My name is Phil Kretschman. I play Scrabble in organized tournaments for some reason.
My December 2004 NSA rating is 1693, down from 1733 the previous month. My peak NSA rating is 1779 (August 2004).
I began playing this game formally, in clubs and online, in October of 2002. I started in the novice group and worked my way up to expert divisions rather quickly (at one point gaining almost 850 rating points in 9 months!). I've played twenty rated tournaments, with 4 first place finishes, 3 seconds and 1 third. I can frequently be found playing practice games on ISC, under the terribly clever handle 'pk'.
I recently "competed" in the National Scrabble Championship in New Orleans, LA, finishing 163rd out of 172 players in Division 1. I blame my abysmal performance on mental and emotional exhaustion after a series of close, agonizing losses to open Day 3. That and a serious lack of preparation in the weeks preceding the tournament. All personal tragedies accounted for, I had a lot of fun at my first NSC, and enjoyed the opportunity to play some of the best players in the world, including both the eventual champion Trey Wright and his runner-up David Gibson on Day 1.
I'm 27 years old, currently pursuing a computer science degree. I like Dr. Pepper and heavy music.