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Congratulations to the 2001 World Champion, Brian Cappelletto!

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WSC 2001 Commentary: Before Round 1

Go to: Before Round 1, 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, Final Game 1, Final Game 2, Final Game 3, Final Game 4.

Kristen and I flew into Las Vegas on Thursday at noon to get the coverage started. With us on the same flight were Zev Kaufman (Canada), Christopher Sykes (Canada), his partner, his club director John Robertson, a CBC documentary film crew and Susan Spiegel of Hasbro Canada.

Sherrie will be taking over the commentary shortly with a report on the reception. I've posted just a few photos from the committee meeting and gala reception as a teaser.

After an early breakfast, the players milled into he event's home for the next several days, the Galileo 1001. Unlike at most tournaments, each set of players gets a table to themselves, so there is ample elbow room. Each table has a flag stand with two holes and a place for each contestant's flag. Thus, the international flavor of the tournament is unmistakable in many ways.

The event began with opening announcements by Laura Klein, the tournament's coordinator. Afterwards John D. Williams, Jr., the National SCRABBLE^® Association Executive Director made brief but poignant remarks. He touched upon how the world would be a better place if everybody just played SCRABBLE^®. And, he pointed out how important was this coming together of players from all over the world.

The last speaker was Charlie Southwell, the WSC 2001 Director. Just to make sure everyone was in the right room he made sure to point out that if we were in Las Vegas to rope cattle, then we were in the wrong building, but if we wanted to tackle a rack full of vowels, this was the place (a major rodeo competition is going on in Vegas for the next 10 days). His humor was appreciated and enjoyed.

Southwell's most serious announcement had to do with the tournament's challenge rule. Contrary to originally posted rules, but in keeping with the National SCRABBLE^® Association's #168 newsletter, the 5-point penalty for failed challenges will be added to the challenged player's score and not subtracted from the challenging player's score. Some materials at the event were inconsistent, so this clarification was necessary.

With only one or two players tardy, the event began pretty much on time. Next posting will detail changes in players.

HASBRO is the owner of the registered SCRABBLE^® trademark in the United States and Canada. © 2001 HASBRO. All rights reserved. "SCRABBLE^® Brand Crossword Game" is the proper way to refer to this unique group of word games and related properties marketed by HASBRO. "SCRABBLE^®" is not a generic term. To use it as such is not only misleading but also does injustice to the company responsible for the trademark's longtime popularity. All we ask is that when you mean SCRABBLE^® Brand Crossword Game, you say so. 

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