North American Scrabble Championship


The North American Scrabble Championship is the largest Scrabble competition in North America. The event is currently held every year, and from 2004 through 2006 the finals were aired on ESPN and ESPN2. The 2019 event was held in Reno from July 20-24, 2019, with Alec Sjöholm emerging as champion.
The 2020 Championship will be held August 1-5, 2020 in Baltimore, MD.

NSC/NASC 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. He 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 and the Concord hotel 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 Loews 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. They continued to organize the tournament until 2008.
The official name of the tournament has been National SCRABBLE Championship in recent years, except in 2006 when it was named US SCRABBLE Open. In 2015, to recognize the longtime eligibility of Canadian members, it was renamed North American SCRABBLE Championship.
Since 2009, the tournament is organized annually by the newly formed North American SCRABBLE Players Association. The first event under NASPA was held in Dayton, Ohio in August, 2009. Since then, the championships have been held at various U.S. cities, with the 2018 championship in Buffalo, New York. The 2019 championship was held in Reno.
Collins play
In 2012, a Collins division for international-English play was added for the first time, won by Sam Kantimathi with a 24-7 record. In 2013, John O'Laughlin, creator of the Quackle software program, won the division with a 24-7 record, winning $2,500 and claiming his first NSC divisional title. Past world, national, and Canadian champion Adam Logan won the division easily in 2014 with a 23-4 record and four byes. Peter Armstrong prevailed over past champion Dave Wiegand in 2015, winning 3-2 in the final best-of-five series. David Eldar won the division in 2016 with a 27-4 record, beating past champion Logan by a six-game margin. Austin Shin won the top division in 2017 with a 22-9 record, prevailing over runner-up Dave Wiegand in the final round; this was the first year that Collins players were divided into two divisions.
Youth in the community
Bradley Robbins of New Hampshire became the first minor to win a division in 2008 with a 24-4 record in Division 6. In 2010, Richard Spence of Arizona won Division 4 with a 25.5-5.5 record, and in 2011 won Division 2 with a 25-6 record. In 2012, Amalan Iyengar of North Carolina won Division 4 with a 22-9 record. Also in 2012, Chris Canik of Texas won Division 3 with a 26-5 record, the highest record in that division's history. In 2013, Andy Hoang of North Carolina won Division 3 with a 23-8 record. Bradley Robbins and Andy Hoang are the only people to have won both the National School Scrabble Championship and a division in the National Scrabble Championship. Mack Meller of New York placed seventh in Division 1 in 2013. He started the 2014 event with a 7-0 record, giving him first place in Division 1 after the first day of the event, and again finished seventh overall.

NSC/NASC events and Division 1 winners

TWL">Official Tournament and Club Word List">TWL

YearWinnerLocationEntrantsWinner's PrizeTotal Prize Pool
2019 Alec SjöholmReno249USD 10,000USD 36,150
2018 Joel Sherman Buffalo403USD 10,000USD 52,000
2017 Will AndersonNew Orleans365USD 10,000USD 54,350
2016 David Gibson Fort Wayne417USD 10,000USD 49,275
2015 Matthew TunnicliffeReno340USD 10,000USD 50,225
2014 Conrad Bassett-BouchardBuffalo524USD 10,000USD 45,775
2013 Nigel Richards Las Vegas521USD 10,000USD 43,725
2012 Nigel Richards Orlando339USD 10,000USD 36,150
2011 Nigel Richards Dallas329USD 10,000USD 42,075
2010 Nigel Richards Dallas408USD 10,000USD 42,075
2009 Dave Wiegand Dayton486USD 10,000USD 43,175
2008 Nigel Richards Orlando662USD 25,000USD 85,385
2006 Jim KramerPhoenix625USD 25,000USD 85,385
2005 Dave Wiegand Reno682USD 25,000USD 85,415
2004 Trey WrightNew Orleans837USD 25,000USD 92,805
2002 Joel Sherman San Diego696USD 25,000USD 89,290
2000 Joe Edley Providence598USD 25,000USD 89,290
1998 Brian CappellettoChicago535USD 25,000USD 82,200
1996 Adam LoganDallas412USD 25,000USD 75,485
1994 David Gibson Los Angeles294USD 15,000USD 50,585
1992 Joe Edley Atlanta315USD 10,000USD 35,910
1990 Robert FeltWashington282USD 10,000USD 37,400
1989 Peter MorrisNew York221USD 5,000USD 24,425
1988 Robert WatsonReno315USD 5,000USD 23,100
1987 Rita NorrLas Vegas327USD 5,000USD 16,850
1985 Ron TiekertBoston302USD 10,000USD 52,370
1983 Joel WapnickChicago32USD 5,000USD 13,600
1980 Joe Edley Santa Monica32USD 5,000USD 10,100
1978 David PrinzNew York65 USD 1,500USD 8,400

Collins

YearWinnerLocationEntrantsDivisionsWinner's PrizeTotal Prize Pool
2019 Jesse DayReno351USD 3,000USD 5,850
2018 Evans ClinchyBuffalo732USD 4,000USD 10,000
2017 Austin ShinNew Orleans642USD 4,250USD 10,550
2016 David EldarFort Wayne441USD 2,500USD 6,000
2015 Peter ArmstrongReno481USD 2,500USD 6,000
2014 Adam LoganBuffalo631USD 2,500USD 5,775
2013 John O'LaughlinLas Vegas401USD 2,500USD 4,700
2012 Sam KantimathiOrlando381USD 1,500USD 3,450