2012 in Review (Scrabble)
After a really impressive 2011 year, I expected the uptrend to continue in 2012. As it turned out, the rating I started the year with (1839) would be the highest rating I'd have all year, and I'd plummet all the way down to 1731 before settling at 1751. That's not what I'd call improvement or growth. As for club rating, I began the year at 1770, and I'm finishing somewhere between 1795 and 1800- the last week hasn't been rated yet but I assume I'll be right about in that range after going 2-1 last week. So really, there's not much improvement in either area.
2012 Highlights:
Won 2 1-days at 5-1 (also finished 5-1 at a third 1-day, but got 2nd).
Finished 3rd at the Texas State Championship in Waco and 4th in the other Texas State Championship in Salado.
2012 Lowlights:
10-10 +824 at the DO, losing 61 rating points.
13-18 +18 at nationals, losing 70 rating points.
Is it a coincidence that my worst tournaments are my longest ones? Not at all.
On to some stats:
2012 introductory rating: 1839
2012 final rating: 1751
Change: -88
W/L: 75-63-1
Win %: 54.3%
Spread: +3293
Avg for: 412.4
Avg against: 388.7
Tournaments played: 12
Tournaments won: 2
Top-half finishes: 9
Cashes: 8
Personally, I believe my biggest issue was quitting. I think I've shown through my play that I am capable of playing at a very high level when I want to. At the Austin multi-day, I beat the top 4 seeds- Cree, Barrett, Darrell Day, and Paul Holser... But my only other win was against Mike Early, and I finished 5-8. At the DO, after I fell out of the money I lost some winnable games. At nationals, I just went through the motions for the last three days after starting 5-2 and starting 0-6 on the 2nd day in a day where I legitimately drew 1 out of 12 blanks. Basically, I have a big issue with getting pissed off and going on tilt and playing hyper-aggressive Scrabble because I just want to beat people by 200. Sometimes it works (My day 2 afternoon at the DO: 3-0 +612) and sometimes it doesn't (0-4 in my last 4 games at the Austin tournament. I just need to grow up.
Goals for 2013:
I don't really want to set any goals this year. I think the more rational approach to take is "Learn some words when I have the time, focus more when I play, and try to do as well as I can." So that's what I'm gonna do.
Club stats:
W/L: 61-45
Win %: 57.5%
Games played: 106
Bingoes played: 221
Bingoes/game: 2.08