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Congratulations to the 2001 World Champion, Brian Cappelletto!

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WSC 2001 Player Profile: David Delicata

See how this player is doing at the WSC.

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When he was 13 years old, David Delicata was the youngest player to ever take part in a competition organized by the Malta SCRABBLE® club, the only official SCRABBLE® club on the Mediterranean's Maltese Islands. A decade later, the Malta Stock Exchange securities trader is still playing and he's developed a strong game.

Competitive play in Malta consists of three leagues (National, Summer, and Autumn) that last for three months spread throughout the year and six one-day tournaments. The National League, which takes place January to April, is the most important competition. Delicata writes, "the first two two placed players (on alternate years), are eligible to represent Malta in the WSC." And, the person who wins the league, about 52 games long, is recognized as champion for the year.

This year, Delicata won the three league tournaments, and thus is the country's SCRABBLE® Grand Slam Champion. Malta's other WSC participant, Peter Elbourne, came in second in all three events. As a way of comparing their play, Delicata has won four major titles in his SCRABBLE® career, which is dwarfed by Elbourne's 17 wins. Thus, Delicata refers to Elbourne as the "overall winner."

Delicata has played in three tournaments abroad, all in the UK: Nottingham Nomads and twice at the Stoke Rochford tournament. This is his first WSC.

Two of Delicata's seminal plays are 10-letter words, SEPARATING and ELONGATION. He writes, "I once managed to join a bingo to another. My opponent played RETINAL. I played IB onto the L to make LIB. On my next move I played EASTING to form ER, AE, ST, TI, IN, NA, GLIB."

Long a member of the 600+ club, Delicata's most memorable win came in a game against Elbourne in the 2000 Autumn League. David won, 623-438.

When I brought up studying, Delicata confessed, "I do not study much, because I am not patient enough - perhaps three hours a week!" However when he does study, he uses excel spreadsheets on "groups of 7-letter words, 4-letter words, etc." Although he speaks Maltese and English, Delicata plays SCRABBLE® in English only.

Delicata thanks the SCRABBLE® club of Malta and the Ministry of Sports for helping him make this trip to the WSC.

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