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Back to 2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Live Coverage

2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Final Round 5

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Go to: Anagrams Championship, Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3, Final Round 4, Final Round 5.

Finals 5

The players shake the tile bag and the game is off.

Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) started the game with EELMNS? and he played LENSMEn for 72 points.

Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) held ACENOQT and played QAT for 28. If there was a U out, he might have played COTQUEAN.

Dave's turn now: AEENPRR I hear RAPE suggested by Jim Geary (Phoenix, AZ). And he does play Jim's find for 23. Panupol played BO for 21.

Dave now holds EERRNT?. There are about 40 bingos suggested by Maven. Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) says "there are lots, but none of them score much."

95-49, Dave's lead.

And we think he is going to take an even bigger lead after this play. Dave is shuffling his tiles looking for his best play. REENTERs thru the 2nd E in LENSMEN for 68. By making the blank an S, it closes off the board even more.

Panupol with CDDELON. He plays CLOD making OR and DE for 28.

Dave gets another break with AGINPRT. And PARTING/GRAPE for 72.

Panupol has ADEENOS. He opens up another triple-triple with ENDOSTEA thru the T in PARTING for 72.

Dave now has AAILLSU. He takes out the C triple-triple lane with AULIC for 21.

Panupol picks up EFIHOWW.

I've had Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON) take over the keyboard a couple of times so I could get photos!

Panupol plays HOW for 29. If he had played HOWF, Dave would have had a killer response.

Dave has AJLORTS. JOLE for 33 and the room applauds.

Panupol has OEEEIFW. He plays WIFE for 33.

Dave holds ACRSTUX. I hear XU from Jim Geary, but Dave plays RAX for 34.

Panupol has picked up a bad rack. DEEOOUV. Jim Geary laughs that he could almost play Catherine Deneuve. He played VOWED for 28 points, hanging a D in the triple lane.

Dave's turn and he holds CDEKSTU. Dave played KEETS through the second E for 68 points, and the room is so impressed. He also made the word HOWFS.

Panupol has EIINOUZ. He almost has UNIONIZE says Evan.

391-239, Dave's lead.

QUIZ, IODIZE have been suggested. Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) says that Panupol needs three bingos to catch up and there may not be enough tiles for that. Jim Kramer says only one U has been played so far. The play is QUIZ for 22.

Turn Dave and he holds ACDHFTU, and he plays CHUFA/KA for 45 points.

Panupol has EIINNOV. We are afraid for Panupol.

436-261. Ouch for the Thai player.

ALAN for 6 points, fishing... we think for ALIENISE?...

Dave had ADEOTTY and he played DYE for 35.

Panupol has EIIMNOV. Someone says he should fish again. He played IDIOM through the D for 22.

AGORTTY is Dave's rack. Evan says he could play GYROSTAT through an open S. Then Chris, about 2 seconds later said something about giving Dave a break and giving him an S. Like he needs anymore breaks this game!

YO for 30. And it now Panupol's turn.

501-289.

Panupol has ABEINUV and played NUBIA for 26.

Dave has AGIRSTT. With over a 200 point lead, it's safe to say that Dave will be the new champion. TRIGS for 22.

With EGIV, Panupol plays GIVE from the G for 16. And then Dave closes it out with TAV for 12.

Final score: Dave 529 Panupol 331

Congratulations to David Wiegand for becoming the 2005 NSC Champion!

Just as the game wound up, John D. Williams, Jr., approached the players and shared a private moment with them at the table, congratulating them on a wonderful finals.

Then it was a few interviews in the playing room for both players with Stefan Fatsis (Washington, DC), wearing his ESPN hat. Another interview for the nightly news feeds. When asked what he'll do with his prize winnings, the father of two said it would go to his girls' college funds. When pushed a bit further, he suspected he might spend some on the trip to London this fall for the World SCRABBLE^® Championships.

Dave was clearly overwhelmed with the win, his eyes sparkling with emotion as he answered all the questions with composure and amazing calmness. He was his own man, using understatement where some (myself included) might be prone to more demonstrative exclamations. I'm not sure just how fashion conscious Dave was this morning, but his blue shirt made his eyes appear even more blue (if that is even possible)!

Then it was Panupol's turn. And, lo and behold, the World SCRABBLE^® Champion is a mighty proficient English speaker! He spoke of playing SCRABBLE^® in English for 9 years, mentioning Thai tournaments with as many as 10,000 Thai players. He was thankful for the chance to play against such a great champion as Dave and referred to his opponent as one of the world's best players. He was gracious and charming. Wearing a San Diego NSC shirt, he assured the reporter that he was planning on returning next year.

The players entered the ballroom a few minutes later, David carrying daughter Melanie and being led toward the stage by daughter Samantha. Panupol, John D. Williams, Jr., and three of the four Wiegands stood on the stage to a standing ovation and thunderous applause. It was an emotional moment. John D. Williams, Jr., thanked the players for staging the best championship finals yet. Both players had a chance to speak to the crowd and both thanked one another for the great competition. Dave made a point of thanking champions who came before him and he hoped one day to inspire others the way he'd been inspired by the likes of Robert Felt, David Gibson, Joe Edley (Coram, NY), Trey Wright (Van Nuys, CA), etc. (and many others I am now not recalling, this is not all the names he brought up!).

The silver cup came out and the giant $25,000 check was presented and then it was over.

As the room quieted down and players began to file out, I heard Rita Norr (Danbury, CT) say to her friends, "let's go play some SCRABBLE^®!"