2005 NSC Player Information

Thank you for registering to play in the 2005 National SCRABBLE^® Championship. To make sure that your trip to the NSC is hassle-free, please make sure that you:

Travel

Book your hotel accommodation and travel arrangements well in advance. There is a free shuttle bus that runs the 1.5 miles between Reno-Tahoe Airport and the Reno Hilton at 2500 East Second Street, Reno, NV 89595, (800) 501-2651. A taxi should cost about $5.

Equipment

Bring a set of Protiles and a game timer. Every player is responsible for bringing these, and we are not responsible if neither you nor your opponent came equipped. If neither you nor your opponent can acquire a clock within ten minutes of the scheduled start of a round, you will both forfeit your game.

Boards will be provided by Hasbro. Tournament games must be played on the supplied boards: no variations or customized boards are allowed. The winner of the last round on Tuesday, August 23rd will not (as erroneously announced earlier) be awarded the game board at each table.

Boards will likewise also be set out for your use in the after hours playing room (Room S-2), but not tiles or game timers.

Make sure that your name is clearly visible on your game timer and any other personal items that you bring to the tournament room. Do not bring unnecessary valuables with you: we cannot watch items for you, or be responsible for their safekeeping or loss.

On Wednesday, August 24th, you may check out and bring your luggage to Room 153 before proceeding to the Tahoe Room to view the Finals.

Need new gear? We will have a limited supply of game timers and Protiles available for sale at the NSA Word Gear table at the championship, but why take a chance? Click now to order from the NSA Word Gear catalog.

Registration

The deadline for changing divisions is July 31st. As with other NSA deadlines, to meet the deadline you must contact us by mail, phone or e-mail no later than midnight on the evening of that day. Mail must be postmarked, and phone calls and e-mail messages must be received by that time. If you have ended up registering for a division for which you are overqualified, you must reregister or risk not being able to play in the tournament. To do so, please contact Sara Hallock at sh@scrabbleassociation.com.

If you have a digital photo of yourself that you would like to add to our player database, please follow the instructions given in our photo submission form. We will make sure that any photos received by the registration deadline are posted; after that, we can't guarantee it.

You are responsible for arriving in time to register in the Grand Salon between noon (not 9:00 A.M. as originally announced) and 9:00 P.M. on Friday, August 19th. Registration will be done by division under the supervision of each division leader, so this will be a good time for you to meet your division leader and some of your fellow competitors. If you are unavoidably delayed past 9:00 P.M., you must sign in at the Hilton's hotel lobby when you arrive; if you do not do so, you will not be included in the first session's pairings. If you know in advance that you won't be able to arrive before 9:00 P.M., our computer staff would appreciate your informing us by e-mailing John Chew at jjchew@math.utoronto.ca with your division, name, flight number and estimated time of arrival. You may also send text messages to John's phone at 416-876-7675 if you are delayed en route.

Anagrams Championship

For those interested in the new Anagrams Championship, there will be a separate registration and entry fee collected at the Reno Hilton between 6:00 and 7:00 P.M. on August 19th. There will be only one division. The Rules and Format are available at this web site, and will also be distributed at the tournament.

Formalities

All players must be familiar with the Tournament Rules. If you are new to the tournament game, be sure you understand how to draw tiles correctly, the sequence of events that make up a turn, and procedures for challenging plays.

While it is Merriam Webster's intention to publish our new Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary, 4th Edition (OSPD4) some time before the NSC05, the current Official Tournament and Club Word List (OWL) and the Long List (LL) shall be the official word lists used for the NSC05.

Please be aware of the NSA Telecast Rules, especially if you are in Division 1, as the best-of-five finals in that division will be telecast by ESPN. These govern, among other things, sportsmanlike behaviour and use of offensive words during the final games.

If you are not yet 18 years of age, you must be accompanied to the championship by your parent or legal guardian, who must submit a copy of our Minor Release on your behalf.

Bring a completed W-9 tax form (or equivalent tax form for registered foreign nationals). You may fill one out at registration instead, but this will delay your check-in process. Prize checks will be mailed from Greenport, NY, after final verification of championship results, to the address that you gave when you registered. If we do not have a completed tax form, we will not mail you a check. If you do not win any prizes, we will shred your tax form.

Prizes which are awarded based on game scores or standings will be computed automatically by the computer. Seniors prizes will be awarded based on the date of birth information you provided at registration. Other prizes (such as for High Single Play) will be awarded based on entries recorded on the appropriate sign-up sheets: if you do not submit an entry, you will not win a prize.

The tally sheet (result slip) that you submit at the end of each round is the sole official record of your game. You are encouraged to keep your contestant scorecard up to date during the event, so that you will know how you are doing. If you discover that you have made a mistake on your tally sheet after you have submitted it, you may correct it with the permission of your opponent and your Division Leader.

Division Leaders

Your Division will have a Division Leader (DL) who will also function as your Tournament Director. The DL will have a Division Assistant (DA), who will help the DL facilitate a smooth-running tourney. If you and your opponent have any disagreement concerning game procedure, call your Division Leader to your table. Do not necessarily take your opponent's word as accurate or well-informed. Please note that the DAs will not make any rules decisions or adjudicate any challenges.

A complete list of committee staff, including Division Leader and Division Assistant assignments, will be available as soon as it is finalized.

Updates

Please check this web page as the event draws nearer for the answers to questions people ask us, and just before you leave in case we have last-minute instructions. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at info@scrabble-assoc.com.

Once the tournament starts, we will rely on bulletin boards posted outside the tournament room to convey important information, and will keep the announcements at the beginning of each session as brief as possible. Please check for newly posted information at the beginning and end of each day.