| World Scrabble Championship 1999 | |
|---|---|
| 4 November 1999 – 7 November 1999 | |
| Winner | Joel Wapnick |
| Number of players | 98 |
| Location | Melbourne |
| Sponsor | Mattel |
The World Scrabble Championship 1999 was the fifth World Scrabble Championship and was held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia.
The winner was Joel Wapnick of Canada.[1] This was the second time a player representing Canada has won, the first being when David Boys won in 1995. The 1991 champion, Peter Morris, was also a Canadian but represented the United States.
Eight games were played on each of the first three days with the top two players advancing to a best-of-five finals.
In the first game, Wapnick opened with the bingo CHAPLET and took a 249-60 lead three turns later with the double -double FILTHIER then cruised to a 624-307 victory. Nyman took the second game and Wapnick took the third then got off to an early lead in the fourth before losing a turn when he tried the phony FUROUR. The game remained tight, with both players getting down two bingos, until Wapnick drew the X and DEOXY for 50 to take a one -point lead and take the last tile out of the bag. With Wapnick having multiple places to go out, Nyman was unable to catch him and lost by a single point. Joel Wapnick could now add a world title to his US national title and Canadian title, one of only two players to have won the big three.
Complete Results
| Position | Name | Country | Win–loss | Spread | Prize (USD)[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wapnick, Joel | Canada | 18-6 | +1068 | 15,000 |
| 2 | Nyman, Mark | England | 17-7 | +808 | 7,500 |
| 3 | Boys, David | Canada | 17-7 | +693 | 3,000 |
| 4 | Logan, Adam | Canada | 16-8 | +886 | 2,000 |
| 5 | Fisher, Andrew | England | 16-8 | +797 | 1,500 |
| 6 | Byers, Russell | England | 16-8 | +647 | 1,250 |
| 7 | Tiekert, Ron | United States | 16-8 | +366 | 1,000 |
| 8 | Richards, Nigel | New Zealand | 15-9 | +1616 | 750 |
| 9 | Cook, Andrew | England | 15-9 | +983 | 400 |
| 10 | Holgate, John | Australia | 15-9 | +782 | 400 |
| 11 | Cappelletto, Brian | United States | 15-9 | +711 | 300 |
| 12 | Boyd, Kendall | New Zealand | 15-9 | +603 | 300 |
| 13 | Fernando, Naween Tharanga | Sri Lanka | 15-9 | +217 | 200 |
| 14 | Appleby, Phil | England | 15-9 | +191 | 200 |
| 15 | Sherman, Joel | World Champion | 15-9 | +73 | 200 |
| 16 | Chinnaiyah, Suresh | Sri Lanka | 14-10 | +910 | 200 |
| 17 | Wiegand, David | United States | 14-10 | +820 | |
| 18 | Klaphajone, Jakkrit | Thailand | 14-10 | +635 | |
| 19 | Quiballo, Virgilio | Philippines | 14-10 | +566 | |
| 20 | Luebkemann, John | United States | 14-10 | +309 | |
| 21 | Chunkath, Mohan Verghese | India | 14-10 | +292 | |
| 22 | Awowade, Femi | England | 14-10 | +203 | |
| 23 | Odom, Lisa | United States | 14-10 | +151 | |
| 24 | Ndungu, Stanley Njoroge | Kenya | 14-10 | +102 | |
| 25 | Epstein, Paul | United States | 14-10 | +88 | |
| 26 | Jackman, Bob | Australia | 13½-10½ | +166 | |
| 27 | Webb, David | England | 13-11 | +602 | |
| 28 | Edley, Joe | United States | 13-11 | +447 | |
| 29 | Credo, Ronald | Philippines | 13-11 | +439 | |
| 30 | Gongolo, Michael | Kenya | 13-11 | +255 | |
| 31 | Gruzd, Steven | South Africa | 13-11 | +222 | |
| 32 | Rosenthal, Joan | Australia | 13-11 | +214 | |
| 33 | Warner, Howard | New Zealand | 13-11 | +194 | |
| 34 | Williams, Gareth | Wales | 13-11 | +178 | |
| 35 | Hersom, Randy | United States | 13-11 | +106 | |
| 36 | Thobani, Shafique | Kenya | 13-11 | +14 | |
| 37 | Ploysangngam, Amnuay | Thailand | 13-11 | -16 | |
| 38 | Cherry, James | Canada | 13-11 | -27 | |
| 39 | Pra, Michael | Oman | 13-11 | -369 | |
| 40 | Nemitrmansuk, Pakorn | Thailand | 13-11 | -382 | |
| 41 | Grant, Jeff | New Zealand | 13-11 | -588 | |
| 42 | Chishty, Ishtiaq | Saudi Arabia | 12½-114½ | +399 | |
| 43 | Rio, Odette Carmina | Philippines | 12-12 | +569 | |
| 44 | Smitheram, Brett | England | 12-12 | +555 | |
| 45 | Felt, Robert | United States | 12-12 | +360 | |
| 46 | Geary, Jim | United States | 12-12 | +358 | |
| 47 | Filio, Roland | Philippines | 12-12 | +285 | |
| 48 | Schonbrun, Lester | United States | 12-12 | +100 | |
| 49 | Gipson, Helen | England | 12-12 | +37 | |
| 50 | Pui, Cheng Wui | Malaysia | 12-12 | +6 | |
| 51 | Jimoh, Saheed | Nigeria | 12-12 | -22 | |
| 52 | Bwire, Matayo | Kenya | 12-12 | -31 | |
| 53 | Hahn, Albert | Canada | 12-12 | -48 | |
| 54 | Bondin, Owen | Malta | 12-12 | -293 | |
| 55 | Asirvatham, Ganesh | Malaysia | 12-12 | -293 | |
| 56 | Warwick, Wilma | Scotland | 11½-12½ | -514 | |
| 57 | Bhandarkar, Akshay | Bahrain | 11½-12½ | +156 | |
| 58 | Cleary, Paul Stephen | Australia | 11½-12½ | +59 | |
| 59 | Sutthasin, Taewan | Thailand | 11½-12½ | -728 | |
| 60 | Sim, Tony | Singapore | 11-13 | +247 | |
| 61 | Early, Dylan | South Africa | 11-13 | +115 | |
| 62 | Gonzalez, Ricardo V | Gulf Champion | 11-13 | +112 | |
| 63 | Lipton, Bob | United States | 11-13 | -8 | |
| 64 | Polatnick, Steve | United States | 11-13 | -130 | |
| 65 | Tang, Michael | Malaysia | 11-13 | -172 | |
| 66 | Sinton, Peter | New Zealand | 11-13 | -197 | |
| 67 | Elbourne, Peter | Malta | 11-13 | -319 | |
| 68 | Abraham, Arvind | United Arab Emirates | 11-13 | -359 | |
| 69 | Khan, Rashid Ateeq | Pakistan | 11-13 | -427 | |
| 70 | Berlin, Barbara | Australia | 11-13 | -487 | |
| 71 | Gan, Cher Siong | Singapore | 11-13 | -726 | |
| 72 | Hirai, Keiichiro | Japan | 10½-13½ | +188 | |
| 73 | Hovelmeier, Trevor Mark | South Africa | 10-14 | +197 | |
| 74 | McDonnell, Brendan | Ireland | 10-14 | +75 | |
| 75 | Webb, Alice | England | 10-14 | -33 | |
| 76 | Lobo, Selwyn | United Arab Emirates | 10-14 | -83 | |
| 77 | Kong, Chock Heng | Malaysia | 10-14 | -210 | |
| 78 | Judd, Rodney | Pakistan | 10-14 | -366 | |
| 79 | Assesa, Dixon | Kenya | 10-14 | -398 | |
| 80 | Penaflor, Vivian | Bahrain | 10-14 | -476 | |
| 81 | Pray, Linda Hazel | Oman | 10-14 | -591 | |
| 82 | Kuroda, Kunihiko | Japan | 10-14 | -614 | |
| 83 | Eburu, Gold | Nigeria | 10-14 | -740 | |
| 84 | Usakiewicz, Wojciech | Poland | 10-14 | -876 | |
| 85 | Costello, Catherine | Ireland | 9½-14½ | -237 | |
| 86 | Charles, Leslie | Trinidad and Tobago | 9½-14½ | -603 | |
| 87 | Blom, Roger | Australia | 9-15 | +215 | |
| 88 | Metivier, Edward | Trinidad and Tobago | 9-15 | -164 | |
| 89 | Kane, Alistair | Australia | 9-15 | -353 | |
| 90 | Goh, Eugene | Singapore | 9-15 | -498 | |
| 91 | Sandu, Dan Laurentiu | Romania | 9-15 | -2008 | |
| 92 | Nanavati, Jim | Canada | 8-16 | +6 | |
| 93 | Fasuba, Johnson | Seychelles | 8-16 | -491 | |
| 94 | Wanniarachchi, Lakshan | Sri Lanka | 8-16 | -519 | |
| 95 | Michel, Antonin | France | 8-16 | -951 | |
| 96 | Silva, Dhanpala | Seychelles | 8-16 | -1187 | |
| 97 | Saliba, Mario | Malta | 7-17 | -868 | |
| 98 | Caba, Catalin-Eugen | Romania | 3-21 | -2991 |
- Finals
- Game 1: Wapnick 624 – Nyman 307
- Game 2: Nyman 444 – Wapnick 330
- Game 3: Wapnick 462 – Nyman 339
- Game 4: Wapnick 403 – Nyman 402
References
- 1 2 WSC 1999 results at cross-tables.com