2011 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge qualification system

This page describes the qualification system for the 2011 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge, an invitational event for the top players from Canada and the United States.

Preamble

• A total of 14 entrants will qualify to compete at the 2011 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge, seven each representing the United States and Canada.
• The event will take place in Calgary, AB on March 19–20, 2011.
• This Challenge is being held early in 2011 rather than mid- or late 2010, because of difficulties in organizing an event for those originally considered times.

Eligibility

• All Canadian team members must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
• All U.S. team members must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the U.S.
• All participants must be NASPA members in good standing.

Qualification Period

• As in past years, the qualification period is from the beginning of March 2009 (the previous year in which the Challenge was contested) to the beginning of May 2010 (the year in which the Challenge was expected to be contested), with dates adjusted slightly to include events played on the first and last weekends during that period: 2009-02-27 to 2010-05-02 (inclusive).
• There is precedent for extending the end of the qualification period when the Challenge is unexpectedly delayed, provided that there is unanimous consent for the extension among the current qualifiers.

Participation Requirement

Players who wish to qualify must meet a minimum participation requirement of 24 rated tournament games played during the qualification period.

Peak Rating

Players will qualify based on peak rating (PR). A player’s PR is defined as his or her highest un-accelerated rating that satisfies the following conditions:

• It is achieved at the end of a rated tournament played using the TWL lexicon. (It is possible that future Challenges may either be played in Collins, or permit qualification through rated Collins play.)
• It is not achieved before the tournament in which the participation requirement has been met.
• It is achieved in the last 18 months of the qualification period.

“Un-accelerated” means that acceleration points earned in a tournament are deducted from the player’s post-tournament rating before it is considered for a peak rating.

If two or more players have the same PR, then the tie will be broken by each player's second highest PR eligible rating. If still tied then the tie will be broken by drawing of lots.

Current Standings

STANDINGS (United States)
 
 1  2078 1918-2078 2032 2010-04 193.0- 81.0 0.704  y  WIEGAND DAVE
 2  2071 2007-2071 2021 2010-05 128.0- 34.0 0.790  n  GIBSON DAVID
 3  2032 1888-2032 2021 2010-05 113.0- 49.0 0.698  n  JOHNSON CARL
 4  2021 1841-2021 2021 2010-01  89.0- 45.0 0.664  ?  MATSUMOTO KENJI
 5  2013 1880-2013 1907 2010-04 177.5-101.5 0.636  ?  WEINSTEIN IAN
    2012 1830-2012 2012 2010-04 166.5-111.5 0.599  n  MALLICK JOEY
 6  2006 1865-2006 1956 2010-03  99.0- 43.0 0.697  n  SWIFT ORRY
 7  1995 1892-1995 1995 2010-04  64.0- 34.0 0.653  ?  APPEL SCOTT
 7  1995 1841-1995 1950 2010-04 133.0- 70.0 0.655  n  SHERMAN JOEL
 9  1981 1898-1981 1960 2010-02 145.0- 76.0 0.656  n  BENEDICT NATHAN
10  1980 1816-1980 1894 2010-05 240.5-140.5 0.631  y  CREE CHRIS
11  1974 1786-1974 1965 2010-05 164.5- 84.5 0.661  ?  BOWMAN BRIAN
12  1970 1891-1970 1948 2010-03  75.5- 36.5 0.674  ?  THEVENOT GEOFF
13  1947 1829-1947 1893 2010-04 157.5- 97.5 0.618  n  BASSETT-BOUCHARD CONRAD
14  1944 1754-1953 1908 2010-04 123.0- 76.0 0.618  n  STERN RAFI

STANDINGS (Canada)
 
     Ratings      
Rnk Qual  Low High Last Updated   Won-Lost  Ratio Reg Player
 1  2011 1968-2011 2011 2010-04  48.0- 26.0 0.649  y? LOGAN ADAM
    1972 1834-1972 1972 2009-12  62.0- 42.0 0.596  n  WAPNICK JOEL
 2  1952 1541-1952 1952 2010-05 137.5- 54.5 0.716  y  TRAN ERIC
 3  1920 1710-1920 1877 2010-02  76.0- 37.0 0.673  ?  HOEKSTRA RON
 4  1912 1831-1912 1850 2010-04  72.0- 41.0 0.637  y  LEAH TONY
 5  1885 1833-1886 1854 2009-08  58.5- 45.5 0.562  y  DANIEL ROBIN POLLOCK
 6  1880 1641-1880 1880 2010-04 142.0-102.0 0.582  ?  CORNELIS LOU
 7  1875 1725-1875 1864 2010-03  67.0- 40.0 0.626  y  SALDANHA DEAN
 8  1871 1816-1871 1871 2010-03  57.0- 40.0 0.588  ?  SYKES CHRISTOPHER
 9  1870 1706-1870 1870 2010-01  52.0- 33.0 0.612  y? HLADY JASON
10  1862 1810-1862 1862 2010-03  41.5- 21.5 0.659  ?  LEONG JAMES
11  1859 1788-1859 1788 2009-11  46.0- 30.0 0.605  ?  VIJAYAKUMAR SINNA
12  1852 1692-1852 1787 2010-04  86.0- 64.0 0.573  y  SALDANHA DIELLE
    1851 1775-1851 1842 2010-03  56.0- 30.0 0.651  n  BEROFSKY EVAN
13  1850 1673-1850 1850 2010-03  56.0- 38.0 0.596  y  MATTHEWS JESSE

Players marked ‘y’ have confirmed their intent to play; those marked ‘n’ have confirmed that they will not play. For more details, see the full qualification standings. Please report any corrections to John Chew.

Alternates

All alternates will be chosen on the basis of PR.

Disputes

Any dispute regarding the application or interpretation of any of the above will be resolved jointly by the Canadian Committee and the International Committee. If the two committees are unable to agree on a ruling, the director of the 2011 Challenge will choose between their rulings.