Arts
‘We’re not nerds, Scrabble is a cool game’
Coffehousing is the act of distracting an opponent by talking incessantly. Usually used in games such as Bridge and Scrabble, coffeehousing can prove quite distracting to a novice player. However, it is something which the Sri Lanka Under-18 Scrabble team is adept at handling. “If an opponent decides to use this tactic on us, we just continue nodding our heads and pretend to listen while actually planning out our game so that they keep talking and end up distracting themselves,” says Sri Lanka’s Under-18 champion for 2016 Janul De Silva.
Sri Lanka’s Under-18 team garnered many honours at the Youth Scrabble Championship in Perth, Australia last year, and the squad now preparing for this year’s World Youth Scrabble Championship, to be held in Lillie, France in August say they are ready for some stiff opposition. The team has encountered opponents who stare at them, play fast or even cry to intimidate them. However they are confident of their chances this time around as well.
The Sri Lanka team for this tournament comprises Aabid Ismail, Janul De Silva (Royal College), Migara Jayasinghe,Thavalakshman Yoganathan (Lyceum Internationa, Wattala), Vignesh Pirapaharan (Lyceum International, Panadura), Radinka Dissanayake (Bishop’s College), Hayati Rassool, Thirandi de Silva (Ladies’ College), Hansi Weerasooriya (Musaeus College) and Danusha Muhandiramge (Lyceum International, Nugegoda).
The team was selected by the Sri Lanka Scrabble League. Selections are done according to your ‘peak rating’ – a rating which is assigned to each player after analysing their performance over a period of time. The ten players with the highest ratings are chosen for the tournament. The League also gives them the opportunity to take part in workshops and train together.
The difference between this tournament and all the other tournaments in Sri Lanka is the fact that they will win or lose as a team this time, which is in stark contrast to the competitive games they usually play as individuals.
At last year’s tournament, Janul de Silva was adjudged best player in the under 14 category with Vignesh Pirapaharan placed second in the same category. Janul was also fourth overall. Thirandi de Silva was the only girl in the Top Ten claiming 6th place. Migara Jayasinghe (previous winner of the Under 14 and Under 12 titles), making his 6th appearance won the prize for the highest game with a staggering 693 points in the very first round of the tournament.
Veteran Lambotharan Yoganathan, making his final WYSC appearance came in 8th (trophies are awarded to top 10 players). Thus Sri Lanka became the only country with three finishers in the Top Ten and won the award for the best team. This is the first time that Sri Lanka won the team award, the team having been placed third in 2014.
Scrabble is all about mental strength, they agree. In fact, one of the aspects they most look forward to is the sense of camaraderie which is built over the course of the tournament. “We share information about the players with our team and we bond over strategies and laugh over the good times,” says Vignesh Pirapaharan.
The world championship takes place at the Grand Palais in Lillie, France from August 27-29. They have been studying anagrams, mnemonics and ‘stems’ and a lot of time is spent using computer programs which analyse their performance so that they know their strengths and weaknesses in order to have an edge over other competitors.
“In the end, everyone must figure out their own tactics,” says Janul. They also work hard to figure out how their opponent responds to different moves and try to play a game which works to their advantage. “You might be terrified inside but you need to pretend that you have everything together,” says Hansi Weerasooriya. They all feel that a ‘poker face’ is vital for not just poker but also for Scrabble.
Scrabble is not given the recognition it deserves, they feel. “People look at us as nerds or label us as ‘uncool’ without actually looking deeper and seeing how cool Scrabble really is,” says Hayati Rasool. People should view the game with an open mind, adds Thirandi de Silva.
Playing Scrabble is a great learning experience which teaches you mathematics, strategy, common sense and logic among other things, they point out. Passionate about the game, they feel Scrabble should gain more popularity because it is a most intriguing game which most people would grow to love if they just gave it a try.