World Scrabble Championship
SportScrabble
Founded1991
Most recent
champion(s)		David Eldar (2nd title)
(2023)
Sponsor(s)Mattel, MSA

The World Scrabble Championship (WSC) is played to determine the world champion in competitive English-language Scrabble. It was held in every odd year from 1991 to 2013; from 2013 onwards, it became an annual event.

The most successful player in world championship history is Nigel Richards from New Zealand, who won a record five titles between 2007 and 2019.

History

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 has been sponsored by Mindsports Academy.

On May 17, 2013, Mattel announced[1] 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 the 2015 WESPA Championship (WESPAC). It was held in Perth, Australia and followed the invitational format of pre-MSI WSC events. 130 players qualified to play. Wellington Jighere of Nigeria emerged as WESPA Champion after beating Lewis Mackay 4–0 in the final.

In 2016, the tournament 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 followed the same format as the 2016 event. This was won by Australian David Eldar.

The 2017 WESPA Championship was held in Nairobi and the best-of-7 final was won by Akshay Bhandarkar of Bahrain who defeated Moses Peter of Nigeria 4-3.

The 2018 World Scrabble Championship 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.

In 2019 Nigel Richards went on to defend his title (and win his fifth championship) against David Eldar at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

Since 2015, WESPA Championships (WESPAC) have been held every two years. The 2015 event was an official World Scrabble Championship, but since 2017 the WESPAC events have been denied permission from Mattel and/or Hasbro to be official World Championships.

List of finals

Year Winner Runner-up Location Entrants Winner's prize Total prize pool Sponsor
1991 United States Peter Morris United States Brian Cappelletto London, United Kingdom 48 US$10,000[2] US$19,000[2] Spears
1993 England Mark Nyman Canada Joel Wapnick Plaza Hotel, New York City, United States 64 US$10,000[3] US$24,950[3] Hasbro
1995 Canada David Boys United States Joel Sherman Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom 64 US$11,000[4] US$29,550[4] Mattel
1997 United States Joel Sherman United States Matt Graham Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., United States 80 US$25,000[5] US$50,100[5] Hasbro
1999 Canada Joel Wapnick England Mark Nyman Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia 98 US$15,000[6] US$34,200[6] Mattel
2001 United States Brian Cappelletto Canada Joel Wapnick Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, United States 88 US$25,000[7] US$50,100[7] Hasbro
2003 Thailand Panupol Sujjayakorn Thailand Pakorn Nemitrmansuk Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 90 US$17,500[8] US$40,000[8] Mattel
2005 Canada Adam Logan Thailand Pakorn Nemitrmansuk Marriott Regent's Park Hotel, London, United Kingdom 102 US$15,000[9] US$30,500[9] Mattel
2007 New Zealand Nigel Richards (1) Malaysia Ganesh Asirvatham Taj President Hotel, Mumbai, India 104 US$15,000[10] US$30,500[10] Mattel
2009 Thailand Pakorn Nemitrmansuk[11] New Zealand Nigel Richards[12] Zon Regency Hotel, Johor Bahru, Malaysia[13] 108 US$15,000[14] US$30,500[14] Mattel
2011 New Zealand Nigel Richards (2) Australia Andrew Fisher Hilton Hotel, Warsaw, Poland[15] 106 US$20,000[16] US$50,000[16] Mattel
2013 New Zealand Nigel Richards (3) Thailand Komol Panyasophonlert Andel's Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic 110 US$10,000[17] US$25,000[1] Mattel, MSI
2014 England Craig Beevers United States Chris Lipe ExCeL Arena, London, United Kingdom 108 £3,000 £7,000[18] Mattel, MSI
2015 Nigeria Wellington Jighere[19] England Lewis Mackay Gloucester Park, Perth, Australia 130 A$10,000 A$28,400 WESPA (1)
2016 England Brett Smitheram England Mark Nyman Grand Palais, Lille, France 72 €7,000 €40,000 Mattel, MSI
2017 Australia David Eldar England Harshan Lamabadusuriya Nottingham, United Kingdom 77 £7,000[20] Mattel, MSI
2018 New Zealand Nigel Richards (4) United States Jesse Day Torquay (final in Westfield London), United Kingdom 75 £6,200 £15,500[21] Mattel, MSA
2019 New Zealand Nigel Richards (5) Australia David Eldar Riviera International Centre, Torquay, United Kingdom 46 Mattel, MSA
2023 Australia David Eldar (2) England Harshan Lamabadusuriya Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, United States US$10,000

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Press Release". Forum.mindsportsinternational.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  2. 1 2 WSC 1991 results at cross-tables.com
  3. 1 2 WSC 1993 results at cross-tables.com
  4. 1 2 WSC 1995 results at cross-tables.com
  5. 1 2 John J. Chew III. "WSC 1997 Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  6. 1 2 WSC 1999 results at cross-tables.com
  7. 1 2 "2001 World SCRABBLE® Championship". Scrabble-assoc.com. 2001-05-03. Archived from the original on 2001-02-15. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  8. 1 2 "Scrabble Masters". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  9. 1 2 John J. Chew III. "2005 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  10. 1 2 John J. Chew III. "2007 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  11. ↑ "WSC 2009 Standings: Round 24". live.wscgames.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  12. ↑ John J. Chew III. "WSC 2009: Finals". Live.wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  13. ↑ John J. Chew III. "2009 WSC Venue". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  14. 1 2 John J. Chew III. "2009 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  15. ↑ John J. Chew III. "2011 WSC Venue". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  16. 1 2 John J. Chew III. "2011 WSC Prizes". Wscgames.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  17. ↑ "Prize Table". Event.poslfit.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  18. ↑ "World SCRABBLE Championship - NASPAWiki".
  19. ↑ "Nigeria celebrates Africa's first English-language Scrabble win". BBC News Online. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Obscure word propels Londoner to victory in world Scrabble championships". www.telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "Sulky word wins Scrabble championship". BBC News. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
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