18 April 2007
WORLD SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mattel Inc. are delighted to announce that the 2007 World Scrabble Championships will be held in Mumbai, India. I do apologise for the delay in notification.
VENUE/DATE/HOSPITALITY
The venue will be the Taj President Hotel, 90 Cuffe Parade, Mumbai – 400005, India. The tournament dates will be Friday 9 to Monday 12 November. I will be in touch again shortly with an accommodation offer from the Hotel shortly. Potential residents at the Hotel should check elsewhere for alternative rates.
The Taj President is in Colaba in the South of Mumbai, close to a number of tourist sites inc.The Gateway to India. There are many hotels of various price ranges nearby.
Mattel willbe providing buffet lunch for all contestants and officials during the Championships + 2 servings of tea and coffee. No other refreshments will be provided but there will be water stations in the playing room.
REGISTRATION
Final registration for the tournament will be held at the hotel at 7 p.m. on the evening of Thursday 8 November. You must register then. Mattel invite all participants to join us in toasting the success of the Championships with a glass of champagne. On registration, as previously, contestants will all receive a ‘goodie bag’ of souvenirs.
If you have already been selected to play in the Championships please check Over the next few days, details of how to register should appear there.
FORMAT
There will be a 24 round modified Swiss tournament from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 November, starting each day at 8.00 a.m. On Monday 12, the two top players will contest a 5 game final. The Official Dictionary will be the Collins Scrabble Tournament and Club Word List. If a challenge is unsuccessful, there will be a 5 point penalty on the challenger for each challenged word that is found to be valid.
Players will not play anyone from the same country in Round 1. No player will play any other player more than once per day.
The Final on Monday 12 November will be open to all to attend. The award ceremony will be held once the Final has finished. The event should be completed by6 p.m.
EQUIPMENT
Playing equipment, including chess clocks, will be provided.
PRIZE MONEY
The prize fund for the event will be US$30,000 with prizes paid down to 10th position with US$15,000 going to the winner.
ALLOCATION OF PLACES – WSC 2007
As host, India receive 2 extra places in the Championships. The provisional allocation of participants based on the 2005 Championships is as follows :-
Country / No. / Country / No. / Country / No.Australia / 5 / Kuwait / 1 / South Africa / 2
Bahrain / 2 / Malaysia / 2 / Sri Lanka / 3
Cameroon / 1 / Malta / 3 / Sweden / 1
Canada / 7 / Netherlands / 1 / Tanzania / 1
England / 10 / New Zealand / 5 / Thailand / 5
France / 1 / Nigeria / 3 / Trinidad / 1
Ghana / 3 / Oman / 2 / U.A.E / 1
Guyana / 1 / Pakistan / 2 / Uganda / 1
India / 4 / Philippines / 3 / U.S.A / 15
Indonesia / 1 / Qatar / 1 / Wales / 2
Ireland / 1 / Poland / 1 / World Champion / 1
Israel / 2 / Romania / 1 / World Youth Champion 2006 / 1
Japan / 2 / Saudi Arabia / 1 / Zambia / 1
Kenya / 4 / Scotland / 2
Kurdistan - Iraq / 1 / Singapore / 3 / TOTAL / 110
Recognised National Associations yet to compete
Barbados, Gambia
Country with Recognised National Associationthat has competed in the past
Gibraltar
Potential new competitors
Germany, N.Ireland
A full review of the current qualifying system is currently taking place so it is likely that the system used to select the candidates above may be revised for subsequent WSC’s.
Please remember that there is a minimum requirement of 6 participants in any event used to decide a WSC participant. We reserve the right to ask for back-up evidence in case of doubt.
Should any country be unable to take up its allocation, please be considerate and decide and inform us before 31 July 2007. There will be a reserve on standby from India to ensure even numbers.
RESERVES
The rules are :-
1)If one of the players already named drops out before registration on Thursday 8 November, then they should , if possible, be replaced by a representative from their own country.
2)If registered players do not turn up at registration then they will not be replaced other than if the numbers are odd when the official reserve will stand in.
3)If players drop out having begun the tournament, they will be replaced by the official reserve.
PUBLICITY
We’ll be in touch again shortly with an update including hotel details and how to register on the official WSC website. In the meantime, we would be grateful if you could only contact us with urgent queries, channelling other queries through your country’s official representative.
REQUIREMENTS FROM EACH PARTICIPATING COUNTRY
Please confirm the name and contact details of your official country contact for further communication as soon as possible.
See you there !
Philip Nelkon
World Scrabble Championships - Organiser