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Commentary: Before the Tournament

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9.

In a ballroom with views of the Qawra Palace Hotel pool to one side, and the Mediterranean Sea to the other, with palm trees and beach umbrellas flapping in the breeze, 52 players have gathered from 13 countries to play in the early bird warmup event at the ninth annual Malta International Scrabble Open. Welcome.

The public areas of the hotel have been redecorated since last year, and I'm personally pleased because the network infrastructure has seen a major upgrade, with much more bandwidth when it's working.

At the end of the announcements, a local player surprised me with a question I don't get asked too often: what is the greatest number of words that you are allowed to challenge at once? The answer is eight, because if your opponent played more than that, you should call the director over to discuss the overdraw.

We begin only 15 minutes late, after careful determination of which registered players are actually present (52/56), and which unregistered players are present (0).