World Scrabble Championship 2016
| World Scrabble Championship 2016 | |
|---|---|
| 31 August 2016 – 4 September 2016 | |
| Winner | Brett Smitheram |
| Number of players | 72 |
| Location | Lille, France |
The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2016 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports International (MSI) to determine the world champion in English Scrabble. It was held from 31 August to 4 September 2016 in Lille, France.
The event was split into two divisions based on players' World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA) ratings. The top division comprised some 72 players. 24 games were played on the first three days, after which the top eight proceeded to a 3-game quarterfinals, with the winners advancing to a 5-game semifinals on the same day; the top two players, Brett Smitheram and Mark Nyman, played a best-of-five final the day after for the top prize of €7,000. Smitheram beat Nyman 3–0. The World Championship was held in conjunction with that of Scrabble in other languages.
Background
[edit | edit source]The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2016 was held from 31 August to 4 September 2016 under the auspices of Mindsports International and sponsored by Mattel and HarperCollins (the publisher of the official lexicon used in play), as part of the Mindsports International 2016 Championships.[1] The playing venue was the Lille Grand Palais. There were two divisions based on players' WESPA ratings: A (1700 and above, or by invitation by WESPA or the World Mind Sports Federation) and B (below 1700 or unrated).[1] MSI also hosted World Championships in other languages, including French, German, Spanish and Catalan, alongside the French Duplicate Championship.[1]
Participants
[edit | edit source]The top division comprised a total of 72 players, as listed below alphabetically.[2]
Adam Logan (CAN), 2107
Allan Simmons (SCO), 2094- File:Flag of England.svg Austin Shin (ENG), 2025
- File:Flag of England.svg Barry Grossman (ENG), 1709
- File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Jackman (AUS), 1736
- File:Flag of England.svg Brett Smitheram (ENG), 2170
- File:Flag of Malta.svg Charles Micallef (MLT), 1520
- File:Flag of Ghana.svg Charles Tachie (GHA), 1985
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Chris Lipe (USA), 1869
- File:Flag of England.svg Chris Vicary (ENG), 1812
- File:Flag of England.svg Craig Beevers (ENG), 2157
- File:Flag of Romania.svg Dan Sandu (ROU), 1511
- File:Flag of Malta.svg David Delicata (MLT), 1795
- File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Eldar (AUS), 2220
- File:Flag of the United States.svg David Koenig (USA), 2013
- File:Flag of England.svg David Webb (ENG), 2002
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Dave Wiegand (USA), 2168
- File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Dennis Ikekeregor (NGA), 2048
- File:Flag of England.svg Elie Dangoor (ENG), 1767
- File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Eta Karo (NGA), 2015
Evan Berofsky (CAN), 2053- File:Flag of Israel.svg Evan Cohen (ISR), 1969
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Evans Clinchy (USA), 2061
- File:Flag of England.svg Femi Awowade (ENG), 1837
- File:Flag of Thailand.svg Gerry Carter (THA), 1781
- File:Flag of Sweden.svg Gunnar Andersson (SWE), 1573
- File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Hasham Hadi Khan (PAK), 1093
- File:Flag of France.svg Herve Bohbot (FRA), 1500
- File:Flag of England.svg Jack Durand (ENG), 1437
- File:Flag of Thailand.svg Jakkrit Klaphajone (THA), 2012
Jason Broersma (CAN), 1565- File:Flag of the United States.svg Jason Keller (USA), 1869
Jason Tsang (HKG), 1047
Jason Ubeika (CAN), 1632- File:Flag of the United States.svg Jesse Day (USA), 1986
Joel Wapnick (CAN), 1990- File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Karen Richards (AUS), 1528
- File:Flag of Thailand.svg Komol Panyasoponlert (THA), 2145
- File:Flag of Japan.svg Kunihiko Kuroda (JPN), 1140
- File:Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Leslie Charles (TTO), 1717
- File:Flag of England.svg Lewis McKay (ENG), 2115
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Lucas Freeman (USA), 1817
- File:Flag of England.svg Mark Nyman (ENG), 2065
- File:Flag of Singapore.svg Marlon Prudencio (SGP), 1870
Martin Teo (MYS), 1804- File:Flag of Singapore.svg Michael Tang (SGP), 1730
Mohan Chunkath (IND), 1702- File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Moiz Ullah Baig (PAK), 1792
- File:Flag of England.svg Natalie Zolty (ENG), 1705
Neil Scott (SCO), 1923
Nigel Richards (MYS), 2258- File:Flag of Israel.svg Omri Rosenkrantz (ISR), 1539
- File:Flag of Barbados.svg Orlet Bullock (BAR), 1770
Paul Allan (SCO), 2015- File:Flag of the United States.svg Peter Armstrong (USA), 2053
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Puneet Sharma (USA), 1571
- File:Flag of Poland.svg Rafal Dominiczak (POL), 1828
- File:Ulster Banner.svg Rik Kennedy (NIR), 1816
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Robert Linn (USA), 1808
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Rob Robinsky (USA), 2024
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Scott Jackson (USA), 1661
Shan Abbasi (CAN), 1588- File:Flag of the United States.svg Stefan Rau (USA), 1821
- File:Flag of England.svg Stephen Hunt (ENG), 1797
- File:Flag of England.svg Steve Perry (ENG), 1655
- File:Flag of England.svg Terry Kirk (ENG), 1851
- File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Trevor Halsall (AUS), 1933
- File:Flag of England.svg Vincent Boyle (ENG), 1747
- File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Waseem Khatri (PAK), 1928
- File:Flag of England.svg Wayne Kelly (ENG), 1873
- File:Flag of Nigeria.svg Wellington Jighere (NGA), 2132
- File:Flag of the United States.svg Winter (USA), 1774
Results
[edit | edit source]Preliminary
[edit | edit source]After 24 preliminary rounds, the top eight advanced to the quarterfinals. Three-time World Champion Nigel Richards (2007, 2011, and 2013) failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, as did 2015 and 2014 World Champions Wellington Jighere and Craig Beevers.[3]
| Position | Name | Number of wins | Cumulative spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Nyman | 19 | +1262 |
| 2 | David Webb | 19 | +1152 |
| 3 | Allan Simmons | 18 | +974 |
| 4 | Robert Robinsky | 17 | +1216 |
| 5 | Brett Smitheram | 16 | +1424 |
| 6 | Adam Logan | 16 | +854 |
| 7 | Lewis MacKay | 16 | +771 |
| 8 | Joel Wapnick | 16 | +676 |
| 9 | David Koenig | 15 | +334 |
| 10 | Paul Allan | 15 | +175 |
| 11 | Dennis Ikekeregor | 15 | −50 |
| 12 | Terry Kirk | 14½ | +155 |
| 13 | Nigel Richards | 14 | +987 |
| 14 | Peter Armstrong | 14 | +985 |
| 15 | Moiz Ullah Baig | 14 | +924 |
| 16 | Evans Clinchy | 14 | +649 |
| 17 | Winter | 14 | +393 |
| 18 | David Eldar | 14 | +312 |
| 19 | Scott Jackson | 14 | +224 |
| 20 | Jason Keller | 14 | +93 |
Source:[3]
Knockout
[edit | edit source]| Quarterfinals (best of 3) | Semifinals (best of 5) | Final (best of 5) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Allan Simmons | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Adam Logan | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Lewis MacKay | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Brett Smitheram | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Robert Robinsky | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Brett Smitheram | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Brett Smitheram | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Mark Nyman | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | David Webb | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Lewis MacKay | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Adam Logan | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Mark Nyman | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Mark Nyman | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Joel Wapnick | 1 | ||||||||||||
Semi-finals losers Lewis MacKay and 2005 World Champion Adam Logan were scheduled to play a best-of-three third-place playoff, but Logan forfeited and MacKay automatically clinched the title of second runner-up.[6]
Finals
[edit | edit source]| File:Flag of England.svg Brett Smitheram (ENG) | File:Flag of England.svg Mark Nyman (ENG) |
| 3 | 0 |
| Born 8 March 1979 37 years old |
Born 14 October 1966 50 years old |
| Finalist | Finalist and winner of the World Scrabble Championship 1993 |
| WESPA Rating: 2170 (World No. 3)[7] | WESPA Rating: 2065 (World No. 20)[8] |
| Round | Brett Smitheram | Mark Nyman |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 583 | 323 |
| 2 | 451 | 403 |
| 3 | 638 | 351 |
| 4 | – | – |
| 5 | – | – |
Source:[9]
UK-based recruitment consultant Brett Smitheram beat fellow Englishman and writer Mark Nyman, the 1993 World Scrabble Champion, 3–0 in the best-of-five finals, and became the 2016 World Scrabble Champion and won €7,000.[10] Notable plays by Smitheram included BRACONID for 181 points[11] (176 points plus 5 points for an unsuccessful challenge by Nyman), GYNAECIA (95) and PERIAGUA (76).[12] Incidentally, Smitheram was a former contestant on the television programme Countdown, and Nyman was one of its producers.[12] In the second division, Jack Mpakaboari beat Sandy Nang 3–0 in a best-of-five finals.[13]
References
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).