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 2016 event was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The current North American Scrabble Champion is David Gibson, who won his second championship after first winning in 1994.[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 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. The 2013 event was held in Las Vegas, and the 2014 event in Buffalo, New York. The 2015 championship was held in Reno, Nevada, while the 2016 championship was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[3][4]
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] David Eldar won the division in 2016 with a 27-4 record, beating past champion Logan by a six-game margin.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11][12] In 2012, Amalan Iyengar of North Carolina won Division 4 with a 22-9 record.[13] Also in 2012, Chris Canik of Texas won Division 3 with a 26-5 record, the best record in that division's history.[14] In 2013, Andy Hoang of North Carolina won Division 3 with a 23-8 record.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]
NSC events and Division 1 winners
Year | Winner | Location | Entrants | Winner's Prize | Total Prize Pool |
2016 | David Gibson (2) | Fort Wayne | 417[18] | USD 10,000 | USD 49,275[19] |
2015 | Matthew Tunnicliffe | Reno | 340[20] | USD 10,000 | USD 50,225[21] |
2014 | Conrad Bassett-Bouchard | Buffalo | 524[22] | USD 10,000 | USD 45,775[23] |
2013 | Nigel Richards (5)[24] | Las Vegas | 521[25] | USD 10,000 | USD 43,725[26] |
2012 | Nigel Richards (4)[27] | Orlando | 339[28] | USD 10,000 | USD 36,150[29] |
2011 | Nigel Richards (3)[30] | Dallas | 329[31] | USD 10,000 | USD 42,075[32] |
2010 | Nigel Richards (2)[33] | Dallas | 408[34] | USD 10,000 | USD 42,075[35] |
2009 | Dave Wiegand (2)[36] | Dayton | 486 | USD 10,000 | USD 43,175[37] |
2008 | Nigel Richards (1)[38] | Orlando | 662 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,385[39] |
2006 | Jim Kramer | Phoenix | 625 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,385[40] |
2005 | Dave Wiegand (1) | Reno | 682 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,415[41] |
2004 | Trey Wright | New Orleans | 837 | USD 25,000 | USD 92,805[42] |
2002 | Joel Sherman | San Diego | 696 | USD 25,000 | USD 89,290[43] |
2000 | Joe Edley (3) | Providence | 598 | USD 25,000 | USD 89,290[44] |
1998 | Brian Cappelletto | Chicago | 535 | USD 25,000 | USD 82,200[45] |
1996 | Adam Logan | Dallas | 412 | USD 25,000 | USD 75,485[46] |
1994 | David Gibson (1) | Los Angeles | 294 | USD 15,000 | USD 50,585[47] |
1992 | Joe Edley (2) | Atlanta | 315 | USD 10,000 | USD 35,910[48] |
1990 | Robert Felt | Washington | 282 | USD 10,000 | USD 37,400[49] |
1989 | Peter Morris | New York | 221 | USD 5,000 | USD 24,425[50] |
1988 | Robert Watson | Reno | 315 | USD 5,000 | USD 23,100[51] |
1987 | Rita Norr | Las Vegas | 327 | USD 5,000 | USD 16,850[52] |
1985 | Ron Tiekert | Boston | 302 | USD 10,000 | USD 52,370[53] |
1983 | Joel Wapnick | Chicago | 32 | USD 5,000 | USD 13,600[54] |
1980 | Joe Edley (1) | Santa Monica | 32 | USD 5,000 | USD 10,100[55] |
1978 | David Prinz | New York | 65 (invitational) | USD 1,500 | USD 8,400[56] |
See also
- World Scrabble Championship
- Canadian Scrabble Championship
- National Scrabble Championship (UK)
- Brand's Crossword Game King's Cup
- World Youth Scrabble Championships
- National School Scrabble Championship
References
- ↑ NASC 2016 Division 1
- ↑ National SCRABBLE Association: Championship Archive
- ↑ North American SCRABBLE Players Association: NASPA
- ↑ North American SCRABBLE Players Association: National SCRABBLE Championship
- ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2012/nsc/build2/standing/5/31.html
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/tsh/2013-nsc-s/html/CSW-ratings-031.html
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2014/nsc/build/tsh/2014-nsc-s/html/CSW-ratings-031.html
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2015/nasc/build/tsh/2015-nasc-f1/html/
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2016/nasc/build/standing/5/31.html
- ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2008/nsc/build/player/6/069.html
- ↑ http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2010/nsc/build/standing/4/31.html
- ↑ http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2011/nsc/build/standing/2/31.html
- ↑ http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2012/nsc/build2/standing/4/31.html
- ↑ http://cross-tables.com/tourney.php?tourneyid=7717&div=3
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/standing/3/31.html
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2013/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html
- ↑ http://event.scrabbleplayers.org/2014/nsc/build/standing/1/31.html
- ↑ NASC 2016: Registered Players
- ↑ 2015 North American SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NASC 2015: Registered Players
- ↑ 2015 North American SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2014: Registered Players
- ↑ 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2013 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
- ↑ NSC 2013: Registered Players
- ↑ 2013 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2012 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
- ↑ NSC 2012: Registered Players
- ↑ 2012 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2011 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
- ↑ NSC 2011: Registered Players
- ↑ 2011 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2010 Division 1 Standings: Round 31
- ↑ NSC 2010: Registered Players
- ↑ 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2009 Players: Alphabetical Listing
- ↑ 2009 National SCRABBLE Championship prizes
- ↑ NSC 2008 Division 1 Standings: Round 28
- ↑ 2008 NSC Prizes
- ↑ 2006 Prizes
- ↑ 2005 NSC Prizes
- ↑ 2004 NSC Prizes
- ↑ 2002 NSC Prizes
- ↑ 2000 NSC Prizes
- ↑ 1998 NSC Prizes
- ↑ NSC 1996 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1994 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1992 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1990 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1989 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1988 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1987 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1985 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1983 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1980 results at cross-tables.com
- ↑ NSC 1978 results at cross-tables.com