A Weekend of Games in Madrid.

On Saturday, February 20, the Scrabble Club Atriles of Madrid had organized a Scrabble tourney.

Patxi and Montse, from my club, Scrabble Girona, came to play it. My good friend Gloria from Barcelona and Santi from Sant Andreu also came. I had the honor of being their host at home. Due job they can´t came before but the day of the tourney. Santi came during the morning, but the rest came in a car, so they had been just in time for starting to play.

The tourney was a 6 rounds one. The winner was Juan Carlos Ayala, that is showing a big interest of being one of the classifieds to the World Championship this year.

Atriles is innovating a new tournament format, we started to playat 14.00 (ok! Ok! We really started a bit later). ;P We made a long stop for dine something and finished the tourney around midnight.

My personal experience with this new format was really ok. In some how I felt less tired, it was like having more time for playing.

After finished the tourney we came to home, Curro had prepared something to eat, not so much due we had already dine at the tourney. I think it was a mix of being tired due the travel and the tourney but we haven´t play more Scrabble that night, but we had been talking a lot about good memories.

On Sunday everyone got up when he wanted… that for Patxi that this time shared the room with Santi, meant to wake up at 7.30. As he was the only one early bird, he was so nice and went alone to study seated at the floor of the kitchen (in Spain is normal to have a table with chairs at the kitchen for breakfast, but as this is not part of my habits, I have none… otoh: if I would thought someone would be at the kitchen for a while, I´ll show him where we have the stools).

I got up around 10. The coffe and the tea were already ready and Santi had gone to buy churros. (Yeap! Nice to have guests at home! Hehehe). Well, actually I had planned to prepare them some hot cakes, but seem I should wait another chance to.

After breakfast… no! We haven’t play Scrabble! We were talking, Montse discovered my 3D puzzles (yeap, I should talk about them in some post), when I saw she was very excited with them I showed them the Rush Hour, the first one playing it was Patxi, but the one that really loved it was Montse. :D There was a moment when everyone was in he´s own world! Patxi camouflaging himself with the sofa, Gloria and Curro watching something at the PC, Montse challenging the Rush Hour (no, that wasn´t a redaction mistake!) ;P and Santi uploading his blog… and I was taking pics to all! :D



For lunching we called a Chinese restaurant that also has roasted chicken. While taking the coffees Curro played some videos of his own creation and them got excited with the music! :D



Finally, after the coffees, we played Scrabble! Just Montse didn´t, she kept with the Rush Hour and the puzzles.



I´m afraid that last just a moment, due they had 6 road hours to travel and 2 more to Girona.

Guys! I miss you!

Scrabble Masters´ Tourney, Final Part

CONGRATULATIONS SANTI!! Today is his bthday! :D

Here some pics:









The new Master of the Universe, Spain 2009: Antonio Alvarez!!

Masters´ Scrabble Tourney in Girona

Hi! Hi! Hi!

After several months without playing in real life, I went again to visit my Club: Scrabble Girona for playing the Masters´ Tourney.

I arrived at midday and had lunch at Patxi and Monte´s home, where also was Arantxa. Of course I played with Patxi a couple of rounds, but he made me to released how out of fit I am.



That night we stayed at David and Susana´s home (and their 2 dogs!) :) they really were great hosts! David also played a bit the guitar and share with us part of his guitars´ collection.








Here some pics of Saturday´s rounds

Bogota Third Part: Scrabble Tourneys

There were also other Scrabble tourneys taking place in Bogotá those days:

The Andean Tourney: for people from Venezuela, Perú, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. It had been played 2 days before the World Championship (SSWC from now on). The winner, José Luis Rodriguez from Venezuela, obtained a place at the SSWC.

Other Tourney was the called “Extra” one. This one is for all the people that would like to play it and also gives 4 places for the SSWC.

The afternoon of the day before the World Championship, took place a new Tourney: the First Nations Scrabble in Spanish Cup. It was played by teams of 5 people, but playing at the same time just 4 (so one of each group can relax a bit each match). Days before the SSWC someone of the Spanish group of representatives, asked by mail who would like to play that tourney… and Alvaro, Topo, Juan Carlos and me, as good newbies, answered so soon we would like to, plus Carlos Puente, the only one of us that already had experience in a World Championship… the point is the other countries selected their best players for playing the tourney and we 5 weren´t exactly the best ones of Spain, so… the result was obvious… we were the second last… no wonder! :(

For me the funny experience was at the last match. I usually play quick, but in this case we both had to think a lot and the game took more time, so we were one of the last couples to end… It was a hard game, I had to think a lot, so, when we finally finished it, I was really thick and tired. In this kind of tourneys the public should remind outside the room the players are… so, imagine my big surprise when I opened the door of the room, someone asked me if I had won and when I said yes a lot of people screamed quite excited! Hehehehe! No! it wasn´t exactly my group of fans! ;P The point was that my game was the last one of the Spanish team and depending on it, Colombia would be (or not) the winner of the tourney… so the ones outside were the Colombians celebrating not exactly that I had win but that it meant they had win!!! :D



The World Championship was really exciting. In my case I usually say that my perfect way to lose weight is being in Scrabble tourneys! I usually go to the bathroom before starting the match and immediately after finishing each! But it´s nice to release that even the more expert players are also nervous. But what I liked more, was that even being a quite serious championship, everybody was so friendly, it really feels like a nice big family! The champion was Benjamín Olaizola.



The championship lasted 3 and half days. Most of us stayed in the same hotel. Also the meals were arranged with the hotel, so, most of us even didn´t cruised the hotel door during those days! Basically the restaurant was just for us during those days.



But definitely my favorite part of the Championship was what happened every night AFTER the matches! Just that… it deserves it´s own post! ;)



(To be continued)

MONTSE SANCHEZ SPANISH CHAMPION!

Finally we have a woman as Spanish Champion!

WELL DONE MONTSE!!!


Here all the winners.

Special Situation

In my last game at the Championship, at the begining, once I had my word (a Scrabble btw), I released I had 8 letters instead of 7... what to do then? We had to call the Referi, but the situation wasn´t considered at the rules... so finally the Referi decided the solution should be to put down the letters and my opponent to take out one randomly. We were agree. :)

What Scrabblers talk about when they are not playing?

About anagrams! Of course! ;)

Spain Scrabble Championship Lunchs

It´s always interesting to share lunchs with Scrabble players...

Spain Scrabble Championship

During the days May 1st to 3rd. the Spain Scrabble Championship had take place.

A lot of great moments and adrenaline, just I´m afraid, as far as the Championship is in Spanish, has no sense to try to translate the posts I have done in the Spanish version of this blog and would be too much work. At least I´ll share some pics here.

Scrabble weekend: Following the tourney

I´m afraid I just had time to do it in Spanish when the tourney was running, but anyway here is the tourney part:

We are already in Sant Andreu!

It´s so emotionant to watch again known faces, to discover new ones, Santi (the leader of the organizing team) is so excited and haven´t sleep due the nervous the night before (cheers champion! All will be great, you´ll see!)

Some people are going to take a coffee that finally makes them to awake and to tune up the anagramer neurons, some of us start to set the tables, check out the games… let´s see if this set is without the Q! Hey! No! The Q is also a nice letter! Do you remember that game when Antonio put “ululares”… no! no! it was “undulares”! and nobody else saw it.

Eh! Manchado is here! And Manchado says: “no, no, I haven´t been playing for so long!” Aha! Yeap! Right! He always say the same and at the end is the champion of the tourney! ;) I could bet this is part of his strategy to relax the enemy! :D

Here some of the pics I already have, I´m going to help to set up the tables!



FIRST ROUND

We all had already finished the first round. Due the way the system does the matches, (ordered by ELO, so the “favorites ones” can´t play together at the first round… due it´s more exciting if they play later!), it goes with no surprises.

Sant Andreu´s Club, with Santi as leader and also being the Referee of the tourney, has done a great work in every single detail, including the coffee break.



People saying things like “I had a Winter that I didn´t know where to place” makes me smile.



SECOND ROUND: ALICIA DOES HISTORY!

Our dear Canary Island´s lady living in Barcelona, has done history! She won to Manchado with a great advantage.

A moment like this deserved a pic!



Xas had won me, with 4 Scrabbles, one of them making 101 points… If we take into account that I had put just 1 Scrabble and our final difference were 65 points, I haven´t done it so bad! (It´s a matter of comfort myself!) ;)

Congratulations to Marina that had play in the first table! It´s obvious that the Canary Island´s ladies are giving their best today!



As curious thing, couples that had to play this round one at the side of the other:



THIRD ROUND: A G L O R Y MOMENT! :)

Gloria (in English: Glory)Bigorra is doing it great! With 3 of 3 won rounds, the last one with Montse Sanchez.

The first tables are giving surprises. Patxi is doing it great as well, step by step confirming himself as the favorite one, it´s almost sure in the next round he should play with Gloria… the poor girl won´t be able to eat, I think! ;)



Santi is doing quite a lot of work, being the Referee, cameraman and commentator at the t.v. program in charge of the event.

Topo! You shouldn´t lose this tourney! ;D



We are going to eat now, I promise more gossips later on!

Bon apetite!

AND WE ARE BACK FROM THE LUNCH...

where the table´s star was David Cantalejo (Zecks). He´s living in Barcelona due his studies and he commented me that he choose that place due the quantity of people playing Scrabble there (that´s to love Scrabble, oh yeah!)
His phrase of the day: I want this to finish now or I´ll have a nervous collapse! He had a heart attack game with Paco and was the all lunch time reminding it.
If by chance you met him, you should ask him to tell you a couple of jokes!

I´m leaving now! The new matches are being done!

4TH. ROUND WITH DAVID CANTALEJO!

If I would mention him before, I would play with him before! I had to play with David that made me to see stars! :(

David commented me that he´s hardly preparing himself to the Spanish Championship that will take place in a couple of weeks: he´s learning a lot of jokes! Here everybody prepares the Championship as how they want! ;)


And the surprises go on! Montse Sanchez told me that she doesn´t know what would be better: if to cut her veins or if to let them long! ;P She´s having a terrible tourney, in her last game she had the Q 6 times.

5TH. ROUND: “MAYBE!... “

We are finishing the 5th. round.

Patxi had win to Gloria.

Montse had lost with David Cantalejo.

Santi is in the middle of objections´ papers… and Curro, that is helping carry on the papers, comes and says: “and what about if instead of saying YES or NO about if a word is valid or no, you come and put: maybe!” Hehehe… that´s Curro´s sense of humor, I´m afraid! ;)

The day is running so fast for me. The ambient is quite nice and happy… it feels more like a good friends meeting than a tourney, I´m not saying this is not serious, just that it´s being so nice! Or maybe it´s due how relaxing is not to be in the first tables? ;)

Marina, in table 1, had won to Patxi... it´s being so exciting!



6TH. ROUND: WE ARE ALMOST AT THE END

Joan Ramón had won to Marina, so, they should play a “duplicada” till sudden death to define who the Champion is.

Some phrases I had hear:

“I start to got good letters when it was so late”

“And now, Xas, will you complain as well?”

“Oh Noooo!! I have to play with youuuu!!!” (That one was for me, I should say it felt so fine!) ;)

“Another tourney like this one and I stop playing Scrabble forever and ever” (If I should count the quantity of times I had hear that in the last 3 years…).

To the waiter that had served the wrong coffee: “Objection!”

An image of the ambient out of the playing room:



THE DUPLICADA




HABEMUS CHAMPION!

Patxi is the new Champion! Tonight the dinner will be the ham! hehehe



And with a great second place, Marina that was almost the whole day defending the table 1. Well done Marina! Women power! ;)



My favorite Mexican, Alejandro, got the third place… and he was saying he would prefer not to play the “duplicada”!



Due a mistake at the last round of the duplicada, Joan Ramón got the 4th. place. Well, anyway sometimes it´s good the rest of us to remind that you are also human, Joan Ramon! ;)



CONCLUSIONS

We went back to Girona talking about the tourney. As far as it wasn´t a matter of finishing the ham in one night, we went to buy food at König again and I had broke my diet quite a lot! Ouch! ;)



After the dinner (Oh! I forgot to take pics with the ham!), Isaac accepts a couple of games more. We finished around 1.30… Patxi told me no more games that day… Ooooohhhh!!! But ok, he had to use quite a lot his neurons playing the duplicada, so, ok, it will be at another time!

We had called again the same taxi driver that took us to their home on Friday, and that is a very nice girl. She´s starting with that profession and seems her new colleagues are taking good care of her.

As last recomendation, if you should eat at Girona´s airport, inside there are just 2 cafeterias, I recommend “The Bier Garden” that has quite better prices than the other one (ok, to ask for a great food quality at an airport would be a fantasy, but it´s not really bad).




So, we are going to Madrid, with an excellent feeling… would be due the ham? ;)