== Kinds of tournaments ==
We currently recognize five four different kinds of rated tournaments:
* An ''open rated tournament'' (ORT) is open to anyone and is fully ratedif there are at least 4 games / rounds.** A tournament will be 1/3 rated if there are only 3 games / rounds.* A ''capped open rated tournament'' (COT) is open to anyone but has an attendance limit of no more than 10, and is one-third rated.* A ''3 game tournament'' is open to anyone but is limited to 1/3 games, and is one-third rated.
* A ''team challenge'' is restricted to members of specific clubs or residents of specific regions, and is fully rated.
* A ''championship'' is restricted to members of a specific club or residents of a specific region, and is fully rated.
The following table (excerpted from the [[Directors Manual|Director’s
Manual]] and expandedupdated) describes the different kinds of tournaments
in more detail.
| (Capped) Open rated tournament (COT or ORT)
| Team challenges or championships (TCC)
| Local club tournament (LCT)
|-
| Advance notice/ sanctioning
|colspan=2|'''Multiday tournaments:''' 4 weeks with no exceptions
'''One-day tournaments:''' 10 days with no exceptions
| 10 days with no exceptions
|-
| Tournament calendar listing
|colspan=32| All rated events must be listed on [{{SERVER}}/tourneys/calendar.html NASPA calendar]
|-
| Rating method
|colspan=2|Fully rated (except for tournaments :* Tournaments with a cap on attendees of 10 players or less, which * Tournaments with only 3 games<br/>Those exceptions will be 1/3 rated, unless the tournament otherwise qualifies to be fully rated as a Team Challenge/Championship event).| 1/3 rated|-|rowspan=4|Geographic restrictions|colspan=3|'''Multiday tournaments:''' no other multiday event occurring within two weekends and 200 miles of your proposed tournament; no other one-day event on the same day as one of your tournament days.
|-
|rowspan=3|Geographic restrictions|colspan=32|'''One-day Multiday tournaments:''' no other one-day tournament multiday event occurring within 100 two weekends and 200 miles on the same day as of your event (reduced to 50 miles if the other proposed tournament has a cap on attendees of 30 players or less); no other multi-day within 200 miles. Consecutive one-day tournaments with no cap event on attendees will be treated the same day as multi-day tournaments for the purpose one of this policyyour tournament days.
|-
|colspan=32|'''ScopeOne-day tournaments:''': Effective September 23, 2019, no other one-day tournament within 100 miles on the geographic restrictions apply same day as your event (reduced to all 50 miles if the other tournament types, including Local Club Tournamentshas a cap on attendees of 30 players or less); no other multi-day within 200 miles. Consecutive one-day tournaments with no cap on attendees will be treated as multi-day tournaments for the purpose of this policy.
|-
|colspan=3|'''Exceptions''':<ul><li>If the organizers of conflicting tournaments mutually agree, NASPA will sanction both.</li><li>The [[Executive Committee]] has determined that the [[Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge |Can-Am Scrabble Challenge]] does not conflict with other events, due to its structure. Therefore, Can-Am can be scheduled at the convenience of the organizers, without regard to proximity to other events.</li><li>Two events that do not share a [[ratings|rating system]] (e.g., an all-[[TWL]] event and an all-[[CSW]] event) are deemed not to conflict with each other.</li></ul>
|-
| Frequency restrictions
|colspan=2|None
|Must be sponsored by a NASPA-sanctioned [[club]]. No more than one event per club, per month.
|-
| How many games?
|colspan=2|At least 4 3 games|At least . A 3-game tournament will be 1/3 rated. To be fully rated, a tournament must have 4 or more games.
|-
| How many players?
|colspan=32|At least 4 players in each division, - at least 2 rated players in each division
|-
| Membership requirements
|colspan=32|All players must be current NASPA members
|-
| Player restrictions
| None permitted
| Entry restricted by club/region (for team challenge) or club/region/rating (for championship).
| None permitted
|-
| Participation fee
|colspan=32|$.50 per player per game
|-
| Examples
| [[Championships|NASPA Scrabble Players Championship]], most tournaments| Portland-Seattle Interclub Challenge, Texas State Championship, Can-Am, Kingston Cup| One-day tournament that is created on short notice
|}