2014 National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship will take place on August 9-13, 2014 at the Buffalo Convention Center. Further details will be posted here as they become available.

Live Event Coverage

For continuously updated results from our event once it gets underway, please visit the LIVE COVERAGE section.

Registration

Online registration is available as of late December. A list of registered players is available on this website, and will be copied to cross-tables.com soon. The rest of this section describes in detail the various terms and conditions of registration, most of which are also discussed on the registration form.

Registration is open now, and will close on July 30, 2014, after which players will only be accepted if they do not make a division odd.

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.

If you meet these criteria and prefer to play using the international Collins (CSW) lexicon, you may do so. If at least 20 players register in each of the two planned CSW divisions, players will compete separately in an open division and in one for players whose qualifying NASPA CSW rating (or equivalent as determined by the organizing committee) is less than 1400. The qualifying NASPA CSW rating is the highest tournament rating attained at the end of a NASPA CSW-rated tournament which finished during the period August 1, 2012 to July 30, 2014. (If you had a NASPA CSW rating prior to this period, but did not play during the period, your qualifying rating is that unchanged rating.) The CSW divisions will be NASPA and WESPA rated.

If not, then the TWL division(s), numbered 1–4, in which you may play depend on your rating as follows. If you do not have a NASPA rating, you must play in Division 1, the open division. If you do have a NASPA rating, then your division eligibility is based on a Qualification Rating (QR), which consists of the highest tournament rating attained at the end of any NASPA TWL-rated tournament which finished during the period August 1, 2012 to July 30, 2014. (If you have a rating, but do not play during this period, your QR is your unchanged current rating.) If your QR is 1800 or higher, you must play in Division 1. If it is in the range 1400–1799, you must play in Division 1 or 2. If it is in the range 1000–1399, you must play in Division 1, 2 or 3. If it is below 1000, you may play in any of the four divisions.

Player division assignments will be reviewed after July 30, 2014 to ensure that everyone is registered in the correct division. If the division in which you registered is not one in which your QR permits you to play, we will move you up to the lowest permissible division. If this new division is Division 1, you will be required to pay the difference in entry fees before checking in at the Championship.

Collins Division

Again this year, there will be at least one separate division of players using the Collins lexicon at the National Scrabble Championship. If at least 20 players register in each division, there will be two Collins division, divided at 1400. If fewer than 20 players register in either division, the two divisions will be combined into a single Collins division.

The Collins division will be run using NASPA rules, except that the Collins lexicon will be used and the challenge penalty will be 5 points per word. The Collins division will be NASPA and WESPA rated.

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 July 20, 2014, may pay $50 to play in any division.

The above fees will be increased by $50 after May 31, 2014. For example, a Division 1 player signing up on June 1, 2014 would pay $225.

Players accepted after the close of registration on July 30, 2014 must pay a $75 late penalty. For example, a youth signing up on August 1, 2014 would pay $175. Acceptance of registrants after July 30, 2014 is not guaranteed, and will generally only be permitted if it does not cause a division to be uneven.

Players not staying at the host hotel for the duration of the event must also pay a commuter/facility fee of $20 per day ($100 maximum). The commuter fee does not apply to those local to the Buffalo area. Verification of status as a hotel guest will be performed at registration/check-in and throughout the event. Players staying at the host hotel for only part of the event must pay the full commuter fee, and may then apply for a refund of $20 per day stayed at the host hotel (to a maximum of $100) after the conclusion of the event, by providing the Championship Committee with hotel confirmation number and dates of stay.

Fees payable are computed based on when (Central Time) funds are received in full. If you are not paying right away online at the moment when you register, please be sure to allow enough time for your mailed payment to reach us.

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 July 30, 2014, 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 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, and if the time limit on credit card refunds has not elapsed), 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 paid your tournament fees by credit card, any credit owing to you will be issued to your card; otherwise, we will mail a check to your membership address as shown in your member profile. No refunds will be issued after the refund deadlines described below.

All refunds are subject to a cancellation fee of $15.

If you decide you need to cancel your registration, we will refund your entry fee (and commuter fee, if applicable), if you so request by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on July 30, 2014.

Conditions

Rules, Code and Terms/Conditions

By registering for the NSC, you agree to abide by the NASPA Tournament Rules and Code of Conduct, and agree to comply with the 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship Terms and Conditions. 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.

Minor Release

A Minor Release and Consent Form will be required for all players under age 18 as of July 30, 2014, and may be downloaded and submitted in advance, or executed by a parent or guardian at registration.

Player Bulletin

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

Equipment Required

Participants in the 2014 National Scrabble Championship are responsible for bringing all equipment necessary to play in the tournament. If neither player in a game has equipment available for their game, a double forfeit may be imposed.

Changes

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

Hotel/Travel Information

Hotel Registration

Hotel registration information will be made available soon.

Hotel and Event Parking

Parking fee information will be posted soon.

Roommate Wanted

If you need a roommate and would like a listing here, please contact the Championship Committee and specify your requirements: male, female or either, smoking or nonsmoking, etc. We will put a listing in this section. If you already have a room, please include in your email what nights your room is reserved. You can list your email address or phone number. Several people successfully found roommates for the NSC this way.

IMPORTANT: When you get your roommate, please contact the committee so we can remove your listing.

Airport Transport Information

The nearest international airports to the tournament site are as follows. Note that airports with IATA codes beginning with Y are on the Canadian side of the international border, and that travel time does not include highly variable border-crossing delays.

IATA	Name	Time	Distance
BUF	Buffalo Niagara	00:15	10 mi
IAG	Niagara Falls	00:25	20 mi
ROC	Greater Rochester	01:10	70 mi
YHM	John C. Munro Hamilton	01:15	120 km
YYZ	Toronto Pearson	01:30	150 km
YKF	Region of Waterloo	01:50	170 km
YTZ	Billy Bishop Toronto City	02:00	160 km

Check-In

To play in the first round on Saturday morning, you must check in between 10:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. on Friday, August 8, 2014, at the NSC registration desk 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 notify 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 desk closes at 7:00 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 familiarizing yourself with the announcements and tournament schedule.

Schedule

This schedule for the 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship may be modified to add new events, or possibly to change room locations. Also, until about a month before the event, it should be considered an early draft, with only the times for registration and the main event to be set in stone. Once the event begins, please check this schedule for changes at the beginning of each day.

Friday, August 8, 2014

10:00 A.M.–7:00 P.M.: Registration (TBA)
10:00 A.M.–11:00 P.M.: After hours room open (TBA)
12:00 P.M.–4:00 P.M.: Early bird tournament, restricted to NSC Staff and other NASPA directors (TBA)
4:30 P.M.–5:30 P.M.: Committee meeting for Division Leaders, Division Assistants, Auxiliary Staff (TBA)
7:00 P.M.–9:30 P.M.: Opening Reception (TBA)

Saturday, August 9, 2014

8:30 A.M.–8:55 A.M.: Set up for play
8:55 A.M.–9:10 A.M.: Announcements, group photos TBA
9:10 A.M.–1:15 P.M.: Rounds 1–4
1:15 P.M.–2:30 P.M.: Canadian Committee and Technology Committee lunch meetings
2:45 P.M.–2:55 P.M.: Set up for play
2:55 P.M.–3:05 P.M.: Announcements and 2013 Best Strategic Prize presentation
3:05 P.M.–6:15 P.M.: Rounds 5–7
6:30 P.M.–10:00 P.M.: Advisory Board Dinner Meeting
9:00 A.M.–11:00 P.M.: After hours room open
8:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.: Trivia Contest
8:30 P.M.–11:00 P.M.: Evening Musicale

Sunday, August 10, 2014

8:30 A.M.–8:55 A.M.: Set up for play
8:55 A.M.–9:10 A.M.: Announcements, group photos TBA
9:10 A.M.–1:15 P.M.: Rounds 8–11
1:15 P.M.–2:30 P.M.: Club/Directors Committee and Tournament Committee lunch meetings
2:45 P.M.–2:55 P.M.: Set up for play
2:55 P.M.–3:05 P.M.: Announcements and Annual Achievement Awards presentations - Part 1
3:05 P.M.–6:15 P.M.: Rounds 12–14
9:00 A.M.–11:00 P.M.: After hours room open
8:00 P.M.–9:30 P.M.: Director meeting

Monday, August 11, 2014

8:30 A.M.–8:55 A.M.: Set up for play
8:55 A.M.–9:05 A.M.: Announcements, group photos TBA
9:05 A.M.–1:15 P.M.: Rounds 15–18
1:15 P.M.–2:30 P.M.: Rules Committee and International Committee lunch meetings
2:45 P.M.–2:55 P.M.: Set up for play
2:55 P.M.–3:05 P.M.: Announcements and Annual Achievement Awards presentations - Part 2
3:05 P.M.–6:15 P.M.: Rounds 19–21
6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.: After hours play
7:00 P.M.–8:30 P.M.: Katyz Lezin Book Reading
8:30 P.M.–10:30 P.M.: Town Hall meeting

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

8:30 A.M.–8:55 A.M.: Set up for play, group photos TBA
8:55 A.M.–9:05 A.M.: Announcements, group photos TBA
9:05 A.M.–1:15 P.M.: Rounds 22–25
1:15 P.M.–2:30 P.M.: Director's Manual Committee and Dictionary Committee lunch meetings
2:45 P.M.–2:55 P.M.: Set up for play
2:55 P.M.–3:05 P.M.: Announcements
3:05 P.M.–6:15 P.M.: Rounds 26–28
6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.: After hours play
8:30 P.M.–10:30 P.M.: SWOT Analysis Meeting
7:30 P.M.–11:30 P.M.: Tag-Team Tourney

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

8:30 A.M.–8:55 A.M.: Set up for play
8:55 A.M.–9:05 A.M.: Announcements, group photos TBA
9:05 A.M.–1:15 P.M.: Rounds 29–31
1:30 P.M.–2:30 P.M.: Prize Ceremony
3:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M.: Tear Down

The Rose Award

Bob Schoenman's Protiles honors Rose Kreiswirth's memory. Rose was an expert Scrabble® player for over 30 years and cherished the game for its educational values. An accomplished player, Rose was as well known for her sense of fairness and her congeniality as she was for her competitiveness. The Rose Award will be awarded each year at the National SCRABBLE Championship to a female player who, in the opinion of the judges, best exemplifies the fierce competitiveness and compassion that we remember Rose for. Thank you, Bob and Andi Schoenman!

Other Donors

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

Prizes

Full details about cash prizes, and anticipated merchandise prizes, are now posted on the prize table.

Format

The NSC will be paired using tsh along the lines of past events, including Gibsonization on spread. After an initial phase of fixed pairings based on pre-event ratings, 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.

Staff

Organizer: Chris Cree
Director: Dallas Johnson
Assistant to the Director: Sue Grogan-Johnson
Master of Ceremonies: Alan Stern
Activity Directors: Alice Ching-Chew; Robin Gates
Division leaders: Division 1: John Robertson; Division 2: Bryan Pepper; Division 3: Dan Stock; Division 4: Arthur Moore; Collins: TBA
Division assistants: Division 1: TBA; Division 2: TBA; Division 3: TBA; Division 4: Diane Moore; Collins: Pablo Moreno
Webmaster: John Chew
Data Entry: Division 1: Tim Crotty; Division 2/CSW: Reese Daniel; Division 3/4: TBA
Internet reporters: TBA
Annotators: TBA

Other Volunteers

Thursday, August 7

Volunteers are needed to help prepare the playing room for the tournament.

Friday, August 8

Volunteers are needed to help with registration and check-in.

10:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.

12:30 P.M.-3:00 P.M.

3:00 P.M.-5:30 P.M.

5:30 P.M.-7:00 P.M.

Saturday to Wednesday: Game Days

Laptops for Adjudication

We will need at least 10 laptops for adjudications. The laptops will need the latest version of ZYZZYVA. Please be sure the correct word list is in operation and disable your screensaver in the playing area during games.

Clean and Pack

We need about 15 Clean and Pack volunteers to help collect and box NASPA tournament supplies to be shipped back to the storage facility after the awards ceremony on Wed., August 13, 2014.

Unassigned Volunteers

Following is a list of those who have volunteered, but do not yet have a specific assignment:

Vendors

Vendor information will be added soon.

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.

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