National Scrabble Championship

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The National Scrabble Championship is the largest Scrabble competition in the United States. The event is held every one or two years, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN & ESPN2. The winner of the 2006 championship (known then as the US Scrabble Open) is Jim Kramer.

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[edit] NSC history

The first officially sanctioned Scrabble tournaments in the U.S. were spearheaded, organized and run by Joel Skolnick in the mid-1970s. Skolnick was a recreation director for the New York City Parks and Recreation Department. Skolnick approached Selchow and Righter in late 1972, and the first tournament, open to Brooklyn residents only, commenced on March 18, 1973. The Funk and Wagnalls Collegiate Dictionary was used to rule on challenges, and the official word judge was Skolnick's then wife Carol. Carol's sister, Shazzi Felstein, who would later finish in ninth place at the first North American Invitational tournament, won the first preliminary round with 1,321 points over three games. The final round took place on April 15, and Jonathan Hatch was the winner of the first official Scrabble tournament.

The summer of 1973 saw two more tournaments, held respectively at Grossingers (won by Minerva Kasowitz) and the Concord hotel (won by Harriet Zucker) in New York's Catskill region. Another two tournaments quickly followed in November that same year: in Baltimore, Gordon Shapiro topped approximately 400 contestants; and at the Brooklyn War Memorial approximately 2,000 people entered the nine weekly preliminary rounds of the first all–New York City Scrabble Championship. It was won by Bernie Wishengrad. The New York City Championship was thereafter held annually, jointly sponsored by Selchow and Righter and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.

The first national tournament was the North American Invitational, held May 19–21, 1978, in the Presidential Suite of the Lowe's Summit Hotel in New York City. Joel Skolnick and Carol Felstein, as usual, served as the tournament director and word judge, respectively. David Prinz took the $1,500 first prize, followed by Dan Pratt and Mike Senkiewicz.

In 1980, soon after the publication of the first Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, control of the national tournament passed to the National Scrabble Association, and they have organised it ever since. The event was not held in 2007.

[edit] NSC winners

Year Winner Location Entrants Winner's Prize Total Prize Pool
2008 † (see below) Orlando † (see below) USD 25,000 USD 85,385[1]
2006 Jim Kramer Phoenix 625 USD 25,000 USD 85,385[2]
2005 David Wiegand Reno 682 USD 25,000 USD 85,415[3]
2004 Trey Wright New Orleans 837 USD 25,000 USD 92,805[4]
2002 Joel Sherman San Diego 696 USD 25,000 USD 89,290[5]
2000 Joe Edley (3) Providence 598 USD 25,000 USD 89,290[6]
1998 Brian Cappelletto Chicago 535 USD 25,000 USD 82,200[7]
1996 Adam Logan Dallas 412 USD 25,000 USD 75,485[8]
1994 David Gibson Los Angeles 294 USD 15,000 USD 50,585[9]
1992 Joe Edley (2) Atlanta 315 USD 10,000 USD 35,910[10]
1990 Robert Felt Washington 282 USD 10,000 USD 37,400[11]
1989 Peter Morris New York 221 USD 5,000 USD 24,425[12]
1988 Robert Watson Reno 315 USD 5,000 USD 23,100[13]
1987 Rita Norr Las Vegas 327 USD 5,000 USD 16,850[14]
1985 Ron Tiekert Boston 302 USD 10,000 USD 52,370[15]
1983 Joel Wapnick Chicago 32 USD 5,000 USD 13,600[16]
1980 Joe Edley (1) Santa Monica 32 USD 5,000 USD 10,100[17]
1978 David Prinz New York 65 (invitational) USD 1,500 USD 8,400[18]

† This tournament is scheduled for 26-29 July, 2008. The current list of entrants is here

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2008 NSC Prizes
  2. ^ 2006 USSO Prizes
  3. ^ 2005 NSC Prizes
  4. ^ 2004 NSC Prizes
  5. ^ 2002 NSC Prizes
  6. ^ 2000 NSC Prizes
  7. ^ 1998 NSC Prizes
  8. ^ NSC 1996
  9. ^ NSC 1994
  10. ^ NSC 1992
  11. ^ NSC 1990
  12. ^ NSC 1989
  13. ^ NSC 1988
  14. ^ NSC 1987
  15. ^ NSC 1985
  16. ^ NSC 1983
  17. ^ NSC 1980
  18. ^ NSC 1978

[edit] External links

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