2010 Causeway Challenge US Qualification System

Eligibility

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply.

Registrants must be members of NASPA in good standing.

Players may not register for the qualification process if they have already registered to qualify for another nation. If a player registers to play for the U.S. and then withdraws to attempt to represent another nation at Causeway 2010, they will be ineligible to compete for the U.S. at Causeway 2011 and the 2011 World Scrabble Championship.

Qualification period (QP)

The qualification period began on September 1, 2009. The qualification period ends with the conclusion of the World Players Championship on August 16, 2010.

Criteria (in order)

1. Top finisher from 2009 Causeway Challenge Premier division

One spot will be reserved for the top American finisher at the 2009 Causeway Challenge, regardless of whether this player played on the American team or on one of the international teams. If this player declines to play, then an additional spot will be determined by peak WESPA rating.

Note: The top American finisher at the 2009 Causeway Challenge was Tim Adamson.

2. Top finisher from 2009 World Scrabble Championship

One spot will be reserved for the top American finisher at the 2009 WSC. If this player declines to play, then an additional spot will be determined by peak WESPA rating.

Note: The top American finisher at the 2009 World Scrabble Championship was Dave Wiegand.

3. Peak WESPA rating

All additional spots (between three and five) will be determined by peak WESPA rating during the QP. Peak ratings will be calculated with the following stipulations:

• Provisional WESPA ratings (calculated when a player has less than 50 games rated into the WESPA system) shall not be used as qualifying ratings.

• Peak ratings will be calculated after a player has played a minimum of 30 WESPA rated games during the QP.

• A player must have a minimum peak WESPA rating of 1750 to qualify for the American team by peak WESPA rating.

• Ties in peak WESPA ratings will be broken first by the number of WESPA games played in the QP, and then by current WESPA ratings, and then by current OWL ratings.

Registration

In order to register for the qualification system, players must contact Brian Bowman or Sam Kantimathi. Players must register their intention to play by September 1, 2010. Any player who commits to play and withdraws after September 1, 2010 will be ineligible to play on the U.S. team at the 2011 Causeway Challenge.

Note

It is to be noted that past winners of the World Scrabble Championship from the U.S. will automatically compete in Causeway, 2010. Each of them still must qualify by rating as described above to be part of the U.S. team. Otherwise, he would be part of an international team in Causeway, 2010.

Registered players

The following players have registered for the qualification process: Tim Adamson, Dave Wiegand.

Qualification Standings

The following table includes all eligible players who have played enough WESPA rated games to qualify.

RANK		Player		QR		# of Games
1		Jason Katz-Brown		2006		51
2		Geoff Thevenot		1991		58
3		Nathan Benedict		1971		104
4		Jim Kramer		1964		69
5		Marty Gabriel		1962		107
6		John O'Laughlin		1938		44
7		Sam Kantimathi		1937		223
8		Mark Kenas		1930		87
9		Brian Bowman		1929		42
10		Travis Chaney		1891		34
11		Robert Linn		1864		69

These standings were last updated on July 7, 2010.