World Scrabble Championship 1997

Last updated

World Scrabble Championship 1997
20 November 1997 24 November 1997
WinnerJoel Sherman
Number of players80
Location Washington, D.C.
SponsorHasbro

The World Scrabble Championship 1997 was the fourth World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Joel Sherman of the United States. [1]

Contents

Format

The World Scrabble Championship 1997 was held in the Stouffer Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., and was the second to be held in the United States. Eighty players played a Swiss tournament of twenty-one games each, with each player playing seven games on each of the first three days. The two top players from this tournament then played a best-of-five game final to decide who would be World Scrabble Champion 1997.

Prize money was provided by the Milton Bradley Company, owned by the tournament's sponsor Hasbro, to a total value of $50,100. The winner received $25,000, the runner-up $10,000 and the remainder of the top twenty players received prizes down to $150.

This was the first World Championship to have featured a live web site, a copy of which is now archived at the main WSC web site.

Results

After the initial Swiss tournament, the top two players were Joel Sherman (16 wins, winning spread +829) and Matt Graham (15 wins, winning spread +993). Notably, all the top four players were representing the United States. This was particularly surprising since the WSC uses the SOWPODS wordlist, which includes many words not present in the traditional American wordlist, TWL 98.

Graham took the first game of the finals 409-334 but lost a 387-363 squeaker in the second after missing BOWNED.

In game three, Graham made another error when he played HERB instead of BERTH and Sherman took another close game, 419-405.

In game four, Sherman got off to a big lead and began shutting down the board. Graham took a chance on FLEXERS for 101 points, but Sherman successfully challenged it off. Graham drew a rack full of consonants. Sherman won the game and was crowned World Scrabble Champion, after losing in the final two years earlier.

Complete results

PositionNameCountryWin–lossSpreadPrize (USD) [1]
1Sherman, JoelUnited States16-5+82925,000
2Graham, MattUnited States15-6+99310,000
3 Edley, Joe United States15-6+9155,000
4 Felt, Robert United States14-7+8143,000
5 Nyman, Mark England14-7+7412,000
6Boyd, KendallNew Zealand14-7+4011,000
7Byers, RussellEngland14-7+396800
8Bhandarkar, AkshayBahrain14-7+353600
9 Logan, Adam Canada13-8+1064400
10 Cappelletto, Brian United States13-8+946300
11 Boys, David World Champion13-8+935250
12Acton, DavidEngland13-8+517250
13Grant, JeffNew Zealand13-8+478250
14Saldanha, AllanUnited Kingdom13-8+234250
15Tiekert, RonUnited States13-8-27250
16Okosagah, SammyNigeria12-9+816150
17Nderitu, Patrick GitongaKenya12-9+750150
18Warusawitharana, MissakaSri Lanka12-9+709150
19Fernando, Naween TharangaSri Lanka12-9+588150
20Holgate, JohnAustralia12-9+556150
21Downer, PennyUnited Kingdom12-9+408
22Fisher, AndrewUnited Kingdom12-9+382
23Thobani, ShafiqueKenya12-9+85
24Cleary, Paul StephenAustralia12-9+82
25Ndungu, Stanley NjorogeKenya12-9+16
26Williams, GarethWales12-9-179
27Spate, CliveUnited Kingdom11½-9½+344
28Awowade, FemiEngland11-10+711
29Onyeonwu, IfeanyiNigeria11-10+613
30Yawo, Anaga TakyiGhana11-10+545
31Perrins, EstherAustralia11-10+377
32Pui, Cheng WuiMalaysia11-10+305
33Sukhumrattanaporn, CharnwitThailand11-10+94
34Gruzd, StevenSouth Africa11-10+63
35Addo, JoshuaGhana11-10+48
36Wapnick, JoelCanada11-10+27
37Carter, GeraldThailand11-10-439
38Daniel, Robin PollockCanada11-10-503
39Hahn, AlbertCanada11-10-719
40Sigley, MichaelNew Zealand10½-10½+516
41Webb, MarkEngland10½-10½+127
42Klaphajone, JakkritThailand10-11+606
43Blom, RogerAustralia10-11+520
44Hersom, RandyUnited States10-11+511
45Mead, JeremiahUnited States10-11+507
46Schonbrun, LesterUnited States10-11+379
47Geary, JimUnited States10-11+218
48Khan, Rashid AteeqPakistan10-11-333
49Luebkemann, JohnUnited States10-11-400
50Elbourne, PeterMalta10-11-435
51Grayson, JohnWales10-11-447
52Khoshnaw, KarlKurdistan-Iraq10-11-582
53Jonah, J.J.Israel10-11-645
54Chinnaiyah, SureshSri Lanka9½-11½+124
55Mensah, Edem KafuiGhana9½-11½-296
56Butler, LynneNew Zealand9½-11½-745
57Lao, ArmandoPhilippines9-12+246
58Lipton, BobUnited States9-12+12
59Quek, Sim HoSingapore9-12-284
60Raychbart, PalomaIsrael9-12-351
61Lobo, YvonneBahrain9-12-413
62Saldanha, NorbertUnited Arab Emirates9-12-551
63Saliba, MarioMalta9-12-586
64Davids, GeraldSouth Africa9-12-643
65Tan, Kiat Hing AustinSingapore9-12-769
66Nanavati, JimCanada9-12-964
67Ul-Haq, AssadQatar8-13+306
68Abdullah, Raja FuadinMalaysia8-13+137
69Salih, Sala Fadl MohamedSaudi Arabia8-13-47
70Pray, Linda HazelOman8-13-234
71Chune, AlbertTrinidad and Tobago8-13-828
72Nakai, KenJapan8-13-865
73Clenaghan, NualaIreland8-13-872
74Meghan, EileenÉire8-13-891
75Springer, RobertFrance8-13-1097
76Mamadou, WoneKuwait7-14-755
77Paolella, LiberoCanada7-14-862
78Sandu, Dan LaurentiuRomania5-16-1528
79Gibbons, RandallGuyana4-17-913
80Nanayakkara, HarischandraSeychelles3-18-2141

Finals

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References

  1. 1 2 "WSC 1997 Prizes".