One of our members, Pat, took part in the Winter Matchplay Scrabble tournament held in Milton Keynes on November 22nd – 23rd 2025. Here is her report:
"In November I took part in the Winter Matchplay, which is a long-running tournament in Milton Keynes. As usual I stayed at the Holiday Inn, where the weekend tournament took place. There were 44 players, but only two divisions. Most players were in A. There was some tough opposition, I was player 8 of the 12 in division B.
There was an assortment of players, including a young lad and his grandmother. There was also an experiment with live streaming a game, which they hope to use at Reading's UK Open. (The live stream is here ABSP Tournament Scrabble UK - YouTube )
There were 10 games on Saturday, of which I won 3. I encountered my first total recount, which was requested by a player I had beaten by 5 points. This used up valuable time from an already short lunch break. The result of the recount was that I had actually won by 6 points.
I had a better day on Sunday, winning 5 of the 8 games. I was pleased that my rating increased by one point, now standing at 99, one point away from the elusive 100."