BlitzChamps Week 5: Who could make a Cinderella run?
I remember a couple of months back, when we first unveiled the format for the World Blitz Scrabble Championship, there was a little bit of a backlash against the way we decided to structure the event. We saw the comments. A few people wondered aloud why we were bothering with a long, arduous 9-week slog of pool play when ultimately, it was pretty clear who would rise to the top.
"Who cares about all these prelim rounds?" some asked. "There are only 2 or 3 players in each group who have a chance, anyway."
We didn't let these comments bother us much. Haters gonna hate, and so forth. Running this tournament is a lot of work, and we don't really have the time or the energy to address every complaint from the peanut gallery.
Also, judging from how the tournament has unfolded so far... perhaps those complaints weren't entirely true?
We're now through five rounds of BlitzChamps pool play, with four still to go. At this point, there are a number of players who began this tournament outside the top 3 seeds in their groups but are now in contention. I thought today we'd take a look at some of the potential Cinderella stories of the event - some of the lower-seeded players who have emerged with a real shot to make a deep run in the tournament.
In particular, let's look at these 10.
Anand Bharadwaj
Current standing: 5-0, 40-5, first place in the Aardvark Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Harry Wiggins, Week 7 vs. David Eldar, Week 8 vs. Weibin Toh
Outlook: Anand came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in his group, but he's so far been absolutely dominant against every Aardvark he's faced. Even against a couple of very solid players in recent weeks, he had little trouble, going 7-2 against Kevin Fraley and 9-0 against Shan Abbasi. This puts him very solidly in the race for one of the two playoff spots out of his group. Obviously, the road ahead is still difficult, as he's got to get past David and Weibin in the weeks to come, and both of those players are undefeated too. This looks to be a close race, and Anand is in the thick of it.
Jackson Smylie
Current standing: 4-1, 33-12, third place in the Chipmunk Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 7 vs. Jesse Day, Week 8 vs. Chris Grubb
Outlook: Jackson is one of the top players in the American lexicon, but we're about to find out if he can hold his own against world-class competition in the big book. He's 4-1 in this tournament so far, but he's heading into an absolutely huge showdown against Jesse next week, and then Chris after that. That two-week stretch will likely determine whether Jackson has a legit shot at winning this thing. Based on his results thus far, it'd be foolish to count him out.
Janul de Silva
Current standing: 4-1, 28-17, fourth place in the Chipmunk Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Jesse Day, Week 9 vs. Dipankar Chatterjee
Outlook: Janul came into this tournament as a No. 5 seed, but he's already proven capable of punching above his weight. He scored a big upset earlier in the tournament when he beat Jackson pretty decisively, 7-2, and he's taken care of business against lower seeds as well. Given his remaining schedule, it's not inconceivable that Janul could make up some ground and sneak into the top two by tournament's end. That's especially true if he scores an upset win over Jesse this week, but that's easier said than done...
Dipankar Chatterjee
Current standing: 3-2, 26-19, fifth place in the Chipmunk Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Chris Grubb, Week 9 vs. Janul de Silva
Outlook: Dipankar had a real shot at being 4-1 in the tournament, but he lost a heartbreaker this weekend to Jackson, running out of time in the final game and falling 5-4. With two losses, is he still in the hunt? I'd say it's going to be tough, but not impossible. He's already gotten Jesse and Jackson out of the way, but he's got two more crucial head-to-head meetings ahead of him in Chris and Janul. He probably needs to win them both to stay alive. We'll see!
Peter Armstrong
Current standing: 4-1, 34-11, tied for second place in the Dingo Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Martin DeMello, Week 7 vs. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, Week 8 vs. Evans Clinchy
Outlook: It feels a little silly to even call Pete a Cinderella - he's one of the best players in the world and he's got multiple cashes in championship-level events to show for it. But hey, technically he's a No. 4 seed! It counts. He and I are currently exactly tied for second place in our group, and we're far from the only ones competing for a top-two spot - Conrad, Martin, Cedric Lewis, and Jakob Teitelbaum are all duking it out with us. It's six players vying for two spots, a total bloodbath. Pete's got a hard schedule in front of him, too, with three straight tough matches against his competitors in the playoff race. If he can win two out of those three, I like his chances.
(Having said that, I'll be trying to stop him!)
Cedric Lewis
Current standing: 4-1, 29-16, fourth place in the Dingo Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, Week 7 vs. Jakob Teitelbaum
Outlook: Cedric came in as a No. 5 in the Dingo Group, but he's since proven that he's capable of beating anyone he plays. (I should know - he made quick work of me a couple weeks ago!) With wins over me and Pete already under his belt, he's already survived a pretty tough portion of the schedule, and he's got two major challenges left - Conrad and Jakob these next two weeks. He may need to win them both to stay alive, since he's a little behind me and Pete in the game wins column. But given how he's played so far, I wouldn't put that past him.
Lukeman Owolabi
Current standing: 4-1, 34-11, third place in the Emu Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Will Anderson, Week 7 vs. Doug Brockmeier
Outlook: Lukeman is a No. 5 seed, but he's no ordinary No. 5. He already proved his mettle in online competition by winning the virtual New Orleans event earlier this year, and he's very much a threat in this tournament as well. He lost a heartbreaker to Ben Schoenbrun a couple weeks ago, 5-4, but he's been unbeatable otherwise, and he's got a shot at coming out the Emu Group if he can notch an upset against Will this weekend. If he loses, the road to the playoffs is much tougher, seeing as both Will and Bnjy remain undefeated.
Matthew O'Connor
Current standing: 5-0, 33-12, second place in the Falcon Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 7 vs. Paul Gallen, Week 8 vs. Piotr Andronowski
Outlook: It feels a little weird calling Matthew an underdog, since this is a blitz tournament and Matthew is one of the absolute best at high-speed Scrabble. But again - technically a No. 4, so it counts! Matthew is undefeated so far in this tournament, but his matches haven't been easy. He squeaked out a 5-4 win over Josh Sokol, another 5-4 against Irfan Siddiqui, and a 6-3 win on Saturday over Jack Moran that ended in ridiculous fashion - Jack went over on time by two seconds in the final game, and Matthew won 512-511. In any event, undefeated is undefeated! Matthew is currently holding a top-two spot, but he'll be put to the test in the weeks to come, with Paul and Piotr both lurking.
Irfan Siddiqui
Current standing: 4-1, 30-15, fourth place in the Falcon Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 6 vs. Paul Gallen, Week 7 vs. Josh Sokol
Outlook: Irfan is standing tall at 4-1, but it was a tough battle for him to get to this point, including a couple of close matches against competitors in the playoff race. Three weeks ago, he lost a squeaker to Matthew, 4-5; the following round, he bounced back and beat Piotr, 5-4. Now, he's got two really crucial matchups coming. If he can score upset wins over Paul and Josh, Irfan may have a shot here - but that's a big "if." We'll soon find out whether he can pull it off.
Aaron Bader
Current standing: 5-0, 28-17, second place in the Hippo Group
Key upcoming matches: Week 7 vs. Austin Shin, Week 9 vs. Geoff Thevenot
Outlook: Aaron is undefeated at 5-0, but it's a weird 5-0. Of all 14 players left in this tournament still unbeaten in matches, he's the only one who's won this few games. His results these first five weeks have gone: 5-4 win, 6-3 win, 5-4 win, 5-4 win, 7-2 win. But hey, undefeated is undefeated! Aaron is right up there with Austin at the top of the standings, and he's got a shot to stay there. The two 5-0 players in the Hippo Group go head to head soon, and we'll find out then whether Aaron can stay atop the standings.
For all 10 of the players above, these next few weeks will be pivotal. All of them have a shot to advance out of their groups - and once you make the final 16, anything can happen! Keep your eye on these guys in the weeks to come.
To find out who they're playing and when, our live coverage page is just one click away.