Word-Sport associate Mike Whelan leads in game play demonstrations on Friday evening and all day Saturday.


Joan Rayford poses with the best ever time of 1:15:03 during the all day Saturday play sessions.


The record setting play of Joan Rayford on Saturday afternoon.


Tournament on Sunday. Left to right: Jim Daniels, Dovanna Lividini, Mike Whelan, Maria Sawczuk and Dave Patch.


Top tournament performers: Jim Daniels, Brenda Sible, Dave Patch and Dovanna Lividini at Sunday morning’s awards ceremony.

Word-Sport® was invited to the 28th annual gathering of the Southeast Michigan chapter of the Mensa Society. John Daniels, who I met at the Divine Caffé games night in March, was impressed with our tournament format and thought it would be highly appropriate for the convention. Who better to play an academic word game then the members of Mensa, the high IQ society.

The three day convention which featured speakers, games, the Mensa Bowl and other activities was located in near-by Farmington Hills, MI. at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Hotel. We set up the tournament table for demonstrations in the spacious lobby. Mike Whelan was on hand to introduce our fast-break word game to the some 200 Mensans who would attend the convention which began on Friday evening.

Off to a fast start, then record win times
People immediately picked up on the game and the tournament format. Win times started below two minutes and continuously improved with each round played. People were enthusiastic with the simplicity and speed of play. Dave Patch kept coming back, winning many rounds and made some impressive play, including using the word “friendlier”. The most impressive word played in a round of play was “residential” by Dovanna Lividini.

As win times kept improving, Dave Patch broke the record set at the 2004 Foundation Convention of 1:27:99 with a blistering 1:15:70! Then Joan Rayford later won with 1:15:03. Think of it... this is three seconds per letter. See why we register win times to the hundredths of a second? Joan developed her proficiency of word play by being a fan and player of “UP-Words” made by Hasbro. Joan works in near-by Troy, MI. for the accounting/ finance firm of Dickson Allen.

Sunday Tournament... Awesome finish!
In our first organized tournament, we decided to play a “first place finish stays at the table” format. The other three players would rotate in and out. First, second and third place ultimately would be determined by the three fastest win times. Play started well for games enthusiast John Daniels won the first three games of the tournament with win times consistently under two minutes. Dave Patch managed to take a few wins as it looked like either Dave or John would be the ultimate winner.

After many rounds of play, it was time for the final game. Brenda Sible played many rounds, but never finished in first place. But in this final round, she not only finished first, she also finished with the best time of the tournament with an impressive time of 1:18:33, just about three seconds from the record best. People were stunned with her finish as Dave Patch came in second with a win time of 1:20:27 and John Daniels came in third with his best time of 1:32:05. We awarded prizes of the choice of personal calculators to each of the three winners.

Closing Thoughts
In all, this three day convention came out better then expected. The setting in the elegant lobby was fantastic. We also had the highest caliber of players to date. Those who saw the game immediately picked up on our tournament format. It was also a good way to demonstrate what we were about to Mensans who came from other states to this regional gathering. We got some invitations to be present at upcoming conventions in Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh, PA. The gathering in Pittsburgh looks the best as it falls on Labor Day weekend, which I can work into my schedule.

We also learned how to run a quick tournament using what Mike Whelan calls the Highlander format. We also made the decision to allocate twenty five letter tiles to each player before play begins. We look forward to future game play amongst the members of the Mensa Society. Special thanks to James and Lynne Draper, co-chairs of this years SEMMantics Convention.