Summer Solstice Dublin Tournament, June 2025 – All Ireland Scrabble Association

Our Summer Solstice tournament was our first in Dublin in several years! Taking place on the Glasnevin campus of Dublin City University (DCU), we had 56 players – new faces, overseas players, regulars, young, old – a fantasic mix!

We played 15 games over the weekend, split over two divisions, and the competition was fierce. The winners of both divisions were already known before the last round, as they couldn’t be caught, with Group B being won by a new, previously unrated, player.

Full details of all the results can be seen on Centrestar, and below are the prizewinners and photos.

Division A winner was Feargal Weatherhead, with 12.5 wins and a spread of 799. In second place was Kevin McMahon with 10 wins and a spread of 1,073, and in third place was Oisin Dilger with 10 wins and a spread of 247.

In Division B, the winner was newcomer Maksim Orlov, with 14 wins and a spread of 1,258, while second place went to Shane Parkes with 11 wins and a spread of 952, and third place went to Bríd Ní Bhriain with 11 wins and a spread of 552.

The David and Goliath prize in Division A went to Theresa Lyes for her win against Kevin McMahon, and in Division B went to Jake Parkes for his win against Kieran Brosnan (Jake actually took the top 5 spots in the Ratings Upsets report, which is what the D&G prize is based on – those Parkes brothers are a force to be reckoned with!)

The high word score in Division A went to Ronan Dance – the word was CANEWARE, for a fantastic score of 208.

The high word in Division B was officially Maksim Orlov (EQUIPES for a score of 103), but as he won the group he wasn’t entitled to another prize. The next highest was a 4-way tie between Mary Doyle (INDITED), Dominick Tobin (SQUINTY), Anna Dottle (APLENTY) and Paula Ryan (HEATING), all for scores of 96. We did a draw for the prize and it went to Paula.

The prize for best newcomer also was officially Maksim Orlov, but as he had already won the division that prize was awarded to the next in line, Dominick Tobin.