Losing Streak

Aarrgh! Yesterday, I lost the last four of my ISC games, and five of my last six. My rating plummeted from 1385 to 1297.

In one game in particular I had a complete mental logjam. I ran out of time. I felt like I was struggling up the slippery side of a sand dune, only to discover that I was inside of an hourglass, slipping, falling. It was like writer's block, only for anagramming. Is there such thing as anagrammer's block?

I bit of it had to do with frustration on my part. I'm reminded of the scenes from Word Wars, when Marlon Hill, or Matt Graham, or Joe Edley feel like they are forced to expain why they are on a losing streak. Joe Edley would blame it on his chi while Matt would say that he needed to take more vitamins. But mostly they would say that they were not thinking clearly because emotionally they were frustrated.

Well, today's another day and my frustration has subsided. I start with a clean slate.

Update: I lost two more games. I was ahead in both games. But I lost them both when my opponent played a bingo in the last couple hands. Ouch! My last opponent even thanked me for providing the opening.

My rating is at 1270.