We began 2020 with high hopes for our new Scrabble organization. We had scores of enthusiastic players on board, a handful of directors ready to run tournaments, and a calendar that was already pre-packed with six events. Soon, six events turned into nine. We were raring to go.

Unfortunately, life throws you a curveball sometimes. When we started this project last fall, we had no idea that a global pandemic was on the way that would threaten our health and safety and impede our daily lives. Like most everyone else, we've been completely thrown for a loop by the outbreak of COVID-19. We value the health and safety of our players and take the risk of COVID-19 seriously. Yesterday, we announced that our April tournament in Minneapolis will be cancelled; we're still evaluating options for our other events this spring, but the prospects don’t look great.

All of that is the bad news. Here's the good: All those enthusiastic players and directors are still around. We may all be stuck at home, but we still love the game and we still enjoy spending quality time with others in the community.

That's why we've decided to shift gears. This spring, instead of in-person Scrabble events, we're going to start holding virtual ones. We're ready to hit the ground running with the Computer Users' Remote Event (CURE). We may not have a cure for the coronavirus, but we can absolutely cure the boredom of being cooped up at home. Come join us and play some Scrabble!

The concept is simple - this Saturday, we're going to run a 1-day tournament that you can play from the comfort of your couch. All you've got to do is sign up and commit to being at your computer all day, and we'll handle the rest - pairings, standings, even live streaming. Each round, you'll meet your opponent on ISC and duke it out, then report back to us with the result.

This will be a fairly informal deal - there's no money and no rating on the line. All you need is a day of free time and an internet connection. We're planning to begin at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, 12:30 p.m. Eastern, and we ask that you please register in advance and show up on ISC or Twitch 15 minutes beforehand so that we can confirm who is ready to be paired.

We hope this tournament is a success! If you all like it, we will definitely consider running more events like it. If you want to make the most of your social distancing time, check out our new Virtual Tournaments page and sign up now. We hope to (remotely) see you Saturday.