Charles Merlis [#97] at 2004 National SCRABBLE® Championship

[ Congratulations to the new National Champion, Trey Wright, who defeated David Gibson in three straight games, 365-328, 355-344 and 429-328. Please tune in to ESPN to watch the final games at 1 P.M. ET on Sunday, October 3rd, 2004. We welcome your e-mailed corrections to our web site. ]

On this page, you will find information about Charles Merlis, who is a contestant in Division 2 at the 2004 National SCRABBLE® Championship, held July 31st - August 5th in New Orleans, LA. This page is updated at least hourly between 09:00 A.M. and midnight CDT. Merlis currently has a record of 14-16, -269, and is ranked #90 in Division 2.

Lower on this page, you can find brief self-reported biographical details of the player, statistics on the player's past several years of rated tournament play in North America, a graphic showing the player's ups and downs at this tournament, and a round-by-round report on the player's opponents and games.

Background Information
	Given name(s): Charles Surname(s): Merlis Home: West Hartford, CT, United States Age: 63 Awards: 15thPlace in 1980 National Scrabble Championship in Santa Monica Hobbies: running, scrabble, go, skiing, tennis Occupation: Actor, attorney

Career History

5-year record against other players at this event	14-20 (0.412)
Past 1-12 months	1-0 (1.000)	W
Past 13-24 months	no games
Past 25-36 months	5-5 (0.500)	L WW L W L WW LL
Past 37-48 months	3-3 (0.500)	LL W L WW
Past 49-60 months	5-12 (0.294)	LLLLLLLLL W LLL WWWW

Rank Diagram

[rank diagram]
See legend

Round-by-Round
High score: 451 Average for: 369 Average against: 378
Round 1		Merlis played #61 Win Inthara (Winter Park, FL) and lost 308 to 373 (a spread of -65) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Inthara in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #106. Current record: 0-1, -65. Merlis is mentioned in this round's photo captions (1 hit).
Round 2		Merlis played #69 Roy Kamen (Covina, CA) and lost 310 to 409 (a spread of -99) . The last time these two played was 2000-03 at: DANBURY, CT Merlis's record vs. Kamen in the 5 years leading up to this event: 0-1 (0.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: L. Current ranking: #117. Current record: 0-2, -164.
Round 3		Merlis played #131 David Stokoe (Windsor ON) and lost 371 to 386 (a spread of -15) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Stokoe in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #120. Current record: 0-3, -179.
Round 4		Merlis played #98 Nick Meyer (Berkeley, CA) and lost 326 to 584 (a spread of -258) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Meyer in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #135. Current record: 0-4, -437.
Round 5		Merlis played #85 Frank Lee (Cincinnati, OH) and lost 393 to 443 (a spread of -50) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Lee in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #135. Current record: 0-5, -487.
Round 6		Merlis played #99 Andrea Carla Michaels (San Francisco, CA) and won 381 to 328 (a spread of 53) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Michaels in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #131. Current record: 1-5, -434.
Round 7		Merlis played #125 Arline Silverman (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) and lost 376 to 382 (a spread of -6) . The last time these two played was 2000-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Merlis's record vs. Silverman in the 5 years leading up to this event: 0-1 (0.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: L. Current ranking: #130. Current record: 1-6, -440.
Round 8		Merlis played #108 Prachya Pitapho (Thailand) and lost 360 to 379 (a spread of -19) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Pitapho in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #133. Current record: 1-7, -459.
Round 9		Merlis played #91 Mary A. Lyons (Coatesville, PA) and won 378 to 328 (a spread of 50) . The last time these two played was 2000-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Merlis's record vs. Lyons in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-1 (0.500). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: LW. Current ranking: #127. Current record: 2-7, -409.
Round 10		Merlis played #112 Phillip Reckford (Coconut Grove, FL) and lost 316 to 352 (a spread of -36) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Reckford in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #131. Current record: 2-8, -445.
Round 11		Merlis played #77 Yvonne Knickerbocker (Santa Monica, CA) and won 376 to 361 (a spread of 15) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Knickerbocker in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #128. Current record: 3-8, -430.
Round 12		Merlis played #10 Verna Richards Berg (New York, NY) and won 380 to 368 (a spread of 12) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Berg in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #122. Current record: 4-8, -418.
Round 13		Merlis played #135 Thavachai Thivavarnvongs (Thailand) and won 399 to 365 (a spread of 34) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Thivavarnvongs in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #107. Current record: 5-8, -384.
Round 14		Merlis played #126 Rebecca Slivka (Seattle, WA) and lost 364 to 457 (a spread of -93) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Slivka in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #120. Current record: 5-9, -477.
Round 15		Merlis played #14 Lorraine Burton (Baltimore, MD) and lost 372 to 418 (a spread of -46) . The last time these two played was 2002-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Merlis's record vs. Burton in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-0 (1.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: W. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: no games. Current ranking: #124. Current record: 5-10, -523.
Round 16		Merlis played #11 Benjamin Bloom (Sunny Isles, FL) and won 413 to 304 (a spread of 109) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Bloom in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #115. Current record: 6-10, -414.
Round 17		Merlis played #137 Barbara Van Alen (Chandler, AZ) and lost 313 to 412 (a spread of -99) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Van Alen in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #122. Current record: 6-11, -513.
Round 18		Merlis played #37 Evelyn A. Enszer (Saginaw, MI) and won 431 to 316 (a spread of 115) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Enszer in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #113. Current record: 7-11, -398.
Round 19		Merlis played #135 Thavachai Thivavarnvongs (Thailand) and won 451 to 372 (a spread of 79) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Thivavarnvongs in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #104. Current record: 8-11, -319.
Round 20		Merlis played #56 David Hermanson (Temple City, CA) and won 383 to 324 (a spread of 59) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Hermanson in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #95. Current record: 9-11, -260.
Round 21		Merlis played #140 Lynda Wise (Toronto ON) and lost 314 to 384 (a spread of -70) . The last time these two played was 2002-07 at: ALBANY, NY Merlis's record vs. Wise in the 5 years leading up to this event: 0-1 (0.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: L. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: no games. Current ranking: #102. Current record: 9-12, -330.
Round 22		Merlis played #128 Florence Spanfelner (Baltimore, MD) and won 364 to 359 (a spread of 5) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Spanfelner in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #94. Current record: 10-12, -325.
Round 23		Merlis played #4 Shah Ali (Herndon, VA) and lost 352 to 354 (a spread of -2) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Ali in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #102. Current record: 10-13, -327.
Round 24		Merlis played #15 Cheryl Cadieux (Bay City, MI) and won 336 to 324 (a spread of 12) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Cadieux in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #93. Current record: 11-13, -315.
Round 25		Merlis played #20 Connie Creed (Cheltenham, PA) and won 342 to 304 (a spread of 38) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Creed in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #80. Current record: 12-13, -277.
Round 26		Merlis played #1 Chuck Abbate (Quispamsis NB) and lost 410 to 431 (a spread of -21) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Abbate in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #92. Current record: 12-14, -298.
Round 27		Merlis played #22 T. Matthew De Waelsche (San Antonio, TX) and won 399 to 308 (a spread of 91) . Before this event, Merlis had not played De Waelsche in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #79. Current record: 13-14, -207.
Round 28		Merlis played #1 Chuck Abbate (Quispamsis NB) and lost 381 to 460 (a spread of -79) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Abbate in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #92. Current record: 13-15, -286.
Round 29		Merlis played #82 Cason Lane (San Diego, CA) and lost 308 to 359 (a spread of -51) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Lane in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #100. Current record: 13-16, -337.
Round 30		Merlis played #139 Mary Ellen Weisskopf (Huntsville, AL) and won 451 to 383 (a spread of 68) . Before this event, Merlis had not played Weisskopf in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #90. Current record: 14-16, -269.

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