North American Scrabble Championship

The North American Scrabble Championship (formerly the National Scrabble Championship) is the largest Scrabble competition in North America. The event is held every one or two years, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. The tournament rotates locations around the United States; the 2015 event was held in Reno, Nevada. The current North American Scrabble Champion is Matthew Tunnicliffe, who won his first Division 1 championship in 2015, secured with a 3-2 win in the final best-of-five series against Jesse Day.[1]

NSC 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, and Jonathan Hatch was the winner of the first official Scrabble tournament. The next National Scrabble Championship will be in Buffalo, NY. The 2015 NSC will be held in Reno, Nevada, the second time in three years that Nevada will host the NSC.

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 is organized annually by the newly formed North American SCRABBLE Players Association. The first event under NASPA was held in Dayton, Ohio in August, 2009. The 2010 and 2011 events were held in Dallas, Texas, and the 2012 Championship was held in Orlando, FL, where it had been held in 2008.[3][4] The 2013 event was held in Las Vegas, and the 2014 event in Buffalo, New York. The 2015 championship was held in Reno, Nevada. The 2016 championship will be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Collins play

In 2012, a Collins division for international-English play was added for the first time, won by Sam Kantimathi with a 24-7 record.[5] 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.[6] Past world, national, and Canadian champion Adam Logan won the division easily in 2014 with a 23-4 record and four byes.[7] Peter Armstrong prevailed over past champion Dave Wiegand in 2015, winning 3-2 in the final best-of-five series.[8]

Youth in the community

Bradley Robbins of New Hampshire became the first minor to win a division in 2008 with a 24-4 record in Division 6.[9] 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.[10][11] In 2012, Amalan Iyengar of North Carolina won Division 4 with a 22-9 record.[12] Also in 2012, Chris Canik of Texas won Division 3 with a 26-5 record, the best record in that division's history.[13] In 2013, Andy Hoang of North Carolina won Division 3 with a 23-8 record.[14] 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 the elite Division 1 in 2013.[15] 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.[16]

NSC events and Division 1 winners

Year Winner Location Entrants Winner's Prize Total Prize Pool
2015 Ontario Matthew Tunnicliffe Reno 340[17] USD 10,000 USD 50,225[18]
2014 California Conrad Bassett-Bouchard Buffalo 524[19] USD 10,000 USD 45,775[20]
2013 New Zealand Nigel Richards (5)[21] Las Vegas 521[22] USD 10,000 USD 43,725[23]
2012 New Zealand Nigel Richards (4)[24] Orlando 339[25] USD 10,000 USD 36,150[26]
2011 New Zealand Nigel Richards (3)[27] Dallas 329[28] USD 10,000 USD 42,075[29]
2010 New Zealand Nigel Richards (2)[30] Dallas 408[31] USD 10,000 USD 42,075[32]
2009 Oregon Dave Wiegand (2)[33] Dayton 486 USD 10,000 USD 43,175[34]
2008 New Zealand Nigel Richards (1)[35] Orlando 662 USD 25,000 USD 85,385[36]
2006 Minnesota Jim Kramer Phoenix 625 USD 25,000 USD 85,385[37]
2005 Oregon Dave Wiegand (1) Reno 682 USD 25,000 USD 85,415[38]
2004 Texas Trey Wright New Orleans 837 USD 25,000 USD 92,805[39]
2002 New York Joel Sherman San Diego 696 USD 25,000 USD 89,290[40]
2000 Michigan Joe Edley (3) Providence 598 USD 25,000 USD 89,290[41]
1998 Illinois Brian Cappelletto Chicago 535 USD 25,000 USD 82,200[42]
1996 Ontario Adam Logan Dallas 412 USD 25,000 USD 75,485[43]
1994 South Carolina David Gibson Los Angeles 294 USD 15,000 USD 50,585[44]
1992 Michigan Joe Edley (2) Atlanta 315 USD 10,000 USD 35,910[45]
1990 Tennessee Robert Felt Washington 282 USD 10,000 USD 37,400[46]
1989 Michigan Peter Morris New York 221 USD 5,000 USD 24,425[47]
1988 Minnesota Robert Watson Reno 315 USD 5,000 USD 23,100[48]
1987 New York Rita Norr Las Vegas 327 USD 5,000 USD 16,850[49]
1985 Florida Ron Tiekert Boston 302 USD 10,000 USD 52,370[50]
1983 Quebec Joel Wapnick Chicago 32 USD 5,000 USD 13,600[51]
1980 Michigan Joe Edley (1) Santa Monica 32 USD 5,000 USD 10,100[52]
1978 New York David Prinz New York 65 (invitational) USD 1,500 USD 8,400[53]

See also

References

  1. ↑ NSC 2015 Division 1 Finals
  2. ↑ National SCRABBLE Association: Championship Archive
  3. ↑ North American SCRABBLE Players Association: NASPA
  4. ↑ North American SCRABBLE Players Association: National SCRABBLE Championship
  5. ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2012/nsc/build2/standing/5/31.html
  6. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/tsh/2013-nsc-s/html/CSW-ratings-031.html
  7. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2014/nsc/build/tsh/2014-nsc-s/html/CSW-ratings-031.html
  8. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2015/nasc/build/tsh/2015-nasc-f1/html/
  9. ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2008/nsc/build/player/6/069.html
  10. ↑ http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2010/nsc/build/standing/4/31.html
  11. ↑ http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2011/nsc/build/standing/2/31.html
  12. ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2012/nsc/build2/standing/4/31.html
  13. ↑ http://cross-tables.com/tourney.php?tourneyid=7717&div=3
  14. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/standing/3/31.html
  15. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html
  16. ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2014/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html
  17. ↑ NASC 2015: Registered Players
  18. ↑ 2015 North American SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  19. ↑ NSC 2014: Registered Players
  20. ↑ 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  21. ↑ NSC 2013 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
  22. ↑ NSC 2013: Registered Players
  23. ↑ 2013 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  24. ↑ NSC 2012 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
  25. ↑ NSC 2012: Registered Players
  26. ↑ 2012 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  27. ↑ NSC 2011 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
  28. ↑ NSC 2011: Registered Players
  29. ↑ 2011 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  30. ↑ NSC 2010 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
  31. ↑ NSC 2010: Registered Players
  32. ↑ 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  33. ↑ NSC 2009 Players: Alphabetical Listing
  34. ↑ 2009 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
  35. ↑ NSC 2008 Division 1 Standings: Round 28
  36. ↑ 2008 NSC Prizes
  37. ↑ 2006 Prizes
  38. ↑ 2005 NSC Prizes
  39. ↑ 2004 NSC Prizes
  40. ↑ 2002 NSC Prizes
  41. ↑ 2000 NSC Prizes
  42. ↑ 1998 NSC Prizes
  43. ↑ NSC 1996 results at cross-tables.com
  44. ↑ NSC 1994 results at cross-tables.com
  45. ↑ NSC 1992 results at cross-tables.com
  46. ↑ NSC 1990 results at cross-tables.com
  47. ↑ NSC 1989 results at cross-tables.com
  48. ↑ NSC 1988 results at cross-tables.com
  49. ↑ NSC 1987 results at cross-tables.com
  50. ↑ NSC 1985 results at cross-tables.com
  51. ↑ NSC 1983 results at cross-tables.com
  52. ↑ NSC 1980 results at cross-tables.com
  53. ↑ NSC 1978 results at cross-tables.com

External links

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