CSW Tournaments

This page lists tournaments rated in the NASPA SOWPODS system, and is part of our introduction to Collins (SOWPODS) in North America.

Collins (SOWPODS) in North America: Tournaments

While there have been occasional tournaments played to the international lexicon in the US since the 1990s (the ’93 Worlds in New York, for example: the Worlds have always been SOWPODS), and occasional others such as Wisconsin Dells, Toronto, and Texas, it has been in 2010 that the number of CSW tournaments has really started to increase. This is in large part due to NASPA’s decision to allow CSW to be rated, which has given the impetus to several organizers to add CSW divisions, or create new tournaments to meet demand.

It remains to be seen how much these numbers will continue to increase, and whether we have reached a tipping point toward a viable CSW scene, but the possibility of being able to play CSW exclusively, particularly on the west coast of the US, if one would like to, is becoming much more workable. Although, perhaps right now, it would be reasonable to say that this is still more the case for either the less prolific tournament player, or one with a large travel budget.

Also of note is that there is an increasing number of prominent international tournaments with quite substantial sponsorship and prizes, several of which are well into the $1000s, and some over $10,000. The Causeway tournament in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in December 2011, will have a top prize of $50,000, and a prize fund of $180,000. These and other upcoming tournaments are listed on Bob Jackman’s SOWPODS site, and at the WESPA site.

Since the NASPA SOWPODS rating system went into effect, as of September 2010, the following tournaments in North America are either CSW, or have a CSW division. Some earlier tournaments were played in 2009.

Events are listed below in their usual order in the calendar year. Some events will only include a Collins division if a quorum of four players registers in time. Also, non-NASPA sanctioned CSW events (e.g., WGPO) are not listed.

Please note that this page is manually edited, based on the official page of tournament results and the calendar of future events. Another good source for tournament information is cross-tables.

For information on directing a CSW tournament, or adding a CSW division to a tournament, see the page on Directing SOWPODS tournaments.

Event	2009	2010	2011	2012
Total events listed	1	16	28 (y.t.d.)	2
Austin, TX			Jan 22, 6 games
Boston, MA			Feb 5–6, 12 games
Las Vegas, NV				Feb 17–20, 28 games
Phoenix, AZ		Feb 13–15, 20 games	Feb 19–21, 20 games
Eastern Championship, Charlotte, NC			Feb 19–21, 20 games
Austin, TX			Feb 26
Bethesda, MD			Mar 19–20, 14 games
Austin, TX			Mar 26
West Coast World Championship Word list Challenge (WCWCWC), Ashland, OR		Mar 27–28, 16 games	Mar 25–27, 20 games
Boston Area Tournament 2011 Late Bird, Westford, MA			Apr 10, 6 games
Gatlinburg, TN			Apr 22–24, 20 games
Austin, TX			Apr 30
Portsmouth, NH			May 14–15, 12 games
Tucson, AZ			May 21, 8 games
Kelowna, BC			May 21–23, 20 games
Montreal, QC			May 28–29, 14 games
Arden Cup, Chicagoland, IL			May 28–30, 20 games
Where the ZO meets the ZA, Portland, OR		May 29, 6 games
Lucky Lab, Portland, OR		May 30, 8 games
Scrabble Tournament at the Peak, Hancock, MA			Jun 18–19, 16 games
16th Annual Nor’easter Main Event, Albany, NY			Jul 1–4, 6+21 games
Rubber City Collins Instant Classic, Akron, OH		Jul 10–11, 15 games
US World Championships Qualifying Tournament, Akron, OH			Jul 15–17, 20 games
Toronto, ON		Jul 16, 7 games	Jul, details TBA
Old Greenwich, CT			Jul 22–24, 20 games
Victoria, BC		Oct 2–3, 14 games	Jul 23–24, 14 games
World Players Championship		Aug 13–16, 32 games, Dallas, TX
Portland, OR		Sep 11, 7 games
Leah Katz/Mike Wise Memorial, Toronto, ON	Sep 11–13, 8+12 games	Sep 24–26, 8+13 games	Sep 22–25, 26 games	details TBA
Wisconsin Dells, WI		Oct 1–3, 15 games
Portland, OR		Oct 17, 7 games
Austin, TX			Oct 22–23
Toronto vs. Montreal, Kingston, ON	(Jan 16–17, 2010, 12 games)	Oct 30–31, 12 games	Oct?, TBA
Sacramento, CA		Nov 6–7, 20 games
Emerald City Scrabble, Seattle, WA		Nov 12–14, 20 games	Nov 11–13, 20 games
Stamford, CT			Dec 9–11, 16 games
Delaware Scrabble Festivus, Newark, DE			Dec 23–25, 20 games

Please direct comments about this page to its author, Nick Ball.