The French World Scrabble Championships (French : Championnats du monde de Scrabble francophone) is an annual Scrabble tournament that takes place in a different French-speaking country every year. Created in 1972 by Hippolyte Wouters, it was the first of the three World Scrabble Championships to be created, with the English version being created in 1991 and the Spanish version being created in 1997.
Unlike the English and Spanish versions, the French World Championships are made up of various tournaments, somewhat like the World Series of Poker. The "Main Event" is the Elite tournament which has existed since 1972, and was first won by the tournament's creator Hippolyte Wouters.
Some other tournaments are organised during the week which do not crown a World Champion but do have a winner:
The French World Scrabble Championships started off as a small tournament in Cannes with just 7 players, and at the time, was not considered to be a World Championship. The tournament moved each year and more and more players which led to other tournaments being created at the same venue. The Elite tournament was at first dominated by Belgian players, with 5 of the first 7 championships being won by Belgian players. After three French winners in 1979, 80 and 81 the tournament was taken over by Michel Duguet of France who won the tournament 5 times in 7 years, while finishing second twice in that period. Duguet also set various championship records by dropping just 12 points in 5 games, which is 99.71%. After winning the Elite World Championship for a 5th time he retired from Scrabble and took up contract bridge and became one of the best players in the world, competing in both the French national championships and the European team championships.
After Duguet's retirement the French domination of the championships continued, with in total 12 championships in a row being won by France. Indeed, France also took second place every year during that ran, apart from in 1990 when Christian Pierre of Belgium finished second. In 1991 it was Christian Pierre who won Belgium's first title since 1978 and continued to win the title a total of 5 times in 8 years, matching what Duguet did in the 1980s. In 2002 and 2003 Jean Pierre Hellebaut became the first Swiss winner of the tournament. In fact he was born in Belgium and had previously finished second in the Belgian national championship in 1991 but after moving to Switzerland, won the World Championship 2 years in a row, a feat only accomplished before that by Duguet and Pierre. Antonin Michel has since dominated the Elite World Championships, having won the tournament twice in 2005 and 2007 and having finished second in 2001 and 2006.
The pairs event has been mainly dominated by France; Michel Duguet holds the record with five titles while Antonin Michel and Franck Maniquant (also of France) are just behind with 4 titles. Two African players have won the title - Ndongo Samba Sylla and Mactar Sylla of Senegal - these two are in fact brothers.
The blitz is a relatively recent event, added in 2001 and 5 of the 8 championships have been won by Antonin Michel. The four other winners and Florian Lévy and Franck Maniquant of France, and Ndongo Samba Sylla and Mactar Sylla of Senegal.
The match play tournament known as le Championnat du monde de Scrabble classique was brought in during 2006 and has been systematically dominated by African players, showing that the traditional form of Scrabble is more popular in Africa than the duplicate one. In 2008 in Dakar, 7 of the top 10 players were African, the three exceptions being Pascal Astresses, Antonin Michel and Hervé Bohbot all from France. More recently, the 2015 event saw Africans claim six of the top 10 places, and in 2016 the top three players and seven of the top 10 were Africans.[ citation needed ]
Year | Host City | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Cannes | Hippolyte Wouters | Belgium | Sarah Wolfowicz | Belgium |
1973 | Liège | Agnès Lempereur | Belgium | Dominique Darmstaedter | Belgium |
1974 | Monaco | Marc Selis | Belgium | Dominique Darmstaedter | Belgium |
1975 | Estepona | Michel Charlemagne | France | Marc Selis | Belgium |
1976 | Djerba | Marc Selis | Belgium | Michel Charlemagne | France |
1977 | Aix-les-Bains | Jean-Marc Bellot | France | Michel Pialat | France |
1978 | Brussels | Yvon Duval | Belgium | Claude Del | France |
1979 | Vichy | Benjamin Hannuna | France | Vincent Labbé | France |
1980 | Liège | Vincent Labbé | France | Robert Laïk | France |
1981 | Montreux | Jacques-Henri Muracciole | France | Marc Esquerré | France |
1982 | Hammamet | Michel Duguet | France | Benjamin Hannuna | France |
1983 | Grenoble | Michel Duguet | France | Frank Pluven | France |
1984 | Montreal | Benjamin Hannuna | France | Michel Duguet | France |
1985 | Brussels | Michel Duguet | France | Claude Del | France |
1986 | Lausanne | Philippe Bellosta | France | Michel Duguet | France |
1987 | Metz | Michel Duguet | France | Philippe Lorenzo | France |
1988 | Quebec | Michel Duguet | France | Jean-Louis Pallavicini | France |
1989 | Namur | Paul Levart | France | Marc Treiber | France |
1990 | Dakar | Marc Treiber | France | Christian Pierre | Belgium |
1991 | Fleurier | Christian Pierre | Belgium | Paul Levart | France |
1992 | Hull | Christian Pierre | Belgium | Emmanuel Rivalan | France |
1993 | Saint-Malo | Emmanuel Rivalan | France | Franck Maniquant | France |
1994 | Libramont | Christian Pierre | Belgium | Eddy Clauwaert | Belgium |
1995 | Ovronnaz | Jean-François Lachaud | France | Franck Maniquant | France |
1996 | Aix-les-Bains | Christian Pierre | Belgium | Nicolas Grellet | France |
1997 | Saint-Hyacinthe | Aurélien Kermarrec | France | Emmanuel Rivalan | France |
1998 | Brussels | Christian Pierre | Belgium | Franck Maniquant | France |
1999 | Bulle | Emmanuel Rivalan | France | Jean-François Lachaud | France |
2000 | Paris | Florian Lévy | France | Gérard Boccon | France |
2001 | La Rochelle | Franck Maniquant | France | Antonin Michel and Emmanuel Rivalan | France |
2002 | Montreal | Jean Pierre Hellebaut | Switzerland | Thierry Chincholle | France |
2003 | Liège | Jean Pierre Hellebaut | Switzerland | Christian Pierre | Belgium |
2004 | Marrakech | Germain Boulianne | Canada | Franck Maniquant | France |
2005 | Neuchâtel | Antonin Michel | France | Jean Pierre Hellebaut | Switzerland |
2006 | Tours | Pascal Fritsch | France | Antonin Michel | France |
2007 | Quebec | Antonin Michel | France | Christian Pierre | Belgium |
2008 | Dakar | Éric Vennin | Belgium | Aurélien Delaruelle | France |
2009 | Mons | Hugo Delafontaine | Switzerland | Christian Pierre | Belgium |
2010 | Montpellier | Antonin Michel | France | Didier Roques | France |
2011 | Montreux | Francis Desjardins | Canada | Antonin Michel | France |
2012 | Montauban | David Bovet | Switzerland | Étienne Budry | France |
2013 | Rimouski | Antonin Michel | France | David Bovet | Switzerland |
2014 | Aix-les-Bains | Hugo Delafontaine | Switzerland | Francis Desjardins | Canada |
2015 | Louvain-la-Neuve | David Bovet | Switzerland | Nigel Richards | New Zealand |
2016 | Agadir | Hugo Delafontaine | Switzerland | Arnaud Mulonda | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
2017 | Martigny | Nigel Richards | New Zealand | Thierry Chincholle | France |
2018 | Mont-Tremblant | Nigel Richards | New Zealand | Arnaud Mulonda | Democratic Republic of the Congo [1] |
2019 | La Rochelle | Nigel Richards | New Zealand | N'Dongo Samba Sylla | Senegal |
Year | Host City | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Tours | Parfait Mouanda | Republic of the Congo | Henry-Marcel Engonge | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
2007 | Quebec | Amar Diokh | Senegal | Edouard Lebeau | France |
2008 | Dakar | Élisée Poka | Ivory Coast | Pascal Astresses | France |
2009 | Mons | Benjamin Valour | France | Pierre-Olivier Georget | France |
2010 | Montpellier | Christian Coustillas | France | Gille Sauze | France |
2011 | Montreux | Jean-François Ramel | France | Julien Affaton | Benin |
2012 | Montauban | Pierre-Olivier Georget | France | Julien Affaton | Benin |
2013 | Rimouski | Christian Coustillas | France | Julien Affaton | Benin |
2014 | Aix-les-Bains | Julien Affaton | Benin | Schélick Ilagou Rekawe | Gabon |
2015 | Louvain-la-Neuve | Nigel Richards | New Zealand | Schélick Ilagou Rekawe | Gabon |
2016 | Agadir | Abib Alabi | Ivory Coast | Gildas Ingrid Madela | Gabon |
2017 | Martigny | Benjamin Valour | France | Belphégore Mpaga Réténo | Gabon |
2018 | Mont-Tremblant | Nigel Richards | New Zealand | Gueu Mathieu Zingbe | Ivory Coast [2] |
2019 | La Rochelle | Francis Desjardins | Canada | Élisée Poka | Ivory Coast |
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns and are included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.
The France national football team represents France in men's international football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation, the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours and imagery reference two national symbols: the French blue-white-red tricolour and Gallic rooster. The team is colloquially known as Les Bleus. They play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and train at Centre National du Football in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
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Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, every hand, whether strong or weak, is played in competition with others playing identical cards, and the element of skill is heightened while that of chance is reduced. This stands in contrast to Bridge played without duplication, where each hand is freshly dealt and where scores may be more affected by chance in the short run.
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 World Scrabble Championship 2001 was the sixth World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Brian Cappelletto of the United States.
Scrabble variants are games created by changing the normal Scrabble rules or equipment.
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The first World Youth Scrabble Championships were held in Wollongong, Australia 2006. Competitors from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and United States have competed in the annual tournament so far. WYSC is open to anyone under the age of 18 on 1 January of the year of each tournament. The tournament used to be held at the start of December but was brought forward to August for 2014. So far the WYSC tournament has been held in Malaysia five times, Australia twice, Dubai twice and the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom once each.
Duplicate Scrabble is a variant of Scrabble where all the players are faced with the same board and letters at the same time and must play the highest scoring word they can find. Although duplicate is rarely played at competition level in the United States, it is the most popular form of the game in Europe, most notably in France, Romania and the Netherlands, and is also played in Canada. The largest European Scrabble festivals can attract over 2000 people and some individual tournaments can count over 1000 participants per game. Although not popular for competitions in the US, the computer game Scrabble 2005 contains a duplicate version allowing up to 16 players to play on the same board at once. It was also used on the UK TV game show TV Scrabble as one of the rounds.
English-language Scrabble is the original version of the popular word-based board game invented in 1938 by US architect Alfred Mosher Butts, who based the game on English letter distribution in The New York Times. The Scrabble variant most popular in English is standard match play, where two players compete over a series of games. Duplicate Scrabble is not popular in English, and High score Scrabble is no longer practised.
Nigel Richards is a New Zealand-Malaysian Scrabble player who is widely regarded as the greatest tournament-Scrabble player of all time. Born and raised in New Zealand, Richards became World Champion in 2007, and repeated the feat in 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2019. He also won the third World English-Language Scrabble Players’ Association Championship (WESPAC) in 2019.
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