By Irishexaminer.com,Sarah Horgan

Copyright irishexaminer

As she prepares to take part in the All-Ireland Scrabble Championships in Waterford, Mary says that chance encounter with the Scrabble board sparked a passion for the word game that continues to grow. The Scrabble fanatic is looking forward to meeting dozens of other enthusiasts at Dooley’s Hotel in Waterford City on October 4 and 5.

With 15 games set to feature, the event is being organised by the All Ireland Scrabble Association.

Mary believes she has much to thank the game for. Since her late 20s, the octogenarian has made the world her Scrabble board, travelling to locations as diverse as Romania and Israel.

“One of the places where I played the game was Tiberias which is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.

“My parish priest told me I was the only person he knew who went to the Holy Land, not on a pilgrimage but to play Scrabble. That was in 2018 so before covid. It’s horrific to see what is happening now with the genocide. Sometimes I can’t believe the world is standing by and letting it happen.”

Berlin, Budapest, and Waterford

Before the Irish event, Mary will travelled to Berlin before taking a train to Budapest for the Continental Scrabble Championships this weekend.

“I have some Israeli friends who are coming to Budapest to play. Some of them are anti-genocide but sadly others are still on the side of the government.”

The now 80-year-old has fond memories of working as a nurse on the passenger liner the SS Australis, which transported Europeans heading down under to start a new life, and where she first saw a Scrabble board.

“When I opened it up I was intrigued. I could not believe there was such a game.

I was in my late 20s at the time and loved doing crosswords. That was what attracted me to the game.

“From that day on, everyone wanted to play against me.

“There were thousands on board the ship so it was more like a floating village.

“I was beating everyone so I suppose it was a challenge for people. I had a good vocabulary and was always anxious to learn new words.

“I never knew there were clubs or tournaments ’til I came back from abroad and I was looking after my mum.

“There was an ad in the newspaper with a PO box number inviting people to join a Scrabble club that was being formed. There were seven of us in the group and I’m the only one left.

“Scrabble has taken me all over the world. There are some countries that view Scrabble as a really important tool for learning. In Nigeria they teach it in schools and the government funds all the tournaments.”

Tsunami, prorogue, tzaddik…

“There are two words that I am probably most proud of. One of them was ‘tsunami’. It was before the tragedy in Indonesia so not many people were familiar with the word.

“I had it on my rack but nobody believed it was a real word until I told them that I thought it had something to do with the weather. It turned out I was right and they couldn’t believe it.

“The other one I’m proud of is ‘prorogue’ which became widely used during Brexit.”

Teenager ‘inherited’ Scrabble

Fourteen-year-old Jake Parkes from Meath and his brother Shane, 19, will be among the younger competitors in this year’s All-Ireland Scrabble Championships.

The brothers came across the game during a clear-out of their late grandfather’s house four years ago.

“It was Shane who found the game,” said Jake.

“As soon as he discovered it, he decided that this was what he was going to do. His goal was to learn it and be really good at it. I soon followed suit.

“My brother and I played together all the time.

“He went on searching to see if there was anything competitive. That was when we discovered there was a league in Ireland.

He has been my inspiration all this time and really encouraged me to get involved.

Jake hopes to inspire other young people his age to try out the board game.

“I think my brother and I were the only ones to have that sort of niche. The closest thing we had to something like this in school was the chess club, and even that’s quite small.

David v Goliath on a Scrabble board

“When it comes to my age group there is a huge focus on physical sports like rugby and football which of course are great too. I just think it’s sad that the love for board games isn’t there anymore.”

Jake has enjoyed the buzz of previous All-Ireland tournaments.

The highlight for me was probably winning the David and Goliath Prize.

“This is basically given out when the person with the lowest rating beats the person with the highest rating.

“I won a cash prize of €80 but I kept the envelope as a trophy. Your first one is always going to be special.”

Two-letter and three-letter words

Chris Broderick, who lives in Castlelyons, Co Cork, is the chairperson of the All Ireland Scrabble Association and the 1995 All-Ireland champion. She still remembers her victory.

“There are an average of six tournaments a year and one is the All-Ireland. I have played in the majority of them, mostly for fun. I won the Ireland 30 years ago in 1995.

“There has been a huge improvement in terms of competitors since and a lot of talented players have come on the scene. I was both shocked and stunned the time I won because it was unexpected.

“That was a long time ago. I’ve been playing it a very long time now so my husband has proven himself to be very tolerant.”

Chris says she has always been fascinated by words and says a game of Scrabble can never be boring as there is always a new combination on the board.

“There are so many words and they change over the years.

“An example of an unusual word I’ve come up with in Scrabble is tzaddik which is the name given in Judaism for a righteous person.”

The veteran shared her top tips for those starting out.

“The secret of improving your game is learning the two-letter and three-letter words. They are a limited resource but if you learn the small words, everything else will follow. With this in mind, the two- and three-letter words are key.”

Discover more at www.IrishScrabble.org