2009 National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2009 National SCRABBLE Championship will take place on August 1–5, 2009 at the Dayton Convention Center at 22 East Fifth Street, Dayton, OH, 45042.

About Dayton

Dayton has a metropolitan population of almost one million and is located in southwestern Ohio. It is a center for industrial, aerospace and engineering research, and home to major multinational corporations.

The last major Scrabble tournament to be held in Dayton was the 2007 Players Championship, contested by 450 players from around the world.

The nearest international airports to the Convention Center are:

• Dayton (DAY): 13 miles
• Cincinnati (CVG): 67 miles
• Columbus (CMH): 78 miles

For local information about what businesses and entertainment are within walking distance of the Convention Center, please visit the Dayton Most Metro web sites for the Central Business District and Oregon District.

Schedule

Friday, July 31	10:00 A.M.–10:00 P.M.	Check in at registration desks in Convention Center Lobby
	4:00 P.M.–5:00 P.M.	Committee Meeting for Division Leaders, Assistants and Auxiliary Staff, location TBA
	7:00 P.M.–9:00 P.M.	NSC Committee Dinner, hosted by Chris Cree, location TBA
	10:00 A.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center
Saturday, August 1	8:30 A.M.–9:00 A.M.	Set up for play
	9:00 A.M.–1:15 P.M.	Rounds 1–4
	2:45 P.M.–3:00 P.M.	Set up for play
	3:00 A.M.–6:15 P.M.	Rounds 5–7
	6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center
Sunday, August 2	8:30 A.M.–9:00 A.M.	Set up for play
	9:00 A.M.–1:15 P.M.	Rounds 8–11
	2:45 P.M.–3:00 P.M.	Set up for play
	3:00 A.M.–6:15 P.M.	Rounds 12–14
	8:00 P.M.–9:15 P.M.	Director Meeting
	9:30 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	Advisory Board Meeting
	6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center
Monday, August 3	8:30 A.M.–9:00 A.M.	Set up for play
	9:00 A.M.–1:15 P.M.	Rounds 15–18
	2:45 P.M.–3:00 P.M.	Set up for play
	3:00 A.M.–6:15 P.M.	Rounds 19–21
	8:00 P.M.–10:00 P.M.	Town Hall Meeting
	6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center
Tuesday, August 4	8:30 A.M.–9:00 A.M.	Set up for play
	9:00 A.M.–1:15 P.M.	Rounds 22–25
	2:45 P.M.–3:00 P.M.	Set up for play
	3:00 A.M.–6:15 P.M.	Rounds 26–28
	8:00 P.M.–10:00 P.M.	Steering Committee Meeting
	6:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center
Wednesday, August 5	8:30 A.M.–9:00 A.M.	Set up for play
	9:00 A.M.–1:30 P.M.	Rounds 29–31
	2:30 P.M.–3:30 P.M.	Prize Ceremony
	3:30 P.M.–11:00 P.M.	After Hours Play, Room 106, Convention Center

Accommodation and Dining

We have room blocks reserved at three nearby hotels. If you stay at one, you will be helping to support the NSC by contributing to our guest night quotas. If you do not, you will have to pay a commuter fee instead.

Crowne Plaza

Located at 33 East Fifth Street, Dayton OH 45402, across the street from the Dayton Convention Center, the Crowne Plaza also has a covered elevated walkway to the Center.

Hotel block dates will be available December 19–July 13, 2009 NSC09 room nights: July 31–August 4

NSC Group Code and Room Rate: The group code is CMC. $99+tax for 1 or 2 people, king bed or 2 queen beds.

Click here for online reservations and be sure to click on "Corporate, Group & IATA Identification" to enter our group code, CMC, under Group Booking Code.

To make your reservations by phone for the July 31 & August 1–4 nights, please call 1-800-381-9553 and ask for the special rate for the 2009 NSC (group code: CMC).

For those who wish to arrive early and/or stay late, please call the hotel direct at 937-227-6963 and mention our code: CMC.

Free parking in the Crowne Plaza/convention center parking garage for tournament players/committee staying at that hotel. Free Crowne Plaza airport shuttle for hotel guests from 7 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. Call the hotel to schedule your shuttle. Greyhound bus station only a few steps away from convention center & hotel.

Doubletree

Located at 11 South Ludlow St., Dayton, OH 45402, the Doubletree is just three blocks from the Dayton Convention Center.

NSA Group Code and Room Rate: The group code is SPC. The room rate is $94+tax. Indoor valet parking is $5. There is a complimentary airport shuttle for hotel guests.

For reservations, phone 800-222-TREE (800-222-8733) or book online; use the group code “SPC”.

Marriott

Located at 1414 S. Patterson Boulevard, Dayton, Ohio 45409, the Marriott is about a mile from the Dayton Convention Center but offers a shuttle service for the event days for $20/person if you buy a pass.

The room rate is $112+tax for 1–4 people. Complimentary on-site parking. There is no airport shuttle.

For reservations, call 800-450-8625 or book online; use the group code “scbscba”.

Roommate Wanted?

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

Restaurants near the Dayton Convention Center

• 5th Street Wine & Deli, 416 East 5th Street
• Arby’s 160 South Patterson Blvd.
• Cafe Boulevard, 329 East 5th Street
• Citilites Restaurant, 109 North Main Street
• Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers, 22 South Jefferson Street
• Dairy Corner, 368 South Main Street
• Gallery Grille, 110 North Main Street
• Greek Deli, 12 East 3rd Street
• Hearts Hot Dogs, 115 Court Street
• Jay’s Restaurant, 225 East 6th Street
• McDonald's, 410 South Main Street
• Oregon Express, 336 East 5th Street
• Pacchia, 410 East 5th Street
• Quizno’s Subs, 38 North Main Street
• Smokin BBQ, 200 East 5th Street
• Spaghetti Warehouse, 36 West 5th Street
• Stars Restaurant & Lounge (Crowne Plaza)
• Subway, 45 South Main Street #A
• Super Subby, 1 South Main Street
• Swishers Too Cafe, 110 North Main Street
• Take a Break, 26 South Main Street
• Thai 9, 11 Brown Street

Registration

Who can register? If you live in the United States or Canada, you must have an NSA tournament rating as of when you register. You can get a rating by playing in any sanctioned tournament listed in the calendar. If you live outside of the United States and Canada, you must have at least one of the following as of when you register: an NSA tournament rating, the equivalent rating in your country, or an international WESPA rating.

A Minor Release and Consent form will be added to this site shortly for downloading for players under 21 or can be signed by the accompanying parent or guardian at the NSC in Dayton.

By registering for the 2009 NSC, you agree to abide by the NSA Tournament Rules and the NSA Behavior Guidelines .

This year's Championship has five divisions, split at ratings of 1700, 1500, 1300 and 1000. Entry fees are $150 for all divisions. For the first time, unlimited play up will be permitted: anyone can play in Division 1, but for example only players rated below 1000 can play in Division 5. As in past years, a peak rating system will be used to calculate “qualifying rating” that determines the lowest division in which you can play. If you are not sure what your qualifying rating is, please consult the online registration system when it opens. You may change your division after you register, as long as you do so before July 15th; to do so, contact John Chew.

Online registration will begin in late February.

You may register by mail by printing the registration form and following the instructions. Registering by mail will incur a $10 manual processing fee.

After you register, please read our player bulletin, and check it again for last-minute updates before you travel to the event.

Check-In

To play in the first round on Saturday morning, you must check in between 10:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. on Friday at the NSC check-in desks in the convention center lobby. You may ask a friend to check in for you by proxy, if you cannot check in in person. 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 desks close at 10:00 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 refunds 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 reading the announcements and schedule!

In an emergency, if you are delayed en route to check in or for any session, call Mary Rhoades at 817-718-3115.

Player Helpers

We need three kinds of volunteer help from the player community: division assistants to work with the division leaders, "runners" to perform general errands, and the loan of laptops to run word judge software. Please contact Mary Rhoades if you can help in any capacity.

Division Assistants

The division assistants will work closely with division leaders collecting result slips and delivering them to the data operators, keeping the division tidy, and any helping with any other needs the division leaders have.

The following committed so far to work as division assistants:

• Andy Saunders

Runners

The other volunteer/interns we call "runners" do the following sorts of things:

• Greeting visitors
• Getting supplies
• Running errands
• Tidying after play

If you live in the Dayton area, or will be travelling with a friend or family member to the NSC, please consider donating one or more days of your time to working behind the scenes to make the event a success.

The following committed so far to work as runners:

Division 4 Tidy-person

Rebecca Owen

Laptops

We need 12 people to volunteer to bring laptops for word judging. The laptops should be set up and left running in the playing room from 8:15 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. each day. They should run the latest version of Zyzzyva using the OWL2+LL word list, and the screen saver should be disabled during playing sessions.

The following people have volunteered to provide their laptops to the NSC:

• Brad Mills (4 laptops)

Staff

Friday Registration
Registration Volunteers:	Barbara Major
10:00 A.M.–2:00 P.M.	TBA
Midday	TBA
2:00 P.M.–7:00 P.M.	TBA
7:00 P.M.–10:00 P.M.	TBA

Division	Leader	Assistant
Division 1	Bryan Pepper	TBA
Division 2	John Robertson	Andy Saunders
Division 3	Matt Hopkins	TBA
Division 4	Wendell Smith	TBA
Division 5	Allen Pengelly	TBA

Computer Staff
Webmaster	John Chew
Internet Reporter	Sherrie Saint John
Data Entry	TBA
Annotators	Kate Watson, Dee Segrest
Auxiliary Staff
TBA	TBA

Sponsorship

Please contact Chris Cree if you are interested in sponsoring the NSC, with donations of merchandise or cash.

Sponsor list:

Gene Tyszka

Limited edition Zircote deluxe SCRABBLE board (signed and numbered-only 4 ever made), including board cover, two matching stained racks with pouch, and a tile bag, to be given in raffle with raffle proceeds donated to the NASPA organization as seed money.

Vendors

If you have a product to sell to SCRABBLE players, this is the place to do it. The 500+ most avid fans of the game will be in one place with money ready to spend at your table. To find out more about becoming an NSC vendor, please contact Mary Rhoades.

The following vendors have signed and returned the vendor agreement with any monies owed, if applicable, listed in the order the vendor agreements were received.

• (none so far)

More Information

For more information, please check our player bulletin and the 2009 NSC FAQ first before emailing the Championship Committee.