2019 News Archive

An updated version of the WESPA rules will come into effect from 1st January 2020.

Congratulations to Wayne Kelly, who has won the ABSP Online Cup 2019. Wayne defeated Adeniyi Adebayo 3-2 in the best of 5 final, which concluded on Saturday 21st December.

The latest edition of OnBoard is now available from the ABSP database website (login required), and postal copies should also be arriving soon.

See more details (PDF)

Congratulations to Nigel Richards who secured his 5th title with a 3 games to 1 victory over David Eldar at the Mattel World Scrabble Championship in Torquay this weekend. Nigel overcame a game 1 loss to win 3 in a row to take the title in a high quality match that featured very few sub-optimal plays by either player. He was presented with the trophy by the recently elected head of WESPA, Chris Lipe.

Harshan Lamabadusuriya has won his 6th major UK title, taking this year's Winter Matchplay at Millton Keynes this weekend.

The players are gathering, ready for the final major of the year. The organising team Mike Willis, James Burley and David Wilson, are all ready to get us underway soon.

Fancy going to somewhere warm after the UK Open? Always wanted to go to India but didn't qualify for WESPAC?

More than £1225 has been raised for the Bone Marrow Unit at Leicester Royal Infirmiary, through entry fees, the raffle and donations at the Mike O'Rourke Memorial Tournament weekend, which took place in Grantham over the past weekend.

As we move into November, at the moment, it looks to be a two-way race for the Most Improved Player award for 2019.

As the nights draw in, winter approaches and the clocks go back an hour this weekend, there only two more months of the year to go - yet there are still plenty of Scrabble tournaments on offer up and down the country!

The inaugural Grand Slam event has received a significant boost to its prize fund thanks to a generous donation of £1,000 from Elie Dangoor.

The latest edition of OnBoard complete with ABSP membership renewal forms is now available from the ABSP database website (login required), and postal copies should also be arriving soon.

Multi-award winning comedian and actor Ian Smith is performing two dates of a Scrabble-inspired show in London later this month, on 22nd and 23rd October.

Phil Robertshaw has claimed his 6th major UK title, winning the National Scrabble Championship in a nail-biting finish at Warrington this weekend.

The National Scrabble Championship is in full swing at the Park Royal hotel in Warrington. There are 36 players in the main event, with 16 playing in the plate event.

The first weekend of October will see the two-day National Scrabble Championship take place at the Park Royal Hotel in Warrington.

Ed Martin, pictured, will be there, defending the title he won last year. It's not going to be easy, as the field is packed with major winners, including four former national champions. There are already 6 Grand Masters, 2 Experts and 2 other top players rated above 170.

There was a veritable feast of Scrabble on offer across the country over three weeks, culminating in the National Scrabble Championship on the first weekend of October.

It's that time again!

The August Bank Holiday saw the hottest temperatures on record for that weekend and there was no shortage of sizzling encounters at Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes, which played host to the 2019 British Matchplay Scrabble Championship. 80 Scrabblers including 7 Grandmasters took part in at least one of the events, swapping the summer sunshine for indoor pursuits although there was still the odd friendly game played al fresco after hours for those for whom 36 games could never be enough.

10 plucky individuals did battle this weekend playing 36 games of Scrabble over 24 hours in the village of Stillington, near York. That's Stillington, York not Stillington, Stockton-On-Tees where two more Southerly players found themselves first...

The latest edition of OnBoard complete with AGM pack is now available from the ABSP database website (login required), and postal copies should also be arriving soon.

Congratulations to Paul Gallen who has become 2019 Masters champion with another dominant display that mirrored his efforts at the Festival of Scrabble against arguably much tougher opposition.

News update from Austin Shin:

Congratulations to dominant champion Paul Gallen and all other prize winners at the Festival of Scrabble which took place at Bournville this weekend. Not to be outdone by Lewis Mackay and Brett Smitheram, Paul now joins the pair on 9 Major victories, suffering only 2 losses across 19 games and accruing a mammoth +2340 spread in the process. Wayne Kelly finished 2nd, Chris Harrison 3rd with Alan Abela taking the ratings prize with a +8 performance.

We have now published an updated Clubs List. Thanks to Laura Finley for her hard work, and to all those who responded quickly to our contact.

Following the recent webmaster changes, you may have already noticed a few things look a bit different on some sections of the ABSP website. Stewart and Pete have a lot of ideas and it’s great to see some renewed focus into what is in many ways our shop window to the outside world. It’s by no means a small task, but hopefully the positive improvements will continue over the coming months, and please share any feedback that you have with us – thanks to all those who have already assisted with our recent Clubs refresh.

A keen Scrabble player but never played in an ABSP tournament before? Now any first-time player can enter their first one day event FREE!

The ABSP Committee are happy that all relevant software is now in place, and therefore confirm that as previously suggested, 1st July 2019 will be our official adoption date for CSW19. All ABSP rated games that take place on or after this date should be adjudicated using the new word list.

YOWZA WORDIES!

Calum Edwards has over the last couple of years been a great webmaster, committed, diligent and always keen to maintain the site. However due to increased personal commitments in recent months, a short time ago he made the committee aware of his intention to quit in the near future. The committee extend our sincere thanks to Calum for everything he has done during his tenure and wish him all the best with future endeavours, both in and out of Scrabble.

We are delighted to announce a new addition to the ABSP Committee. For some time we felt in danger of lacking real expertise in tournament organisation, with only a couple of committee members currently running regular events. I'm happy to say that situation has now changed, and we now welcome Peter Thorpe to the position of Tournament Officials Liaison. Pete will be able to offer assistance and advice to both active and prospective tournament organisers, directors and computer operators. Pete has also agreed to be Deputy Webmaster for the ABSP Website, will be regularly updating the calendar and Home Page, and in addition, will be helping to get some out of date documentation such as the Tournament Organiser's Guide updated. He is also keen, with the new WebMaster (in due course) to completely review the webpages, to bring them up to date and improve their functionality. Pete will also be taking up a position as UK representative on WESPA's Executive Committee.

In recent years, Amy Byrne has usually put on the Spring Matchplay event over May Day Bank Holiday. For 2019, she teamed up with Nicky Huitson and Peter Thorpe to keep things SIMPLE, hosting Scottish International Matchplay Live in Edinburgh, at a once familiar location that had played host to many ABSP rated events in years gone by. The triumvirate hoped to attract a strong international field, and substantial sponsorship, delivering on both counts as well as attracting universal positive comments from those who took part.

Over 50 players from all over the country took part in the Easter events at our brand new location, College Court in Leicester. The conference venue has won awards for its catering and the food choices certainly did not disappoint. Facilities, staff, and playing area also earned universal praise from attendees, and even the weather played ball, with many players opting to spend their free time relaxing with a cold drink in the sunshine. Feedback was so positive we have already provisionally booked the venue for next year.

From time to time, the ABSP Committee likes to recognise contributions that individuals have made to the scene in the UK, or further afield, by awarding them lifetime membership of the association. Recent recipients of life membership include Amy Byrne, Laura Finley, John Grayson, Stewart Holden and Philip Nelkon.

Another year and another excellent UK Open to kick the Scrabble year off. Chris Harrison opened his campaign in the Warm Up with five bonuses in a row against a globe-trotting Richards, but it was Karen, not Nigel and wasn't even enough to top round 1 standings. That honour went to Theresa Brousson on the comeback trail, with Nigel only 5th. Normal service was resumed from round 2, with Nigel hitting the top spot, a position he would hold right through until the end. His closest rival in the Warm Up was Natalie Zolty, but she would need to beat him in the final round by a meagre 557 points... In any event, she was secure in 2nd place and Theresa won her final game to finish 3rd. Other Division winners were Paul (Tranmere) Thomson, Ian Nichol and Geoff Cooper.