World Scrabble Championship

Below is the explanation of three major Scrabble Championships in the world. Read them to get a brief idea and difference of each of tournaments.

The English World Scrabble Championship

The English World Scrabble Championship stands as the most prominent identity. Since 1991, this championship has been held every second year and is a popular title in the competitive English-language Scrabble. Nigel Richards won the title at the 2007 event held in Mumbai, India. He currently holds the World Scrabble Champion title.

Formerly, the two owners Hasbro and Mattel of the Scrabble trademark carried out sponsorship in a rotating manner. They were not only owners in North America but also in rest of the world. However, Hasbro discontinued sponsoring WSC 2005, and instead Mattel continued the sponsorship by organizing all championships since 2005.

Gradually, the number of players encouraged to participate in the tournament has risen, from 48 in 1991 to 104 in 2007. A set number of places is owed to each country participating and it is the decision of individual countries' national associations to determine which of their players will stand for them. This is system is typically carried out by national ratings system or qualifier tournaments or some combination of the two. The national team performing well according to specific criteria will earn further permanent places for that country.

The dictionary used is informally known as SOWPODS, which is the word authority used in the common of English-language Scrabble-playing countries.

The Spanish World Scrabble Championship

An international Scrabble tournament, The Spanish World Scrabble Championship is pre-arranged by the Federación internacional de Scrabble en español (FISE). The first championship was held in Madrid in Spain. The number of players has increased, from 32 players in 1997 to 70 in 2007. Every year, the competition is held in a different city in a Spanish speaking country.

Players compete with only two players at a board, and Swiss tournament system is used to decide the players competing against each other. In 2007, the winner was Benjamín Olaizola of Venezuela with 14 wins from 18 games. However, the players are rated by the ELO system on international basis.

The French World Scrabble Championships

The French World Scrabble Championships is Scrabble tournament that is held in a various French-speaking country annually. Created in 1972 by Hippolyte Wouters, it was the first of the three World Scrabble Championships to be established. Later, the English version was created in 1991 and the Spanish version in 1997.

Somewhat like the World Series of Poker, the French World Championships are made up of various tournaments,. The "Main Event" is the Elite tournament which was started since 1972, and was first won by the tournament's creator Hippolyte Wouters.

Here is some more info on the origins of Scrabble.

This article has been done by Karen Aquiar who has been part of Board Gaming Info over 2 years now.