World Scrabble Championship 2017

The MSI World Scrabble Championship 2017 was a Scrabble tournament organised by Mattel and Mindsports International (MSI) to determine the world champion in English Scrabble. It was held from 22 to 27 August in Nottinghamshire, England.

World Scrabble Championship 2017
22 August 2017 — 27 August 2017
Winner	David Eldar
Number of players	77
Location	Nottinghamshire, England

The event was split into two divisions according to players' World English-Language Scrabble Players' Association (WESPA) ratings; the top division comprised some 77 players. 35 games were played on the first four 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, David Eldar and Harshan Lamabadusuriya, played a best-of-five final the day after for the top prize of €7,000. Eldar beat Lamabadusuriya 3–0.

Background

The World Scrabble Championship 2017 was originally slated to take place at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar, as part of the 4th Mindsports World Championship (comprising chess, go, e-sports, and Scrabble events) organised by the Mindsports Academy (MSA).[1][2] However, due to the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, the championship was relocated to Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, and held from 22 to 27 August[3] under the auspices of Mindsports International (the parent organisation of MSA) and sponsored by Mattel, the Qatar Tourism Authority, SamTimer, and the World Mind Sport Federation.[4] MSA also hosted a Junior World Scrabble Championship for players under 21 at the same venue from 19 to 21 August.[3][5]

Results

Preliminary

After 35 preliminary rounds, the top eight, which included three-time World Champion Nigel Richards (2007, 2011, and 2013) and 1993 champion Mark Nyman, advanced to the quarterfinals. 2016 champion Brett Smitheram finished in fourteenth place, thus failing in his title defence.

Position	Name	Number of wins	Cumulative spread
1	Nigel Richards	26.5	+1893
2	Austin Shin	24.5	+757
3	Harshan Lamabadusuriya	23	+1185
4	Neil Scott	22.5	+1244
5	Goutham Jayaraman	22	+1549
6	Mark Nyman	22	+817
7	Elie Dangoor	22	+519
8	David Eldar	21	+1675
9	Paul Gallen	21	+1202
10	David Webb	21	+888
11	David Koenig	21	+811
12	Neil Rowley	21	+806
13	Waseem Khatri	21	+580
14	Brett Smitheram	20	+1059
15	Joel Wapnick	20	+888
16	Vincent Boyle	20	+830
17	Chris Cummins	20	+638
18	Paul Allan	20	+402
19	Calum Edwards	20	+384
20	Alex Tan	20	-788

Source:[6]

Knockout

	Quarterfinals (best of 3)					Semifinals (best of 5)					Final (best of 5)
	1	Nigel Richards	0
	8	David Eldar	2
						David Eldar		3
						Goutham Jayaraman		2
	5	Goutham Jayaraman	2
	4	Neil Scott	0
											David Eldar		3
											Harshan Lamabadusuriya		0
	3	Mark Nyman	0
	6	Harshan Lamabadusuriya	2
						Austin Shin		2
						Harshan Lamabadusuriya		3
	7	Elie Dangoor	0
	2	Austin Shin	2

Source:[7]

Finals

David Eldar (AUS)	Harshan Lamabadusuriya (LKA)
3	0
Born ??? 27 years old	Born ??? 44 years old
Finalist	Finalist
WESPA Rating: 2203 (World No. 2)[8]	WESPA Rating: 2087 (World No. 15)[9]

Round	David Eldar	Harshan Lamabadusuriya
1	468	426
2	575	384
3	450	420
4	–	–
5	–	–

Source:[7]

UK-based poker player[10] and real estate agent David Eldar, who was born in Australia, whitewashed Sri Lankan doctor Harshan Lamabadusuriya in the best-of-five finals; Eldar was awarded £7000 for becoming 2017 World Scrabble Champion, whereas runner-up Lamabadusuriya netted £3000.[11] Notable plays by Eldar included CARRELS for 74 points, ASINICOS (idiots; 64), and OBVS (slang for obvious; 10).[12] Austin Shin beat Goutham Jayaraman 2-1 in a best-of-three third-place playoff.[7]

References

1. "4th Mindsports World Championships to take place in Doha, Qatar in August this year". Qatar Tourism Authority. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
2. "2017 4th Mindsports World Championships". Mindsports Academy. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
3. "Scrabble events relocated to Nottingham". Dawn. 25 June 2017.
4. "Event Venue and Information". Mindsports Academy. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
5. "MSA Junior World Scrabble Championship 2017". Mindsports Academy. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
6. "25.08.2017 MSI World Scrabble Championship: A". WESPA. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
7. "Updates, Results and Information". Mind Sports Academy. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
8. "25.08.2017 MSI World Scrabble Championship: David Eldar". WESPA. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
9. "25.08.2017 MSI World Scrabble Championship: Harshan Lamabadusuriya". WESPA. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
10. Pempus, Brian (10 October 2017). "High-Stakes Online Poker Player Crowned Scrabble World Champion". Card Player.
11. "Oh my word: Aussie-born David Eldar is world Scrabble champion". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2017.
12. "World Scrabble champ crowned after 74-point 'carrels'". BBC. 28 August 2017.