From Bennett Jacobstein:
The 29th Annual Silicon Valley Classic will be held at the Pruneyard Plaza in Campbell CA from August 13 – 15. The tournament has been given a waiver and will be allowed a maximum of 60 players. It has previously always been held on Memorial Day Weekend. It was not held in 2020 and the 2021 version has been moved to the summer (COVID-19).
The tournament has been held in Santa Clara, Los Gatos, and for the last 20 years at the Pruneyard Plaza Center in Campbell. The hotel was originally the Pruneyard Plaza Hotel and has now become the Doubletree by Hilton.
It was started by Johnny Nevarez and has been directed over the years by Rick Wong, Jeff Widergren, John Karris, John Green, Steve Pellinen and Bennett Jacobstein.
Notable tournament-related highlights have included a very young Noah Walton singing opera at a group dinner at Buca di Beppo, Stu Goldman’s great upset at whoever used his jacket to cover up an air-conditioning vent (many years later it was revealed the culprit was Alan Whitman), and Chris Cree chasing John Green down the hall to discuss how the pairings were done.
Past tournament winners have included many prominent Scrabble players:
1992 – Ellis Wyer
1993 – Steven Alexander
1994 – Lester Schonbrun
1995 – Brian Cappelletto
1996 – Lester Schonbrun
1997 – Jim Geary
1998 – Ira Cohen
1999 – Lisa Odom
2000 – Lester Schonbrun
2001 – Jeff Widergren
2002 – J Goard
2003 – Dave Weigand
2004 – Nathan Benedict
2005 – Jerry Lerman
2006 – Lester Schonbrun
2007 – Dominick Mancine
2008 – Scott AnderBois
2009 – Andrew Friedrich
2010 – Jeff Widergren
2011 – Kevin Fraley
2012 – Noah Walton
2013 – Dominick Mancine
2014 – Lewis Martinez
2015 – Jerry Lerman
2016 – Lisa Odom
2017 – Robin Levin
2018 – Kevin Fraley (TWL)
2018 – Bruce Ward (Collins)
2019 – Norases (Saint) Vesdapunt (TWL)
2019 – Bruce Ward (Collins)
2020 – Not held due to COVID-19
2021 – ??????????????????????????????????