2011 National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2011 National SCRABBLE® Championship (NSC) will take place on August 6–10, 2011 at the Hotel InterContinental Dallas at 15201 Dallas Parkway in Addison, TX.

This page will be updated frequently before the championship. You can see what has changed recently by clicking on the “history” tab above.

Registration

Online registration is not yet available, nor is a list of registered players.

The information provided here is tentative and subject to change before registration begins.

To play in the NSC, you must (1) be a NASPA member, and (2) have played in an officially sanctioned SCRABBLE tournament to earn an official tournament rating. If you live in the United States or Canada, that rating should be a NASPA rating; if you live elsewhere it may be a WESPA rating or other comparable national rating.

Early registration closes on June 22nd, 2011. After that date:

• a late registration fee of $50 will apply.

Registration closes on July 20th, 2011. After that date:

• registrations will be accepted after that date only in order to make divisions even, and will incur an additional $75 surcharge;
• no requests for division changes will be accepted, except to make divisions even; and
• no refunds will be issued.

By registering for the NSC, you agree to abide by the NASPA Tournament Rules and Code of Conduct. In particular, some games at this tournament, probably the highest Division 1 board without a Gibsonized player, will be annotated live. If you refuse to play a designated game with annotation, you will forfeit it, and may at the director’s discretion be assigned a spread penalty of −200 points.

A Minor Release and Consent form can be downloaded for players who have not reached the legal age of majority. It can be mailed with your registration or alone if you have paid online to Chris Cree. Alternatively, it can be signed by the accompanying parent or guardian at the NSC in Addison (Dallas).

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

This year’s Championship has five divisions, split at ratings of 1700, 1500, 1300 and 1000. Entry fees are $175 for Division 1 and $150 for Divisions 2–5. 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 the qualifying rating (QR) that determines the lowest division in which you can play. If your current rating at time of registration would place you in a lower division than your QR, then you may register in either your QR division or the next lower division. Ratings earned at any segment of a split-rated tournament count toward the QR, as does your rating at the beginning of the qualification period (QP). The QP began with the 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship and ends on July 13th, 2011 (after the results from the past weekend are tabulated). You may change your division after you register, as long as you do so before July 21st; to do so, contact John Chew. If your QR rises above the limit for your division, you will automatically be moved to the lowest division for which you qualify.

In the unlikely event that a player’s first rated tournament takes place between the end of the QP and the beginning of the NSC, the rating that they earn at their first tournament will be considered their QR should they be accepted for late entry into the NSC.

The Championship Committee reserves the right to modify the above to account for unforeseen special circumstances.

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 Crystal Ballroom 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 refund 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!