Division 3 Winner: Dave Leonard

by Ted Gest

Wendell Smith and Dave Leonard

SCRABBLE is something of a family tradition with Dave Leonard of Buffalo, winner of Division 3. As a young man, Dave, now 39, humored his father Chuck, a tournament player once rated at 1409, by playing SCRABBLE casually when he visited home.

It was only after reading Stefan Fatsis's book Word Freak seven years ago that Dave started to take the game seriously. He learned strategy and lots of words, he started attending the Buffalo SCRABBLE Club #456, and he started winning divisions in tournaments: once in Utica, once in Toronto, and twice in Michigan Madness events.

Before Dayton, Leonard hadn't taken part in a tournament in more than a year. In Dayton, he says, he "had to keep fighting, clawing, and scraping" to win the division.

In an early, hotly contested game with Errol Wilson, Leonard played ANTIWEAR to shut down the board. Later in that game Wilson put a G in a triple-word-score line in a desperate attempt to get back in the game. Leonard responded with the triple-triple SLANGIER for 131 on the way to a 503-318 victory.

In the decisive game against Joe South, Leonard bingoed with FINNIEST, even though he wasn't sure it was good. South came back later with REVENUED, which Leonard also wasn't sure of, but he was able to respond with PILLARS to help wrap it up. After that game, Leonard was Gibsonized because he didn't need a win in the final 31st game to take first place.

It wasn't all easy. Leonard says he felt he was "hanging by on his fingernails" after a 150-point loss to Tracy Bowman in round 27. Bowman made PROBATE, AIRLINES, and WONTONS to rack up 467 points.

Competitors praised Leonard's word knowledge. Gigi Miller of Sparks, Nevada, was impressed with his AEROLITH, which she unsuccessfully challenged.

Leonard, a data entry operator at Citigroup, credits Randy Greenspan of the Buffalo Club for helping him improve his game. Leonard also says that his father, who died last year, may have been "looking down and giving me help."

Ted Gest is president of a national group of journalists covering criminal justice--and director of Washington D.C. SCRABBLE Club #171