Jeff Widergren [#174] at 2004 National SCRABBLE® Championship

[ Congratulations to the new National Champion, Trey Wright, who defeated David Gibson in three straight games, 365-328, 355-344 and 429-328. Please tune in to ESPN to watch the final games at 1 P.M. ET on Sunday, October 3rd, 2004. We welcome your e-mailed corrections to our web site. ]

On this page, you will find information about Jeff Widergren, who is a contestant in Division 1 at the 2004 National SCRABBLE® Championship, held July 31st - August 5th in New Orleans, LA. This page is updated at least hourly between 09:00 A.M. and midnight CDT. Widergren currently has a record of 17-13, +681, and is ranked #39 in Division 1.

Lower on this page, you can find brief self-reported biographical details of the player, statistics on the player's past several years of rated tournament play in North America, a graphic showing the player's ups and downs at this tournament, and a round-by-round report on the player's opponents and games.

Background Information
	Given name(s): Jeff Surname(s): Widergren Home: Los Gatos, CA, United States Age: 42 Awards: 2nd 95 Reno, 95 World Team, 15+ local victories; 2003-11 Los Gatos, CA Hobbies: Golf, Kids Occupation: Firmware engineer WSC 1995 Rank: 35

Career History

5-year record against other players at this event	58-50 (0.537)
Past 1-12 months	5-3 (0.625)	W L W L W L WW
Past 13-24 months	3-7 (0.300)	W LLLLLLL WW
Past 25-36 months	19-21 (0.475)	LLLL WWW LL W LL WW LLL WW L WW L WW L WW L W LL WW LL W LL W
Past 37-48 months	15-7 (0.682)	LLL WWW L W L WWW L WWWWW L WWW
Past 49-60 months	16-12 (0.571)	W L WW LLLL W L W L WWWWWW L WW LL WWW LL

Rank Diagram

[rank diagram]
See legend

Round-by-Round
High score: 577 Average for: 402 Average against: 380
Before the Tournament		Widergren is mentioned in this round's photo captions (2 hits).
Round 1		Widergren played #115 Steve Oliger (Holtwood, PA) and won 497 to 320 (a spread of 177) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Oliger in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #11. Current record: 1-0, +177. Widergren is mentioned in this round's photo captions (1 hit).
Round 2		Widergren played #13 Neil Bines (Whitestone, NY) and lost 316 to 470 (a spread of -154) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Bines in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #80. Current record: 1-1, +23.
Round 3		Widergren played #59 Dominic Grillo (Somerset, NJ) and won 403 to 384 (a spread of 19) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Grillo in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #72. Current record: 2-1, +42.
Round 4		Widergren played #165 Cheryl Tyler (Lubbock, TX) and lost 384 to 422 (a spread of -38) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Tyler in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #89. Current record: 2-2, +4.
Round 5		Widergren played #48 Marty Gabriel (Berwyn, IL) and lost 326 to 515 (a spread of -189) . The last time these two played was 2000-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Widergren's record vs. Gabriel in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-0 (1.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: W. Current ranking: #125. Current record: 2-3, -185. Widergren is mentioned in this round's photo captions (1 hit).
Round 6		Widergren played #135 Nigel Richards (Malaysia) and lost 318 to 472 (a spread of -154) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Richards in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #147. Current record: 2-4, -339.
Round 7		Widergren played #99 Mark Milan (Laguna Niguel, CA) and lost 349 to 416 (a spread of -67) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Milan in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #153. Current record: 2-5, -406. Widergren is mentioned in this round's commentary (1 hit).
Round 8		Widergren played #168 John Viloria (New York, NY) and won 405 to 373 (a spread of 32) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Viloria in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #139. Current record: 3-5, -374.
Round 9		Widergren played #80 Mark Kenas (Madison, WI) and lost 373 to 465 (a spread of -92) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Kenas in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #150. Current record: 3-6, -466.
Round 10		Widergren played #87 Judith Levitt (Los Angeles, CA) and won 385 to 363 (a spread of 22) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Levitt in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #136. Current record: 4-6, -444.
Round 11		Widergren played #82 Rose Kreiswirth (East Northport, NY) and won 519 to 289 (a spread of 230) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Kreiswirth in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #113. Current record: 5-6, -214.
Round 12		Widergren played #39 Joel Elkins (West Hollywood, CA) and won 577 to 332 (a spread of 245) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Elkins in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #83. Current record: 6-6, +31. Widergren is mentioned in this round's commentary (1 hit). Widergren is mentioned in this round's photo captions (1 hit).
Round 13		Widergren played #21 Eric Chaikin (West Hollywood, CA) and won 492 to 391 (a spread of 101) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Chaikin in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #71. Current record: 7-6, +132.
Round 14		Widergren played #50 Jim Geary (Glendale, AZ) and lost 299 to 415 (a spread of -116) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Geary in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #84. Current record: 7-7, +16.
Round 15		Widergren played #34 Mark DiBattista (Astoria, NY) and won 456 to 383 (a spread of 73) . The last time these two played was 2002-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Widergren's record vs. DiBattista in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-1 (0.500). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: W. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: L. Current ranking: #68. Current record: 8-7, +89.
Round 16		Widergren played #109 Rita Norr (Danbury, CT) and won 410 to 393 (a spread of 17) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Norr in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #59. Current record: 9-7, +106.
Round 17		Widergren played #171 Bruce Ward (San Francisco, CA) and won 367 to 276 (a spread of 91) . The last time these two played was 2003-11 at: LOS GATOS, CA Widergren's record vs. Ward in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-2 (0.333). Past 1-12 months: W. Past 13-24 months: L. Past 25-36 months: L. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: no games. Current ranking: #51. Current record: 10-7, +197.
Round 18		Widergren played #67 Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD) and lost 401 to 409 (a spread of -8) . The last time these two played was 2000-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Widergren's record vs. Hill in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-0 (1.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: W. Current ranking: #58. Current record: 10-8, +189. Widergren is mentioned in this round's commentary (1 hit).
Round 19		Widergren played #59 Dominic Grillo (Somerset, NJ) and won 418 to 337 (a spread of 81) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Grillo in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #49. Current record: 11-8, +270.
Round 20		Widergren played #103 Avi Moss (Missouri City, TX) and won 475 to 364 (a spread of 111) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Moss in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #38. Current record: 12-8, +381.
Round 21		Widergren played #23 Travis Chaney (Van Buren, AR) and lost 338 to 356 (a spread of -18) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Chaney in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #47. Current record: 12-9, +363.
Round 22		Widergren played #77 Carol Kaplan (San Diego, CA) and lost 315 to 412 (a spread of -97) . The last time these two played was 2001-05 at: CAMPBELL, CA Widergren's record vs. Kaplan in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-0 (1.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: W. Past 49-60 months: no games. Current ranking: #57. Current record: 12-10, +266.
Round 23		Widergren played #123 Mike Paxson (Bloomington, IN) and won 548 to 281 (a spread of 267) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Paxson in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #47. Current record: 13-10, +533.
Round 24		Widergren played #3 Steven Alexander (Portland, OR) and lost 294 to 450 (a spread of -156) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Alexander in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #58. Current record: 13-11, +377.
Round 25		Widergren played #95 Kenji Matsumoto (Aiea, HI) and won 529 to 377 (a spread of 152) . The last time these two played was 2003-07 at: RENO, NV Widergren's record vs. Matsumoto in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-1 (0.500). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: L. Past 25-36 months: W. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: no games. Current ranking: #48. Current record: 14-11, +529.
Round 26		Widergren played #149 Tom Singleton (Laguna Hills, CA) and won 404 to 348 (a spread of 56) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Singleton in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #36. Current record: 15-11, +585.
Round 27		Widergren played #58 Randy Greenspan (Buffalo, NY) and won 391 to 286 (a spread of 105) . The last time these two played was 2002-08 at: NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP Widergren's record vs. Greenspan in the 5 years leading up to this event: 0-2 (0.000). Past 1-12 months: no games. Past 13-24 months: no games. Past 25-36 months: L. Past 37-48 months: no games. Past 49-60 months: L. Current ranking: #28. Current record: 16-11, +690.
Round 28		Widergren played #32 Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) and lost 351 to 382 (a spread of -31) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Daniel in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #37. Current record: 16-12, +659.
Round 29		Widergren played #25 Ira Cohen (Los Angeles, CA) and won 349 to 302 (a spread of 47) . The last time these two played was 2003-11 at: LOS GATOS, CA Widergren's record vs. Cohen in the 5 years leading up to this event: 1-5 (0.167). Past 1-12 months: L. Past 13-24 months: L. Past 25-36 months: no games. Past 37-48 months: WL. Past 49-60 months: LL. Current ranking: #31. Current record: 17-12, +706.
Round 30		Widergren played #66 Randy Hersom (Morganton, NC) and lost 384 to 409 (a spread of -25) . Before this event, Widergren had not played Hersom in at least 5 years. Current ranking: #39. Current record: 17-13, +681.

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