Scrabble Players Championship Explained

The Scrabble Players Championship (formerly the North American Scrabble Championship, and earlier the National Scrabble Championship) is the largest Scrabble competition in North America. The event is currently held every year, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. The 2023 event was held in Las Vegas from July 15–19, 2023, with Joshua Sokol emerging as champion.[1]

Championship history

The first officially sanctioned Scrabble tournaments in the U.S. were spearheaded, organized and run by Joel Skolnick in the mid-1970s. Skolnick was a recreation director for the New York City Parks and Recreation Department. He approached Selchow and Righter in late 1972, and the first tournament, open to Brooklyn residents only, commenced on March 18, 1973. The Funk and Wagnalls Collegiate Dictionary was used to rule on challenges, and the official word judge was Skolnick's then-wife Carol. Carol's sister, Shazzi Felstein, who would later finish in ninth place at the first North American Invitational tournament, won the first preliminary round with 1,321 points over three games. The final round took place on April 15, 1973, and Jonathan Hatch was the winner of the first official Scrabble tournament

The summer of 1973 saw two more tournaments, held respectively at Grossingers (won by Minerva Kasowitz) and the Concord hotel (won by Harriet Zucker) in New York's Catskill region. Another two tournaments quickly followed in November that same year: in Baltimore, Gordon Shapiro topped approximately 400 contestants; and at the Brooklyn War Memorial approximately 2,000 people entered the nine weekly preliminary rounds of the first all–New York City Scrabble Championship. It was won by Bernie Wishengrad. The New York City Championship was thereafter held annually, jointly sponsored by Selchow and Righter and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.

The first national tournament was the North American Invitational, held May 19 - 21, 1978, in the Presidential Suite of the Loews Summit Hotel in New York City. Joel Skolnick and Carol Felstein, as usual, served as the tournament director and word judge, respectively. David Prinz took the $1,500 first prize, followed by Dan Pratt and Mike Senkiewicz.

In 1980, soon after the publication of the first Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, control of the national tournament passed to the National Scrabble Association. They continued to organize the tournament until 2008.

The official name of the tournament has been National SCRABBLE Championship in recent years, except in 2006 when it was named US SCRABBLE Open.[2] In 2015, to recognize the longtime eligibility of Canadian members, it was renamed North American SCRABBLE Championship.

Since 2009, the tournament has been organized annually by NASPA Games (formerly known as North American SCRABBLE Players Association). The first event under NASPA was held in Dayton, Ohio, in August 2009. Since then, the championships have been held in various U.S. cities (chosen more or less based on a rotation between five regions: southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, and central).[3] [4]

The 2020 and 2021 events were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The 2022 event, the first under the new SPC identity, was held in Baltimore on July 23–27, and was won by Michael Fagen, a data analyst from Quebec.[6]

Collins

In 2012, a Collins division for international-English play was added for the first time, won by Sam Kantimathi with a 24–7 record.[7] In 2013, John O'Laughlin, creator of the Quackle software program, won the division with a 24–7 record, winning $2,500 and claiming his first NSC divisional title.[8] Past world, national, and Canadian champion Adam Logan won the division easily in 2014 with a 23–4 record and four byes.[9] Peter Armstrong prevailed over past champion Dave Wiegand in 2015, winning 3–2 in the final best-of-five series.[10] David Eldar won the division in 2016 with a 27–4 record, beating past champion Logan by a six-game margin.[11] Austin Shin won the top division in 2017 with a 22–9 record, prevailing over runner-up Dave Wiegand in the final round; this was the first year that Collins players were divided into two divisions.[12] Austin repeated his win in 2022, defeating Waseem Khatri from Pakistan in a 5-game playoff.[13]

Youth

Rafi Stern won division 3 of the 2006 National Championship, posting a 20-8 record. Joey Krafchick out of Georgia won division 5 at the 2007 Players' Championship with a 25.5-5.5 record, followed by Bradley Robbins from New Hampshire winning division 6 going 24-4 in 2008.[14] In 2010, Richard Spence of Arizona won Division 4 with a 25.5–5.5 record, and in 2011, won Division 2 with a 25–6 record.[15] [16] In 2012, Amalan Iyengar of North Carolina won Division 4 with a 22–9 record.[17] Also in 2012, Chris Canik of Texas won Division 3 with a 26–5 record, the best record in that division's history.[18] In 2013, Andy Hoang of North Carolina won Division 3 with a 23–8 record.[19] Bradley Robbins and Andy Hoang are the only people to have won both the National School Scrabble Championship (2010 for Robbins, 2009 and 2012 for Hoang) and a division in the National Scrabble Championship (2008, Division 6 for Robbins & 2013, Division 3 for Hoang). Mack Meller of New York placed seventh in Division 1 in 2013.[20] He started the 2014 event with a 7–0 record, giving him first place in Division 1 after the first day of the event, and again finished seventh overall.[21]

Past events and Division 1 winners

NASPA Word List (NWL/OTCWL/OWL/OSPD)

YearWinnerLocationRegionEntrantsWinner's PrizeTotal Prize Pool
2024 Mack MellerSouth Bend
2023 Josh SokolLas VegasSW239[22] USD 10,000USD 43,750[23]
2022 Michael FagenBaltimoreNE244[24] USD 10,000USD 42,200[25]
2019 Alec SjöholmRenoNW249[26] USD 10,000no current data[27]
2018 Joel Sherman (2)BuffaloNE403[28] USD 10,000USD 52,000[29]
2017 Will AndersonNew OrleansSE365[30] USD 10,000USD 54,350[31]
2016 David Gibson (2)Fort WayneC417[32] USD 10,000USD 49,275[33]
2015 Matthew TunnicliffeRenoNW340[34] USD 10,000USD 50,225
2014 Conrad Bassett-BouchardBuffaloNE524[35] USD 10,000USD 45,775[36]
2013 Nigel Richards (5)Las VegasSW521[37] USD 10,000USD 43,725[38]
2012 Nigel Richards (4)[39] OrlandoSE339[40] USD 10,000USD 36,150[41]
2011 Nigel Richards (3)[42] Dallas329[43] USD 10,000USD 42,075[44]
2010 Nigel Richards (2)[45] Dallas408[46] USD 10,000USD 42,075[47]
2009 Dave Wiegand (2)[48] Dayton486USD 10,000USD 43,175[49]
2008 Nigel Richards (1)[50] Orlando662USD 25,000USD 85,385[51]
2007 James Leong[52] Dayton451USD 12,000USD 85,385
2006 Jim KramerPhoenix625USD 25,000USD 85,385[53]
2005 Dave Wiegand (1)Reno682USD 25,000USD 85,415[54]
2004 Trey WrightNew Orleans837USD 25,000USD 92,805[55]
2002 Joel Sherman (1)San Diego696USD 25,000USD 89,290[56]
2000 Joe Edley (3)Providence598USD 25,000USD 89,290[57]
1998 Brian CappellettoChicago535USD 25,000USD 82,200[58]
1996 Adam LoganDallas412USD 25,000USD 75,485
1994 David Gibson (1)Los Angeles294USD 15,000USD 50,585
1992 Joe Edley (2)Atlanta315USD 10,000USD 35,910
1990 Robert FeltWashington282USD 10,000USD 37,400
1989 Peter MorrisNew York221USD 5,000USD 24,425
1988 Robert WatsonReno315USD 5,000USD 23,100
1987 Rita NorrLas Vegas327USD 5,000USD 16,850
1985 Ron TiekertBoston302USD 10,000USD 52,370
1983 Joel WapnickChicago32USD 5,000USD 13,600
1980 Joe Edley (1)Santa Monica32USD 5,000USD 10,100
1978 David PrinzNew York65 (invitational)USD 1,500USD 8,400

Collins Scrabble Words (CSW)

YearWinnerLocationEntrantsDivisionsWinner's PrizeTotal Prize Pool
2024 Joshua CastellanoSouth Bend
2023 Wellington Jighere[59] Las Vegas, NV47[60] 1USD 4,000USD 8,500[61]
2022 Austin Shin[62] Baltimore341USD 3,000USD 5,850
2019 Jesse Day[63] Reno351USD 3,000USD 5,850
2018 Evans Clinchy[64] Buffalo732USD 4,000USD 10,000
2017 Austin Shin[65] New Orleans642USD 4,250USD 10,550
2016 David Eldar[66] Fort Wayne441USD 2,500USD 6,000
2015 Peter Armstrong[67] Reno481USD 2,500USD 6,000
2014 Adam Logan[68] Buffalo631USD 2,500USD 5,775
2013 John O'Laughlin[69] Las Vegas401USD 2,500USD 4,700
2012 Sam Kantimathi[70] Orlando381USD 1,500USD 3,450

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NASC 2023 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org. en. 2023-03-07.
  2. Web site: National SCRABBLE Association: Championship Archive . 2008-07-30 . 2008-09-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080905101846/http://www2.scrabble-assoc.com/main.asp?id=57 . dead .
  3. Web site: Welcome to NASPAWiki - NASPAWiki . 2024-02-12 . www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  4. Web site: North American SCRABBLE Championship - NASPAWiki . 2024-02-12 . www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  5. Web site: 2020 North American Scrabble Championship. 2020-09-04.
  6. Web site: Prize Table . 2024-02-12 . event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  7. Web site: NSC 2012 Live Coverage.
  8. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Ratings.
  9. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Ratings.
  10. Web site: Event Coverage Index.
  11. Web site: NASC 2016 Live Coverage.
  12. Web site: Division CSW1 Round 31 Standings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  13. Web site: 2022 Scrabble Players Championship . 2024-02-12 . SPC 2022 . en.
  14. Web site: 2008 NSC Live Coverage. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  15. Web site: 2010 NSC Live Coverage . 2014-04-10 . 2014-04-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131934/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2010/nsc/build/standing/4/31.html . dead .
  16. Web site: 2011 NSC Live Coverage . 2014-04-10 . 2014-04-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130235/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2011/nsc/build/standing/2/31.html . dead .
  17. Web site: NSC 2012 Live Coverage.
  18. Web site: cross-tables.com . 2024-02-12 . www.cross-tables.com.
  19. Web site: NSC 2013 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  20. Web site: NSC 2013 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  21. Web site: NSC 2014 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  22. Web site: NASPA: SPC2023: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  23. Web site: Event Coverage Index. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  24. Web site: NASPA: SPC2022: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  25. Web site: Prize Table. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  26. Web site: NASPA: SPC2019: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  27. Web site: 2019 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  28. Web site: NASPA: SPC2018: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  29. Web site: 2018 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  30. Web site: NASPA: SPC2017: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  31. Web site: 2017 North American SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  32. Web site: NASPA: SPC2016: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  33. Web site: 2015 North American SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  34. Web site: NASPA: SPC2015: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  35. Web site: NASPA: SPC2014: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  36. Web site: 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  37. Web site: NASPA: SPC2013: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  38. Web site: 2013 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  39. Web site: NSC 2012 Division 1 Standings: Round 31 . 2012-08-25 . 2014-08-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810035142/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2012/nsc/build2/standing/1/31.html . dead .
  40. Web site: NASPA: SPC2012: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  41. Web site: 2012 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  42. Web site: NSC 2011 Division 1 Standings: Round 31 . 2012-02-17 . 2014-04-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413224129/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2011/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html . dead .
  43. Web site: NASPA: SPC2011: Registered Players. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  44. Web site: 2011 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  45. Web site: NSC 2010 Division 1 Standings: Round 31 . 2010-08-12 . 2010-11-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101105035907/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2010/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html . dead .
  46. Web site: NASPA: SPC2010: Registered Players. scrabbleplayers.org.
  47. Web site: 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  48. Web site: NSC 2009 Players: Alphabetical Listing . 2009-08-05 . 2009-08-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090809124344/http://scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2009/nsc/roster.html . dead .
  49. Web site: 2009 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes - NASPAWiki. www.scrabbleplayers.org.
  50. Web site: NSC 2008 Division 1 Standings: Round 28 . 2012-02-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110518085947/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2008/nsc/build/standing/1/28.html . 2011-05-18 . dead .
  51. Web site: 2008 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-09-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080902231852/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2008/nsc/prizes.html . dead .
  52. Web site: NSC 2007 Division 1 Standings: Round 28 . 2012-02-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110518085947/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2008/nsc/build/standing/1/28.html . 2011-05-18 . dead .
  53. http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2006/prizes.html 2006 Prizes
  54. Web site: 2005 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-07-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080720000437/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2005/nsc/prizes.html . dead .
  55. Web site: 2004 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-05-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080522125200/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2004/nsc/prizes.html . dead .
  56. Web site: 2002 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-01-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080106223816/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2002/nsc/prize_frame.html . dead .
  57. Web site: 2000 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-09-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080908030437/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2000/nsc/prizes.html . dead .
  58. Web site: 1998 NSC Prizes . 2008-06-06 . 2008-07-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080704165524/http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/1998/nsc/prizes.html . dead .
  59. Web site: SPC 2023: Finals . 13 December 2023 . scrabbleplayers.org.
  60. Web site: SPC2023: Registered Players . 13 December 2023 . scrabbleplayers.org.
  61. Web site: 32nd National Championship (CSW) (NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP) . 13 December 2023 . cross-tables.com.
  62. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Standings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  63. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Standings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  64. Web site: NASC 2018 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  65. Web site: NASC 2017 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  66. Web site: NASC 2016 Live Coverage. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  67. Web site: Division CSW Round 5 Ratings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  68. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Ratings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  69. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Ratings. event.scrabbleplayers.org.
  70. Web site: Division CSW Round 31 Ratings. www.scrabbleplayers.org.