World Scrabble Championship

The World Scrabble Championship (WSC) is the most-prestigious title in competitive English-language Scrabble. It was held every second year after 1991 until 2013 when it began to be held annually. It has been an open event since 2014. Although the official brand name and organizations of the event have changed over recent years, many Scrabble enthusiasts from more than 30 countries compete to become World Scrabble Champion. The reigning World Scrabble Champion is Nigel Richards, who won his fourth title at the 2018 Mattel World Scrabble Championships by winning the final in London in 2018.

Overview

Sponsorship of the World Scrabble Championship (WSC) formerly alternated between Hasbro and Mattel, the North American and global owners of the Scrabble trademark, respectively. However, after Hasbro declined to sponsor WSC 2005, Mattel has organized and sponsored all championships. Mind Sports International (MSI) began sponsoring the event in 2013 after successfully organizing their own major Scrabble tournament in Prague in 2012. As of 2018, it is now sponsored by Mindsports Academy.

The number of players competing in the tournament has risen steadily over time, from 48 in 1991 to 108 in 2009. Each country is allocated seats for the championship, and individual countries' national associations determine which of their players represent them. This is typically done by means of a national rating system or qualifier tournaments. A good performance by a national team according to specific criteria will earn further permanent places for that country.

The official dictionary, used in the majority of English-language Scrabble-playing countries and colloquially known as SOWPODS (an anagram of OSPD and OSW), was used until 2007. It is a combination of two dictionaries: OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary), published in the US, and OSW (Official Scrabble Words), published in the UK. Local tournaments used only their respective dictionary for the tournament, and each contains words chiefly used and spelled in US English and UK English. Since 2007, Collins supplies the only dictionary used in the WSC, Collins Scrabble Words,[1][2][3] which is published in the UK. It was updated on 21 May, 2015 before later being approved by the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) for tournaments on 1 September.

On May 17, 2013, Mattel announced[4] that the event would be renamed the Scrabble Champions Tournament, and the tournament would be held annually as part of Mind Sports International's Prague Mind Sports Festival. MSI introduced a 'Last Chance Qualifier' tournament, giving players a last opportunity to qualify for 5 places in the main event if they failed to achieve a place on their national team. A four-way knockout stage was introduced for the top four finishers, which consisted of a best-of-3 semi-final followed by a best-of-5 final. Nigel Richards became World Champion here, making him the first player to defend his world title.

In 2014 the Scrabble Champions Tournament continued in London, but it became an open event, with all players invited to compete. A quarter-final stage was added, meaning that the top 8 progressed to the knockout stages. Craig Beevers won the event, making him the first British World Scrabble Champion since Mark Nyman in 1993.

In 2015, following cancellation of the SCT, Mattel and MSI agreed to allow WESPA to organize their own traditional unofficial World Championship, branded the WESPA Championship (WESPAC). It was held in Perth, Australia and followed the invitational format of pre-MSI WSC events. 130 players qualified to play.[2] Wellington Jighere of Nigeria emerged as WESPA Champion after beating Lewis Mackay 4–0 in the final.

In 2016, the tournament was renamed the "MSI World Championships" [5] and was split into two divisions based on players' rankings. MSI also hosted world championships in other languages, including French, German, Spanish and Catalan, alongside the French Duplicate Championship.

The 2017 MSI World Championships were to be held in Doha, Qatar in August 2017, but on 13 June it was announced that the tournament was to be relocated to Nottingham, United Kingdom. It followed the same format as the 2016 event. This was won by Australian David Eldar. The second WESPA Championships (first held in 2015) were held in Nairobi, Kenya in November and were won by Akshay Bhandarkar.

The 2018 event, renamed again the Mattel World Scrabble Championships, was organised by Mindsports Academy. The main event was held in Torquay, Devon, but the best-of-5 final was held in London to celebrate the game’s 70th anniversary. The event was won by Nigel Richards.

History
Year Winner Runner-up Location Entrants Winner's prize Total prize pool Sponsor
2019 Nigel Richards (5)
( New Zealand)		 David Eldar
( Australia)		 46 Mattel, MSA
2018 Nigel Richards (4)
( New Zealand)		 Jesse Day
( United States)		 Torquay (final in Westfield London), United Kingdom 75 £6,200 £15,500[6] Mattel, MSA
2017 David Eldar
( Australia)		 Harshan Lamabadusuriya
( England)		 Nottingham, United Kingdom 77 £7,000[7] Mattel, MSI
2016 Brett Smitheram
( England)		 Mark Nyman
( England)		 Grand Palais, Lille, France 72 €7,000 €40,000 Mattel, MSI
2015 Wellington Jighere[8]
( Nigeria)		 Lewis Mackay
( England)		 Gloucester Park, Perth, Australia 130 A$10,000 A$28,400 WESPA
2014 Craig Beevers
( England)		 Chris Lipe
( United States)		 ExCeL Arena, London, UK 108 £3,000 £7,000[9] Mattel, MSI
2013 Nigel Richards (3)
( New Zealand)		 Komol Panyasophonlert
( Thailand)		 Andel's Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic 110 US$10,000[10] US$25,000[4] Mattel, MSI
2011 Nigel Richards (2)
( New Zealand)		 Andrew Fisher
( Australia)		 Hilton Hotel, Warsaw, Poland[11] 106 US$20,000[12] US$50,000[12] Mattel
2009 Pakorn Nemitrmansuk
( Thailand)[13]		 Nigel Richards
( New Zealand)[13]		 Zon Regency Hotel, Johor Bahru, Malaysia[14] 108[15] US$15,000[16] US$30,500[16] Mattel
2007 Nigel Richards (1)
( New Zealand)		 Ganesh Asirvatham
( Malaysia)		 Taj President Hotel, Mumbai, India 104 US$15,000[17] US$30,500[17] Mattel
2005 Adam Logan
( Canada)		 Pakorn Nemitrmansuk
( Thailand)		 Marriott Regent's Park Hotel, London, UK 102 US$15,000[18] US$30,500[18] Mattel
2003 Panupol Sujjayakorn
( Thailand)		 Pakorn Nemitrmansuk
( Thailand)		 Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 90 US$17,500[19] US$40,000[19] Mattel
2001 Brian Cappelletto
( United States)		 Joel Wapnick
( Canada)		 Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, US 88 US$25,000[20] US$50,100[20] Hasbro
1999 Joel Wapnick
( Canada)		 Mark Nyman
( England)		 Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia 98 US$15,000[21] US$34,200[21] Mattel
1997 Joel Sherman
( United States)		 Matt Graham
( United States)		 Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., US 80 US$25,000[22] US$50,100[22] Hasbro
1995 David Boys
( Canada)		 Joel Sherman
( United States)		 Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London, UK 64 US$11,000[23] US$29,550[23] Mattel
1993 Mark Nyman
( England)		 Joel Wapnick
( Canada)		 Plaza Hotel, New York, US 64 US$10,000[24] US$24,950[24] Hasbro
1991 Peter Morris
( United States)		 Brian Cappelletto
( United States)		 London, UK 48 US$10,000[25] US$19,000[25] Spears

See also

References
  1. Collins Scrabble Words
  2. http://scrabble.org.au/events/15WSC/index.html
  3. http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/SOWPODS
  4. "PRESS RELEASE **SCRABBLE® CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT 2013** - News and Announcements - Mind Sports International Forums". Forum.mindsportsinternational.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  5. http://www.wespa.org/tournaments/index.shtml
  6. "Sulky word wins Scrabble championship". BBC News. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  7. "Obscure word propels Londoner to victory in world Scrabble championships". www.telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  8. "Nigeria celebrates Africa's first English-language Scrabble win". BBC News Online. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  9. http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/World_SCRABBLE_Championship#2014_SCRABBLE_Champions_Tournament
  10. "Prize Table". Event.poslfit.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  11. John J. Chew III. "2011 WSC Venue". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  12. John J. Chew III. "2011 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  13. John J. Chew III. "WSC 2009: Finals". Live.wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  14. John J. Chew III. "2009 WSC Venue". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  15. John J. Chew III. "WSC 2009 Standings: Round 24". Live.wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  16. John J. Chew III. "2009 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  17. John J. Chew III. "2007 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  18. John J. Chew III. "2005 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  19. "Scrabble Masters". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  20. "2001 World SCRABBLE® Championship". Scrabble-assoc.com. 2001-05-03. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  21. WSC 1999 results at cross-tables.com
  22. John J. Chew III. "WSC 1997 Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  23. WSC 1995 results at cross-tables.com
  24. WSC 1993 results at cross-tables.com
  25. WSC 1991 results at cross-tables.com
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