry fees were returned as prizes. The full results and new ratings may be found at Phoenix Early Bird
On Saturday through Wednesday morning, 78 players (almost a perfect 80), competed in the Main Event. There were three divisions of 20 players, and the fourth division had 18. Almost 90% of all entry fees were returned as cash prizes. In addition, a gift certificate from the hotel provided for a free five night stay during the Word Cup. The value of the gift certificate was ~ $600! The lucky winner was Linda Bianca.
Each division in the Main Event had prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place; Best Performance in the Bottom Half; and the high game and high loss. The best performance overall was recorded by 11 year old, Zach Ansell in division three: 16 wins, spread 679. The high game in division 1 was won by Maddy Kamen with a 639 point game. The highest high loss of 453 points was recorded by Gary Smart in division 1. Complete results: Phoenix Main.
In addition to the DoubleTree gift certificate, two other raffles were conducted. Ruth Hamilton donated a gorgeous Scrabble™ afghan that was won by Pat Diener. Mike Stevens donated a fold-up board that was won by Sarah King, who “gifted” it to fellow Phoenix Scrabble Club member, Zach Simon. If you are interested in obtaining a fold-up travel board, please contact Mike at majomike@gmail.com.