2012 National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2012 National SCRABBLE Championship will take place on August 11-15, 2012 at the Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, FL. Further details will be posted here as they become available.

Registration

Online registration is now available; a list of registered players is also available. If you’re in a hurry to register now, you can just click on the link above; the rest of this section describes in detail the various terms and conditions of registration, most of which are discussed on the registration form.

Registration opened on December 1, 2011. It will close on August 1, 2012, after which players will only be accepted if they do not make a division odd.

Collins Division

If there is sufficient demand this year, there may for the first time be a separate division of players playing using the Collins lexicon. Because of the uncertain demand and its effect on the logistics of the tournament, there will be unusually strict conditions placed on registration in this division.

The division will be contested only if there are at least 40 paid registrants as of May 4, 2012. If numbers fall short of that target, registered players may transfer to one of the regular OWL divisions, or retain their entry fee as credit toward entry fees in a similar future event.

Eligibility

To play in the NSC, you must (1) be a NASPA member, and (2) have played in an officially sanctioned SCRABBLE tournament to earn an official tournament rating. If you live in the United States or Canada, that rating should be a NASPA rating; if you live elsewhere it may be a WESPA rating or other comparable national rating.

This year’s Championship has four regular (OWL) divisions, split at (OWL) ratings of 1700, 1400 and 1100. Entry fees are $175 for Division 1 and $150 for Divisions 2–4. Unlimited play up will be permitted: anyone can play in Division 1, but for example only players rated below 1100 can play in Division 4. Unlike past years, the rating used for division placement will simply be your tournament rating as of August 1, 2012, not a peak rating.

In the unlikely event that a player’s first rated tournament takes place between the end of the registration period and the beginning of the NSC, the rating that they earn at their first tournament will be considered their rating for division eligibility should they be accepted for late entry into the NSC.

There are no rating restrictions on playing in the CSW division.

Entry Fees

The base entry fee for Division 1 and the Collins Division is $175; for Divisions 2–4, $150.

Youths, defined as those whose 18th birthday is after August 11, 2012, may pay $50 to play in any division.

The above fees will be reduced by $25 from December 1–31, 2011. For example, a youth registering on Christmas Day, 2011, would pay only $25.

The above fees will be increased by $50 after June 30, 2012. For example, a Division 1 player signing up on July 4, 2012 would pay $225.

Players accepted after the close of registration on August 1, 2012 must pay a $75 late penalty. For example, a youth signing up on August 10, 2012 would pay $175.

Division Changes

To change divisions after you have registered, please email the organizing committee at nsc@scrabbleplayers.org. Division changes are subject to the following conditions:

• After registration closes on August 1, 2011, if your division change would increase the number of players who may potentially have to have byes (if you would make two divisions odd, or would make a larger division odd), you will be waitlisted until this is not the case.
• If you registered for the Collins division, you may not move to a TWL division if this would cause the Collins division to drop below 40 players.
• If you move to a division with a higher base entry fee, the change will not take effect until you have paid the difference in entry fees.
• If you move to a division with a lower base entry fee, the difference in entry fees will be refunded to your credit card (if that is how you paid), or by check or cash at check-in otherwise.

If your rating rises above the limit for the division in which you registered, you will automatically be moved to the lowest division for which you qualify.

Refunds

If you have to cancel your registration, we will refund your entry fee (and commuter fee, if applicable), if you so request by August 1, 2012 (OWL divisions) or April 6, 2012 (Collins division). No refunds will be issued after those dates. If you paid by credit card, a credit will be issued to your card; otherwise, we will mail a check to your membership address as shown in your member profile.

Conditions

By registering for the NSC, you agree to abide by the NASPA Tournament Rules and Code of Conduct. In particular, some games at this tournament, probably the highest Division 1 board without a Gibsonized player, will be annotated live. If you refuse to play a designated game with annotation, you will forfeit it, and may at the director’s discretion be assigned a spread penalty of −200 points.

A Minor Release and Consent form can be downloaded for players who have not reached the legal age of majority. It can be mailed with your registration or alone if you have paid online to Chris Cree. Alternatively, it can be signed by the accompanying parent or guardian at the NSC in Orlando.

Please read our player bulletin, and check it again for last-minute updates before you travel to the event.

The Championship Committee reserves the right to modify the above to account for unforeseen special circumstances.

Check-In

To play in the first round on Saturday morning, you must check in between 10:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. on Friday at the NSC check-in desks in the lobby outside the playing area. You may ask a friend to check in for you by proxy, if you cannot check in in person. If possible, please email us at nsc@scrabbleplayers.org to warn us in advance of proxy arrangements. If you check in by proxy, but do not show up to play, then neither you nor your proxy will be permitted to check in by proxy at future events. If you do not check in before the desks close at 10:00 P.M., you may join the championship in progress as soon as it is convenient for the pairings staff to add you back in; this may not take place before Sunday morning. No refund will be issued to latecomers.

When you check in, you will be given an announcement sheet. This is to reduce the number of announcements that have to be made on Saturday morning, so that the event can get underway quickly. You are responsible for reading the announcements and schedule!

Schedule

Here is an overview of events at the championship that have been booked so far. For full details, please consult the 2012 NSC Schedule as the event draws nearer.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Registration, Staff/Director Early Bird Tournament, Staff Committee Meeting, Staff/Committee Dinner

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Rounds 1–7, Advisory Board Dinner Meeting, Trivia Contest

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Rounds 8–14, Director Meeting, Director Reception

Monday, August 13, 2012

Rounds 15–21, Town Hall meeting

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Rounds 22–28

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Rounds 29–31, Prize Ceremony

Donors

If you are interested in donating prizes to events at the championship, please email us at nsc@scrabbleplayers.org.

Sponsors

For information about sponsorship opportunities at the championship, please contact Chris Cree.

Prizes

This section will be updated when the initial event budget is prepared.

For full details, see the prize table when it is published.

If there is a Collins division, half of the entry fees collected will be returned in its prize fund. If 40 players pay $175 each for a total of $7,000, the $3,500 prize fund will be paid out as follows: $1,500 (1st), $600 (2nd), $500 (3rd), $400 (class prize, middle third), $300 (class prize, bottom third), $200 (miscellaneous prizes, such as high game).

Format

The NSC will be paired using tsh along the lines of past events. In each round, the top contenders are paired with each other, and everyone else is paired Swiss. These two groups, contenders and noncontenders, are paired with minimal repeats. For example, if there is no way to pair the contenders without at least one repeat, then they will be paired with one repeat.

The maximum number of contenders is 12 in Rounds 1-28, 8 in Round 29, 4 in Round 30 and 2 in Round 31. The contenders are further divided into a subgroup of leaders and non-leaders, if this can be done without increasing the number of required repeats while maintaining at least four players among the leaders. Leaders are paired by repeatedly having the top unpaired player play the lowest-ranked player that can catch up to them. Non-leaders are paired Swiss.

For further information about this pairing system, please refer to the section on Chew pairings in the tsh documentation. tsh configuration files for each division will be found at this website: Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4.

Staff

Organizer

Chris Cree

Director

Dallas Johnson

Master of Ceremonies

Alan Stern (unconfirmed)

Activity Director

Robin Gates

Division leaders

John Robertson and Dan Stock will be working at the NSC, but we have not yet determined the number of divisions or who will be assigned to which.

Division assistants

Division 1: TBA

Division 2: TBA

Division 3: TBA

Division 4: TBA

Webmaster

John Chew

Data Entry

Reese Daniel

Chris Wiegand (unconfirmed)

Tim Crotty (unconfirmed)

Internet reporter

Sherrie Saint John

Annotators

Kate Watson

Dee Segrest

Volunteers

We need a large number of volunteers, especially on registration day, and traditionally rely on the generosity of players and their travel companions. If you are available to help for any number of hours during the event, please contact us at nsc@scrabbleplayers.org.

Here’s who’s volunteered so far:

• Michael Ludin
• Art Moore
• Asif Ali

Further Information

This page will be updated as the event draws nearer. If you have urgent questions about the event, please email us at nsc@scrabbleplayers.org.