3 Mishawaka residents among 300 competitors at Scrabble Players Championship here

SOUTH BEND — The 300 players seated along rows of tables and chairs throughout the room are silent. No noise is heard except a strange rustling sound, as players hunt for tiles to form words on the board before them. Referees in striped shirts roam the room, monitoring the dozens of games taking place simultaneously.

It is a room full of wordsmiths, brought together in one room for the pinnacle event of the year — the Scrabble Players Championship .

This year’s event, the 33 ^rd annual championship, is in South Bend for the first time, bringing Scrabble players from 10 different countries to Century Center . Taking place from Saturday, July 20, to Thursday, July 25, the tournament includes players of all levels, from casual enthusiasts to highly decorated champions competing for the $10,000 grand prize.

John Chew is the CEO of the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA), the organization that puts on the tournament each year. He said that while there is “money and bragging rights” on the line, players are mostly there to have fun and meet others with a passion for the game.

Chew added that participants even play games after the tournament ends for the day, and the break room is often full of participants playing pickup games, the air filled with the sound of tiles akin to “a whole bunch of angry rattlesnakes in the distance.”

“These are not just people who are enjoying playing Scrabble,” he said. “If you’re going to spend a week in South Bend playing Scrabble all day long, you really, really enjoy Scrabble.”

Chew said players are divided into five divisions, depending on their skill level, rating and preferred method of play.

The groups run from Division 1, which includes players with the highest ratings, to Division 4, which is composed of more casual players. Participants preferring to play with an international dictionary are sorted into the Collins Scrabble Words (CSW) division, usually to help them keep up their skills for international play.

Within their individual division, players are divided into pairs for matches using a 25-minute chess clock. Each game features custom tournament equipment, with players bringing their own often colorful and customized tile bags and rotating Scrabble boards.

Two games are featured and broadcast live on the tournament’s Twitch stream — the top boards from the Division 1 and CSW groups — complete with live, professional commentary. Anyone with some vocabulary words and skills to show off can test your mettle against tournament participants Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

St Joseph County is home to three players taking part in this year’s tournament. Mishawaka resident Derek Allen is playing in Division 4; he said that while he has been playing Scrabble for 40 years, he has been playing seriously for less than a year.

“I’m much better at crosswords,” he said. “It’s a different skill set, but it’s a love of words that is common.”

Fellow Mishawaka resident Greg Rogers, from Division 3, said he and Allen are “the home team.” Rogers has been playing Scrabble seriously for around 15 years, and this year’s championship is his third national tournament.

His advice for new Scrabble players? Learn words with two letters, because longer words are not necessarily the best words.

“Scrabble is a math game disguised as a word game,” he said.

Roger Blaine from Mishawka is part of Division 4, having been playing Scrabble for around 25 years. A retired librarian, Blaine said he is “tuned into language and words” and has experience with dictionaries, making Scrabble the perfect game for him.

He said that even though he loves tournament play, he still enjoys playing games for fun with friends and family and even attends local Scrabble clubs in Mishawaka and Elkhart.

Having been involved in the planning of tournaments since 2009, Chew said South Bend is “an ideal location” for the tournament. He said Century Center is the perfect-sized venue for the event, and players have enjoyed the wide variety of restaurants within walking distance of the venue, not to mention the sunny weather.

“I don’t know why we haven’t been here in the past,” Chew said. “It’s this combination of scenery, location, facilities — you don’t see this in too many places.”

Jeff Jarnecke, executive director of Visit South Bend Mishawaka , was involved in organizing and bringing the tournament to South Bend; he said the process began around four years ago when his team submitted an application to NASPA.

Jarnecke said the Scrabble championship is a unique event compared to others held in the area because of its international appeal, bringing together hundreds of players from around the world.

“Unlike some events that might be a little bit more regional in nature, this event literally is bringing in competitors and their families from all over the world to come and experience what we have going on in St Joseph County,” he said. “We’re just excited to be able to extend that Hoosier hospitality and welcome them to South Bend.”

Chew said Scrabble is a unique game because it is welcoming to a “broad diversity of people.” Individuals can enjoy Scrabble, regardless of age and level of mobility; Chew said tournaments sometimes have blind or deaf players who are able to play alongside hearing and seeing competitors, and this year’s tournament included players with wheelchairs and walkers.

“There’s no socio-economic barriers to playing in the game,” he said. “We have Black people, white people, rich people, poor people, people who have opposing political views, religious views, everything, and we just all agree to set it aside. It’s a beautiful thing.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 3 Mishawaka residents among 300 competitors at Scrabble Players Championship here