2018 Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2018 Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship (CNSC), the tenth such event since its inception in 1996, is tentatively planned to take place in Toronto in June.

Web Coverage

The championship will receive major event web coverage typical of recent national and international championships, including photography and commentary and live annotated games from Board 1.

When the event begins, please take a look at the live webcast site.

Player Roster

You can follow the registration and qualification process in the qualification standings chart. Players marked with a ‘y’ are paid registrants; those with a dollar sign have informed us that their payment is en route, but will not be considered registered until payment is received and cleared.

Schedule

The schedule is not yet finalised.

How to Compete

The event structure is not yet finalised.

Refunds

The CNSC is an invitational tournament of fixed size, so holding a place and then withdrawing can lead to a situation where the player who should have replaced you cannot make travel arrangements in time. You should therefore only register to play if you are sure that you can compete.

Format of 2016 CNSC Finals

Details have not yet been finalised.

Spectators

Spectators are invited to attend the finals on Monday, where the best-of-five match will be relayed play by play onto a projection screen. Admission is free.

Spectators are also welcome to take a look at the preliminary rounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but space is extremely limited. They should introduce themselves to tournament officials on arrival, and take care not to disturb games in progress.

Prizes

The prize pool has not yet been finalised.

Venue

The venue has not yet been finalised; this section provisionally shows information from 2016.

Exterior photo showing Bond Place Hotel at left, east end of Yonge-Dundas Square at right

The Bond Place Hotel is located in downtown Toronto, one block east of Yonge-Dundas Square, the “Heart of the City”, in a popular neighbourhood known for shopping, dining and entertainment. Within a 200-metre radius are such other Toronto landmarks as the Eaton Centre (the largest mall in the region), Massey Hall (a century-old performing arts theatre), St. Michael’s Hospital and Ryerson University.

A limited number of rooms are available at $125, per room per night, based on single or double occupancy, not including 16% tax. This rate is available until April 13, 2016 by calling the hotel at 1-800-268-9390 and giving the group name Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship.

Parking

This section has not been checked since 2016.

The hotel’s guest parking is located catercorner to the hotel on the northeast corner of Bond and Dundas (enter off Bond). It is not cheap, but hotel guests are entitled to 24-hour rates with in/out privileges.

In general, parking rates in the area vary according to the day of the week, and whether or not there is a special event (such as a theatre production, or public event at Yonge-Dundas Square) nearby. Most lots have separate maximum rates for day and night parking, but they differ as to when the night rates begin. Some lots are cash only; most accept Visa and Mastercard. It would not be unusual to be charged $35-$40 to park for 24 hours in this area. There are websites that let you calculate how much parking rates are at different times in different lots, that can save you quite a lot of money.

The best overall rates in the area by far are at the Ryerson University parking structure on the west side of Victoria (one block west of Bond), north of Dundas. They charge $16 (up $1 from 2013) weekdays until 6:00 P.M., $6 from 5:00 P.M. on, Saturdays $8 until 6:00 and $8 after 6:00 P.M., and Sunday only $10 (up $2 from 2013) for 24 hours.

There is a parking lot on the southeast corner of Bond and Dundas which may be convenient to players who are running late on arrival, but is one of the more expensive lots in the area.

The old lot on the west side of Church St. (one block east of Bond), a few buildings north of Dundas, is no longer there.

If you want to look further afield, don’t go north into Ryerson University, south toward St. Michael’s Hospital or west toward the congestion of Yonge Street; that leaves east into a mostly residential and light commercial area. If you park on street, make sure you pay careful attention to the signage, and are aware of a remote possibility of being ticketed under an unposted time limit of three hours’ parking on city streets unless otherwise signed.

If you’re driving in from the suburbs, please carefully consider the possibility of parking at a suburban subway station and taking the so-called Better Way to Dundas subway station. Thanks to recent changes in scheduling, you can even do so on Sunday morning.

Dining

This section has not been checked since 2016.

Dining area outside the playing room, lower level, Bond Place Hotel

During the main event, breakfast and lunch will be provided to contestants and staff in the lounge. For both the early bird and main event, coffee and tea breaks will be served in the morning and afternoon.

The nearest food courts are in the malls on the other three (NE, NW and SW) corners of Yonge and Dundas. A list of additional restaurant suggestions will be posted here as the event draws nearer.

Staff

If you are interested in working at this event, please contact John Chew

Equipment

Players should take careful note of what equipment they will be provided, and what equipment they should bring.

Boards

Players must bring their own boards, but may if travelling from outside of the greater Toronto area arrange to borrow a local player’s board. If neither player in a scheduled game has a board, both may forfeit their game.

Racks

Racks will be provided at this event; players may choose to use their own racks instead.

Tiles

All players will be given a set of 2018 CNSC Protiles at registration. Please check their distribution carefully before playing your first game; as per NASPA rules, no changes may be made once a game has begun. Games must be played using CNSC Protiles, but players may bring and play with Protiles from past CNSC events if they wish (and are encouraged to do so to avoid having to play with two sets of the same colour at the same table).

Tile Bags

NASPA tile bags will be available; players may use these or their own. If using their own, the provided tile bag should stay at its table.

Clocks

Players are requested to bring their own digital game timers. A limited number of timers will be available on a first-come basis; if neither player in a game can find a clock, both may forfeit the game.

Scoresheets

A limited number of standard NASPA scoresheets will be available for player use, as well as plentiful supplies of blank paper.

Pens/Pencils

A limited number of writing implements will be available for player use, but we strongly recommend that players bring their own.

Further Information

If you have questions about the 2018 CNSC that are not answered on this website, please contact CNSC Director John Chew.