The Scrabble Players Championship (formerly the North American Scrabble Championship, and earlier the National Scrabble 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. [1]
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, 1973, 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 has been organized annually by NASPA Games (formerly known as North American SCRABBLE Players Association). The first event under NASPA was held in Dayton, Ohio, in August 2009. Since then, the championships have been held in various U.S. cities (chosen more or less based on a rotation between five regions: southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, and central). [3] [4]
The 2020 and 2021 events were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [5] The 2022 event, the first under the new SPC identity, was held in Baltimore on July 23–27, and was won by Michael Fagen, a data analyst from Quebec. [6]
In 2012, a Collins division for international-English play was added for the first time, won by Sam Kantimathi with a 24–7 record. [7] 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. [8] Past world, national, and Canadian champion Adam Logan won the division easily in 2014 with a 23–4 record and four byes. [9] Peter Armstrong prevailed over past champion Dave Wiegand in 2015, winning 3–2 in the final best-of-five series. [10] David Eldar won the division in 2016 with a 27–4 record, beating past champion Logan by a six-game margin. [11] Austin Shin won the top division in 2017 with a 22–9 record, prevailing over runner-up Dave Wiegand in the final round; this was the first year that Collins players were divided into two divisions. [12] Austin repeated his win in 2022, defeating Waseem Khatri from Pakistan in a 5-game playoff. [13]
Rafi Stern won division 3 of the 2006 National Championship, posting a 20-8 record. Joey Krafchick out of Georgia won division 5 at the 2007 Players' Championship with a 25.5-5.5 record, followed by Bradley Robbins from New Hampshire winning division 6 going 24-4 in 2008. [14] 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. [15] [16] In 2012, Amalan Iyengar of North Carolina won Division 4 with a 22–9 record. [17] Also in 2012, Chris Canik of Texas won Division 3 with a 26–5 record, the best record in that division's history. [18] In 2013, Andy Hoang of North Carolina won Division 3 with a 23–8 record. [19] 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 Division 1 in 2013. [20] 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. [21]
Year | Winner | Location | Region | Entrants | Winner's Prize | Total Prize Pool |
2024 | Mack Meller | South Bend | ||||
2023 | Josh Sokol | Las Vegas | SW | 239 [22] | USD 10,000 | USD 43,750 [23] |
2022 | Michael Fagen | Baltimore | NE | 244 [24] | USD 10,000 | USD 42,200 [25] |
2019 | Alec Sjöholm | Reno | NW | 249 [26] | USD 10,000 | no current data [27] |
2018 | Joel Sherman (2) | Buffalo | NE | 403 [28] | USD 10,000 | USD 52,000 [29] |
2017 | Will Anderson | New Orleans | SE | 365 [30] | USD 10,000 | USD 54,350 [31] |
2016 | David Gibson (2) | Fort Wayne | C | 417 [32] | USD 10,000 | USD 49,275 [33] |
2015 | Matthew Tunnicliffe | Reno | NW | 340 [34] | USD 10,000 | USD 50,225 [33] |
2014 | Conrad Bassett-Bouchard | Buffalo | NE | 524 [35] | USD 10,000 | USD 45,775 [36] |
2013 | Nigel Richards (5) [20] | Las Vegas | SW | 521 [37] | USD 10,000 | USD 43,725 [38] |
2012 | Nigel Richards (4) [39] | Orlando | SE | 339 [40] | USD 10,000 | USD 36,150 [41] |
2011 | Nigel Richards (3) [42] | Dallas | 329 [43] | USD 10,000 | USD 42,075 [44] | |
2010 | Nigel Richards (2) [45] | Dallas | 408 [46] | USD 10,000 | USD 42,075 [47] | |
2009 | Dave Wiegand (2) [48] | Dayton | 486 | USD 10,000 | USD 43,175 [49] | |
2008 | Nigel Richards (1) [50] | Orlando | 662 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,385 [51] | |
2007 | James Leong [52] | Dayton | 451 | USD 12,000 | USD 85,385 [51] | |
2006 | Jim Kramer | Phoenix | 625 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,385 [53] | |
2005 | Dave Wiegand (1) | Reno | 682 | USD 25,000 | USD 85,415 [54] | |
2004 | Trey Wright | New Orleans | 837 | USD 25,000 | USD 92,805 [55] | |
2002 | Joel Sherman (1) | San Diego | 696 | USD 25,000 | USD 89,290 [56] | |
2000 | Joe Edley (3) | Providence | 598 | USD 25,000 | USD 89,290 [57] | |
1998 | Brian Cappelletto | Chicago | 535 | USD 25,000 | USD 82,200 [58] | |
1996 | Adam Logan | Dallas | 412 | USD 25,000 | USD 75,485 [59] | |
1994 | David Gibson (1) | Los Angeles | 294 | USD 15,000 | USD 50,585 [60] | |
1992 | Joe Edley (2) | Atlanta | 315 | USD 10,000 | USD 35,910 [61] | |
1990 | Robert Felt | Washington | 282 | USD 10,000 | USD 37,400 [62] | |
1989 | Peter Morris | New York | 221 | USD 5,000 | USD 24,425 [63] | |
1988 | Robert Watson | Reno | 315 | USD 5,000 | USD 23,100 [64] | |
1987 | Rita Norr | Las Vegas | 327 | USD 5,000 | USD 16,850 [65] | |
1985 | Ron Tiekert | Boston | 302 | USD 10,000 | USD 52,370 [66] | |
1983 | Joel Wapnick | Chicago | 32 | USD 5,000 | USD 13,600 [67] | |
1980 | Joe Edley (1) | Santa Monica | 32 | USD 5,000 | USD 10,100 [68] | |
1978 | David Prinz | New York | 65 (invitational) | USD 1,500 | USD 8,400 [69] |
Year | Winner | Location | Entrants | Divisions | Winner's Prize | Total Prize Pool |
2024 | Joshua Castellano | South Bend | ||||
2023 | Wellington Jighere [70] | Las Vegas, NV | 47 [71] | 1 | USD 4,000 | USD 8,500 [72] |
2022 | Austin Shin [73] | Baltimore | 34 [24] | 1 | USD 3,000 | USD 5,850 [25] |
2019 | Jesse Day [74] | Reno | 35 [26] | 1 | USD 3,000 | USD 5,850 [29] |
2018 | Evans Clinchy [75] | Buffalo | 73 [28] | 2 | USD 4,000 | USD 10,000 [29] |
2017 | Austin Shin [76] | New Orleans | 64 [30] | 2 | USD 4,250 | USD 10,550 [31] |
2016 | David Eldar [77] | Fort Wayne | 44 [32] | 1 | USD 2,500 | USD 6,000 [33] |
2015 | Peter Armstrong [78] | Reno | 48 [34] | 1 | USD 2,500 | USD 6,000 [33] |
2014 | Adam Logan [79] | Buffalo | 63 [35] | 1 | USD 2,500 | USD 5,775 [36] |
2013 | John O'Laughlin [80] | Las Vegas | 40 [37] | 1 | USD 2,500 | USD 4,700 [38] |
2012 | Sam Kantimathi [81] | Orlando | 38 [40] | 1 | USD 1,500 | USD 3,450 [41] |
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 National Scrabble Association (NSA) was created in 1978 by Selchow & Righter, then the makers of Scrabble, to promote their game. It coordinated local clubs and Scrabble tournaments in North America, including the National Scrabble Championship, until 2009. The last director was John D. Williams, who is co-author of the book Everything Scrabble.
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.
Collins Scrabble Words is the word list used in English-language tournament Scrabble in most countries except the US, Thailand and Canada. The term SOWPODS is an anagram of the two abbreviations OSPD and OSW, these being the original two official dictionaries used in various parts of the world at the time. Although the two source dictionaries have now changed their respective titles, the term SOWPODS is still used by tournament players to refer to the combination of the two sources. There has not been any actual hard-copy list produced called SOWPODS, although the current Collins Scrabble Words, or CSW, is in effect the full SOWPODS list by a different name.
Joel Wapnick is a Scrabble player from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, best known for winning the 1999 World Scrabble Championship (WSC).
Adam Logan is a research mathematician and a top Canadian Scrabble player. He won the World Scrabble Championship in 2005, beating Pakorn Nemitrmansuk of Thailand 3–0 in the final. He is the only player to have won the Canadian Scrabble Championship five times. He was also the winner of the 1996 National Scrabble Championship, North America's top rated player in 1997, and the winner of the Collins division of the 2014 North American Scrabble Championship.
NASPA Word List is the official word authority for tournament Scrabble in the USA and Canada under the aegis of NASPA Games. It is based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) with modifications to make it more suitable for tournament play. Its British and international-English counterpart is Collins Scrabble Words.
Joel Sherman, nicknamed GI Joel, is an American professional English-language Scrabble player and former world champion. He is featured in Stefan Fatsis's book Word Freak, in Eric Chaikin's film Word Wars, and in Scott Petersen's film Scrabylon. He is also mentioned in Collins Gem's reference book.
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.
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.
David Lawrence Gibson was an American professional Scrabble player and mathematics professor. Ranked the top player in North America and widely regarded as one of the greatest Scrabble players, Gibson won the North American Scrabble Championship twice.
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.
The North American School Scrabble Championship, formerly the National School Scrabble Championship, is a Scrabble tournament for 3rd grade to 8th grade students, held annually in North America since 2003.
NASPA Games, formerly known as North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA), is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 to administer competitive Scrabble tournaments and clubs in North America. It officially took over these activities from the National Scrabble Association (NSA) on July 1, 2009. As of July 31, 2021, the organization is no longer associated with the North American owner of the SCRABBLE® trademarks, Hasbro, Inc.
The UK National Scrabble Championship (NSC) is a British national scrabble tournament, held annually since its inception in 1971. While it was formerly organised by Mattel, the copyright owner of Scrabble in the UK, since 2014 it has been organised by Association of British Scrabble Players (ABSP). It is one of five major scrabble tournaments in the UK. The other four comprise the UK Open, the British Isles Elimination Scrabble Tournament (BEST), the British Matchplay Scrabble Championship (BMSC) and the UK Masters. The current UK champion is Paul Allan.
The World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA) is the overarching global body for English-language national Scrabble associations and similar entities.
Wellington Jighere is a Nigerian Scrabble player. He won the World Scrabble Championship 2015, the first win for an African nation. He defeated Lewis MacKay in four straight wins.