by [[Peter Morris]], a Canadian residing in the United States, who defeated
American [[Brian Cappelletto]] in a best-of-three finals.
It was conceived as an invitational event to showcase the best players in
the world for publicity purposes, and to let the players experience the highest
level competition on the way to determining the world champion.
Two years later in 1993, the [[National SCRABBLE Association]] under [[John D. Williams, Jr.]] organized the next event, sponsored by [[Hasbro]] and directed by [[Michael R. Wise]] in New York City.
It was won by [[Mark Nyman]] of England.
From then until 2003, the WSC was organized and sponsored in biennial alternation by Williams & [[Hasbro]] and Nelkon & [[Mattel]],
during which period Americans and Canadians won two more titles each, and
and Thailand one.
From 2005 to 2011, Hasbro declined to sponsor the event , so it was organized and sponsored by Nelkon and Mattel.
In 2013 (Prague, Czechoslovakia) and 2014(London, U.K.), Mattel licensed [[Mind Sports International]] (MSI) to hold an open[[2013 SCRABBLE Champions Tournament|2013 World SCRABBLE ChampionshipScrabble Champions Tournament]]
in place of the traditionally invitational WSC.
This met with opposition from players, because the open format eliminated thecachet of being selected to represent one’s country, and might dilute thestrength of the playing field. There was also objection in 2014 to the newannual schedule, which disrupted traditional funding models that players hadused for travelling to the championship in alternate eyars. MSI continued to support the annual, open format however,because it could result in greater entry-fee revenues. In 2015, Mattel withdrew support for the MSI’sSCRABBLE Champions Tournament, and
[[WESPA]] staged instead their first WESPA Championship, returning to the
invitational format. Although WESPA was (and as of 2023 still is) the officiallylicensed governing body for international Scrabble, they were denied the rightto use “World Scrabble Championship” branding. WESPA and NASPA therefore consider this and subsequent WESPA Championshipsto be world championships (lower-case) of Scrabble, while formally recognizingthe ongoing right of Mattel or Hasbro to name anyone a World Scrabble Champion, and providing WESPA’s rating services to event organizers. In 2016, MSI held what was initially billed as the “MSI World Championships” in Lille, France, and subsequently upgraded to the “MSI World Scrabble Championship” under licensefrom Mattel. WESPA did not hold an event, because it was an even year. In 2017, MSI and staged a Mattel-licensed a “MSI World Scrabble Championship” in Nottingham (U.K.), andThe WESPA Championship was organized by national governing body Scrabble Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2018, TMA International (formerly known as DB Subscriptions Ltd), doing business as Mindsports Academy, staged the “Mattel World Scrabble Championships” in Torquay, U.K.WESPA did not hold an event, because it was an even year. In 2019, Mindsports Academy held another “Mattel World Scrabble Championship” in Torquay.The WESPA Championship was organized by national governing body Scrabble Association of India in Goa, India.
In 2016, MSI No championships were held in 2020 or 2022 due to the “MSI World Championships”global[[COVID-19]] pandemic.
In 20172021, both MSI national governing body Pakistan Scrabble Association stagedan unrated virtual event under the name“Gladiators WESPA Championship 2021” on[[Software#Woogles|woogles.io]]. Despite the official WESPA branding, the differentnature of online play and Mattel staged eventsits lack of official rating leave the 2021winner, [[Alastair Richards]], with the title of <em>virtual</em> worldchampion.
In 20182023, TMA International binational governing body NASPA returned the event to online playwith the [[2023 WESPA Championship (formerly known as DB Subscriptions LtdWESPAC)|WESPA Championship 2023]] in Las Vegas, doing business as Mindsports Academy, staged the “Mattel World Scrabble Championships”NV.
== [[2014 World SCRABBLE Championship|2014 SCRABBLE Champions Tournament]] ==