Joel Wapnick (born 1946) is a Scrabble player from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, best known for winning the 1999 World Scrabble Championship (WSC). [1]
Wapnick reached the WSC finals in 1993 and 2001. Wapnick also won the US National Scrabble Championship in 1983 and the Canadian National Scrabble Championship in 1998 and 2011, [2] along with a string of other events. Wapnick and Adam Logan (WSC 2005, US NSC 1996, CNSC 1996, 2006, 2008, 2013) are the only players so far to have won the WSC, the US NSC and the CNSC. Wapnick also placed second in the National Scrabble Championship in 1992 and third in both 1988 and 2009. Since his career began in 1976, he has played in at least 2,688 tournament games, winning about 63%, and earning over $80,000 in prize money. [3]
Wapnick has published three books on Scrabble, the most recent of which is How to Play SCRABBLE Like a Champion (Puzzlewright Press, 2010). He has also published a novel, The View North from Liberal Cemetery (Wapiti Press, 2014).
Wapnick is a professor emeritus of music, McGill University, Montreal.
Mark Nyman is an English professional Scrabble player originally from London, England and now a resident in Cheshire. At the end of 2002, he was rated 205 and was top-rated in the ABSP ratings. As at 7 September 2015 he is rated 200. His 27 consecutive tournament game wins is an ABSP record. He is most widely known as the first British player to win the World Scrabble Championship, which he accomplished in 1993. He married in 2004 and has two children, Max and Kizzy.
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 1997 was the fourth World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Joel Sherman of the United States.
The World Scrabble Championship 2001 was the sixth World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Brian Cappelletto of the United States.
The World Scrabble Championship 1993 was the second World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Mark Nyman, representing the United Kingdom, as this was before the countries of the UK were given individual representation.
The World Scrabble Championship 1999 was the fifth World Scrabble Championship and was held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia.
The Scrabble Players Championship is the largest Scrabble competition in North America. The event is currently held every year, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. The 2023 event was held in Las Vegas from July 15–19, 2023, with Joshua Sokol emerging as champion.
Pakorn Nemitrmansuk is one of Thailand's top Scrabble players and the 2009 World Scrabble Champion. An architect and resident of Bangkok, Thailand, Nemitrmansuk has competed at World Scrabble Championship six times between 1999–2011 and was the runner-up in 2003 and 2005.
Herve Bohbot is a French Scrabble player who competes in both French and English language Scrabble competitions. He is also an administrator on the online Scrabble site Internet Scrabble Club, the president of the French matchplay Scrabble committee and an official on the French-speaking International Scrabble Federation.
Jim Kramer won the 2006 United States Scrabble Open in Phoenix, Arizona. Kramer has competed in 15 U.S. championship Scrabble tournaments and has represented the U.S. at the World Scrabble Championships six times. Before winning the 2006 USSO, he had top-ten finishes in the national championships three times, in 1998, 2000, and 2005. His fifth-place finish at the 2003 World Championship (WSC) was the highest by any North American player that year. He finished third in 2001.
Brian Cappelletto is a Scrabble player who represents the United States in international competition. He was the runner-up at the inaugural World Scrabble Championship in 1991 and won the event in 2001. He also won the American National Scrabble Championship in 1998, and was the runner-up in 2008 and 2010.
David Boys is a top Canadian Scrabble expert. He won the World Scrabble Championship (WSC) in London, UK, in 1995, and the Canadian Scrabble Championship in 2003. He also finished third in the WSC in both 1991 and 1999. In 1996 and again in 2007, he lost a match to a computer. His competitive career began in 1986. He has played in over 1,800 tournament games, winning about 67%, and has earned over $40,000 in prize money. Boys is married and lives with his wife, his son Alex and two daughters, Evelyn and Rebecca in Dorval, Quebec, Canada and works as a programmer analyst.
Dave Wiegand is an American Scrabble player who won the National Scrabble Championship in 2005 and 2009.
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.
Robert Watson was the American 1988 National Scrabble Championship champion. He subsequently retired from tournament Scrabble to pursue other interests, including medicine.
The Canadian National Scrabble Championship (CNSC) is the Canadian national Scrabble competition in the English language, open by invitation and special qualification only to the top rank of Canadian players. All CNSC events have been held in Toronto.
David Eldar is an Australian Scrabble player and pro-amateur poker player who specializes in Omaha hold 'em. He is the World Scrabble Champion of 2017, sweeping Harshan Lamabadusuriya 3–0 in the final, and 2023, again beating Lamabadusuriya by a score of 4–3.
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.
Ganesh Asirvatham is an English language teacher from Klang, Selangor. He is a Scrabble player who represents Malaysia in international competition. He was the World Scrabble Championship 2007 runner-up. Ganesh was also the former Guinness World Record holder for the most Scrabble opponents played simultaneously by one challenger. The record took place on 7 November 2007 at the Infiniti Mall in Andheri, Mumbai, India. Ganesh beat 21 out of 25 opponents during his record attempt.
Andrew Fisher is an international Scrabble player who represented England in international competition but now lives in and represents Australia having emigrated in 2002. He was the World Scrabble Championship 2011 runner-up, the UK National Scrabble Champion in 1996 and the Australian National Scrabble Champion in 2006, 2009 and 2012. He co-wrote a book called How to Win at Scrabble with David Webb, and was the champion of series one of the SBS Television game show Letters and Numbers. He is a chartered accountant by profession.