On Playing with the Big Boys and Girls

by Deborah Gaudier

Deborah Gaudier and Joe Edley pose with her Rose Award

At this year’s National SCRABBLE Championship there was no play-up restriction. Deborah Gaudier, an 1111-rated player from Houston, TX, opted to play in Division 1. Despite finishing last in the division with a 2-29 -3356 record, Deborah kept her competitive spirit throughout — and ended up as the recipient of the Rose Award, an annual award to be presented to the woman player at Nationals who best exemplified the indomitable spirit and kindheartedness of the late Rose Kreiswirth. This is Deborah’s account.

I heard a few questions at Nationals.

Question Number One: "Why are you, a Division Four player, playing in Division One?"

Answers:

• Because I can.
• Life is short. Grab your opportunities when you can. You may not have the chance again.
• Maybe, just maybe, I'd get to play one of those World or National Champions. (I did.)
• I can play badly -- or well -- in any given tournament. I knew I'd never win Division 1, but if the stars aligned properly, I might just get a few wins. This could also happen in Division 4. LOL So why not just go for it?
• I wanted a new tile bag. 8-) (Which I won. Thank you, Mary Krizan.) So, I can now say I was a winner in Division One! LOL

Question Number Two: "Would you do it again?"

• Answer: "Probably not. But I'm glad I did it once."

Question Number Three: "Are you sorry you played in Division One?"

• Answer: "I'm sorry I had as much of a ratings drop as I did. I didn't expect that. But am I sorry I took the chance and played way up? No."

Positives:

Playing Experts. I rarely get this opportunity, either in tournaments or club play. But playing experts is a good way to learn.

Learning my weaknesses in SCRABBLE and getting advice on improvement from my opponents.

Meeting some new folks and renewing old acquaintances.

The experts who took the time to offer bits of wisdom to improve my play.

Receiving the Rose Award. What an honor!

Negatives:

A couple of my opponents who sent out negative vibes. I heard that folks didn't want to play me, and a couple made that very clear through their body language.

Bigger loss of rating points than I expected.

Random bits:

Once I decided to "go for it", I also decided that I would have a positive attitude regardless of the outcome. I knew pretty quickly that there were folks who didn't want me there. Their problem, not mine. Dave Wiegand was the first live opponent I had played in some ten weeks. So my first tournament game was something of a practice game. Some practice game, eh?

My special thanks to Division 1 leader, Bryan Pepper, and his assistant, Lynn Sneed, for their support, as well as to all the other volunteers who made this tournament happen.

Keep Scrabbling!

Deborah Gaudier currently lives in Houston, Texas. She is a member of the “Sandwich Generation,” tending an elderly relative and otherwise being a full-time stay-in-the-car mom. Her professional background is in archives and historic preservation.