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 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, although Scrabble tournaments in the US and Canada are also organized with divisions that use Collins Scrabble Words as their lexicon, some under the auspices of organizations such as the Collins Coalition. 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.
The Association of British Scrabble Players oversees competitive Scrabble in the UK. It was formed in 1987 by agreement with J W Spear & Sons, the game's trademark owner, who were subsequently bought out by Mattel in 1993. It currently has around 600 members.
Stewart Holden is a competitive Scrabble player from the United Kingdom. Holden is originally from Oxford but has resided near Belfast, Northern Ireland since 2008. He represented England at the World Scrabble Championship 2003, where he finished in 62nd place, and represented Northern Ireland at the World Scrabble Championship 2011 where he finished in 28th place and achieved the highest game score of the tournament (694pts).
Helen Gipson is a Scottish Scrabble player. On 4 December 2005, her ABSP rating peaked at third in Britain, making her the highest rated woman, and she is consistently rated as the top female player in the world. In January 2009, she won the UK Open beating a strong field including the world champion Nigel Richards.
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 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 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 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.
The World Scrabble Championship 2013, renamed by Mattel to Scrabble Champions Tournament, was held in Andel's Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic during December 2013.
The Singapore Open Scrabble Championship is an international Scrabble tournament held each year in Singapore, established in 1998. The field of players is considerably large and it is not an invitational event. World Scrabble champion Nigel Richards has the most Singapore Open wins, with twelve between 2000 and 2017.
The WESPA World Scrabble Championship 2015 was organised by WESPA, the World English-language Scrabble Players' Association, which commissioned ASPA, the Australian Scrabble Players Association, to hold a World Scrabble Championship invitational event in Perth, Western Australia from November 4 to 8. Mattel and Mind Sports International agreed to this.
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.
The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2016 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports International (MSI) to determine the world champion in English Scrabble. It was held from 31 August to 4 September 2016 in Lille, France.
Craig Beevers is an English professional Scrabble player and former World Scrabble Champion.
The Mattel World Scrabble Championship 2018 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports Academy (MSA) to determine the world champion in English Scrabble held from 23 to 28 October 2018.
Moiz Ullah Baig is a Pakistani Scrabble player who won the World Youth Scrabble Championship 2013 and the World Junior Scrabble Championship 2018, becoming the first player ever to win both. He won the Pakistan Scrabble Championship in 2018 and is currently the number 1 player of the country. In December 2018, with a WESPA rating of 1921, he climbed up to the 71st place in the world rankings – his career highest.
The Mattel World Scrabble Championship 2019 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports Academy (MSA) to determine the world champion in English Scrabble held from 19 to 24 November 2019.
David Eldar (AUS)
Harshan Lamabadusuriya (LKA)