World Scrabble Championship 2016


The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2016 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports International 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 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

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, as part of the Mindsports International 2016 Championships. The playing venue was the Lille Grand Palais. There were two divisions based on players' WESPA ratings: A and B. MSI also hosted World Championships in other languages, including French, German, Spanish and Catalan, alongside the French Duplicate Championship.

Participants

The top division comprised a total of 72 players, as listed below alphabetically.

  1. , 2107
  2. , 2094
  3. , 2025
  4. , 1709
  5. , 1736
  6. , 2170
  7. , 1520
  8. , 1985
  9. , 1869
  10. , 1812
  11. , 2157
  12. , 1511
  13. , 1795
  14. , 2220
  15. , 2013
  16. , 2002
  17. , 2168
  18. , 2048
  19. , 1767
  20. , 2015
  21. , 2053
  22. , 1969
  23. , 2061
  24. , 1837
  25. , 1781
  26. , 1573
  27. , 1093
  28. , 1500
  29. , 1437
  30. , 2012
  31. , 1565
  32. , 1869
  33. , 1047
  34. , 1632
  35. , 1986
  36. , 1990
  37. , 1528
  38. , 2145
  39. , 1140
  40. , 1717
  41. , 2115
  42. , 1817
  43. , 2065
  44. , 1870
  45. , 1804
  46. , 1730
  47. , 1702
  48. , 1792
  49. , 1705
  50. , 1923
  51. , 2258
  52. , 1539
  53. , 1770
  54. , 2015
  55. , 2053
  56. , 1571
  57. , 1828
  58. , 1816
  59. , 1808
  60. , 2024
  61. , 1661
  62. , 1588
  63. , 1821
  64. , 1797
  65. , 1655
  66. , 1851
  67. , 1933
  68. , 1747
  69. , 1928
  70. , 1873
  71. , 2132
  72. , 1774

Results

Preliminary

After 24 preliminary rounds, the top eight advanced to the quarterfinals. Three-time World Champion Nigel Richards failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, as did 2015 and 2014 World Champions Wellington Jighere and Craig Beevers.
PositionNameNumber of winsCumulative spread
1Mark Nyman19+1262
2David Webb19+1152
3Allan Simmons18+974
4Robert Robinsky17+1216
5Brett Smitheram16+1424
6Adam Logan16+854
7Lewis MacKay16+771
8Joel Wapnick16+676
9David Koenig15+334
10Paul Allan15+175
11Dennis Ikekeregor15−50
12Terry Kirk14½+155
13Nigel Richards14+987
14Peter Armstrong14+985
15Moiz Ullah Baig14+924
16Evans Clinchy14+649
17Winter14+393
18David Eldar14+312
19Scott Jackson14+224
20Jason Keller14+93

Source:

Knockout

Source:
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.

Finals

RoundBrett SmitheramMark Nyman
1583323
2451403
3638351
4––
5––

Source:
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. Notable plays by Smitheram included BRACONID for 181 points, and PERIAGUA. Incidentally, Smitheram was a former contestant on the television programme Countdown, and Nyman was one of its producers. In the second division, Jack Mpakaboari beat Sandy Nang 3–0 in a best-of-five finals.