2018 Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship

The 2018 Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship (CNSC), the tenth such event since its inception in 1996, is tentatively planned to take place in Toronto in June.

Web Coverage

The championship will receive major event web coverage typical of recent national and international championships, including photography and commentary and live annotated games from Board 1.

When the event begins, please take a look at the live webcast site.

News

2018-01-25

While no contracts have yet been signed, we are looking at holding the championship on June 15-18 at the Bond Place Hotel. We are not looking at any other candidate dates or venues, and if negotiations proceed as smoothly as usual, we should have a formal announcement ready by the end of February.

2018-03-28

Contracts remain unsigned, but approvals are expected soon. The Canadian Committee has finished deliberating about proposals to change the format of the event, which will be published shortly.

2018-03-28

Draft qualification system posted. Registration opened.

Player Roster

You can follow the registration and qualification process in the qualification standings chart. Players marked with a ‘y’ are paid registrants; those with a dollar sign have informed us that their payment is en route, but will not be considered registered until payment is received and cleared.

Schedule

Here is an overview of what happens when. Please also see the more detailed full schedule.

Friday, June 15	09:15–18:30	Warmup 2018 Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship Early Bird (optional)
	19:00–19:30	Registration
	19:30–22:45	Rounds 1–3
Saturday, June 16	09:00–18:30	Rounds 4–11
Sunday, June 17	09:00–16:50	Rounds 12–18
Monday, June 18	09:00–15:00	Finals (best-of-five between top two finalists)

Please note that everyone is welcome to attend the regular weekly meeting of the Mississauga SCRABBLE® Club on the evening of Thursday, May 14th.

How to Compete

The CNSC is an invitational event for the top 52 players who qualify according to a qualification system (QS) developed in consultation with the NASPA Canadian Committee. As described in the QS, competitors must play a minimum number of games during a qualification period (QP), be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and be members in good standing of NASPA.

One place goes to defending champion Adam Logan, the next 51 places are awarded based on a combination of peak ratings and geographical allocations.

Regardless of how you wish to qualify, you must register by making sure that John Chew receives your $75 entry fee together with your T-shirt size no later than April 25, 2018. You may pay by cash, cheque or INTERAC e-Transfer, but not PayPal or credit card. Cash and cheque payments may be made by mail (9 Fulton Avenue, Toronto ON M4K 1X6) or in person at the Toronto SCRABBLE Club. If you are not sure whether or not you will qualify, please pay by cheque, so that your cheque can be destroyed or returned if you do not qualify.

As usual, to participate in the CNSC, you must comply with the CNSC rules, which set out in legal terms the agreement that you are entering into as a participant in the event.

Refunds

The CNSC is an invitational tournament of fixed size, so holding a place and then withdrawing can lead to a situation where the player who should have replaced you cannot make travel arrangements in time. You should therefore only register to play if you are sure that you can compete.

Format of 2018 CNSC Finals

The top two finishers in the preliminary round will earn berths in the best-of-five CNSC finals which will be held on Monday, June 18. The first player to win three games will be declared the CNSC champion for 2018.

The player who finishes first in the preliminary round will go first in games 1, 3, and 5 of the finals. The player who finishes second in the preliminary round will go first in games 2 and 4.

Any tie games will be considered, as is usual in NASPA tournament competition, a half game won and a half game lost for both players. If each player has 2.5 wins after five games, the player who has the superior point spread in the finals will be declared the winner. If both players have identical points spreads, a sixth game will be played with the player who went first in games 2 and 4 also going first in game 6.

A scheduled lunch break will take place after the third game.

Spectators

Spectators are invited to attend the finals on Monday, where the best-of-five match will be relayed play by play onto a projection screen. Admission is free.

Spectators are also welcome to take a look at the preliminary rounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but space is extremely limited. They should introduce themselves to tournament officials on arrival, and take care not to disturb games in progress.

Prizes

The prize pool has not yet been finalised.

Venue

The venue has not yet been finalised; this section provisionally shows information from 2016.

Exterior photo showing Bond Place Hotel at left, east end of Yonge-Dundas Square at right

The Bond Place Hotel is located in downtown Toronto, one block east of Yonge-Dundas Square, the “Heart of the City”, in a popular neighbourhood known for shopping, dining and entertainment. Within a 200-metre radius are such other Toronto landmarks as the Eaton Centre (the largest mall in the region), Massey Hall (a century-old performing arts theatre), St. Michael’s Hospital and Ryerson University.

A limited number of rooms are available at $125, per room per night, based on single or double occupancy, not including 16% tax. This rate is available until April 13, 2016 by calling the hotel at 1-800-268-9390 and giving the group name Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship.

Parking

This section has not been checked since 2016.

The hotel’s guest parking is located catercorner to the hotel on the northeast corner of Bond and Dundas (enter off Bond). It is not cheap, but hotel guests are entitled to 24-hour rates with in/out privileges.

In general, parking rates in the area vary according to the day of the week, and whether or not there is a special event (such as a theatre production, or public event at Yonge-Dundas Square) nearby. Most lots have separate maximum rates for day and night parking, but they differ as to when the night rates begin. Some lots are cash only; most accept Visa and Mastercard. It would not be unusual to be charged $35-$40 to park for 24 hours in this area. There are websites that let you calculate how much parking rates are at different times in different lots, that can save you quite a lot of money.

The best overall rates in the area by far are at the Ryerson University parking structure on the west side of Victoria (one block west of Bond), north of Dundas. They charge $16 (up $1 from 2013) weekdays until 6:00 P.M., $6 from 5:00 P.M. on, Saturdays $8 until 6:00 and $8 after 6:00 P.M., and Sunday only $10 (up $2 from 2013) for 24 hours.

There is a parking lot on the southeast corner of Bond and Dundas which may be convenient to players who are running late on arrival, but is one of the more expensive lots in the area.

The old lot on the west side of Church St. (one block east of Bond), a few buildings north of Dundas, is no longer there.

If you want to look further afield, don’t go north into Ryerson University, south toward St. Michael’s Hospital or west toward the congestion of Yonge Street; that leaves east into a mostly residential and light commercial area. If you park on street, make sure you pay careful attention to the signage, and are aware of a remote possibility of being ticketed under an unposted time limit of three hours’ parking on city streets unless otherwise signed.

If you’re driving in from the suburbs, please carefully consider the possibility of parking at a suburban subway station and taking the so-called Better Way to Dundas subway station. Thanks to recent changes in scheduling, you can even do so on Sunday morning.

Dining

This section has not been checked since 2016.

Dining area outside the playing room, lower level, Bond Place Hotel

During the main event, breakfast and lunch will be provided to contestants and staff in the lounge. For both the early bird and main event, coffee and tea breaks will be served in the morning and afternoon.

The nearest food courts are in the malls on the other three (NE, NW and SW) corners of Yonge and Dundas. A list of additional restaurant suggestions will be posted here as the event draws nearer.

Staff

If you are interested in working at this event, please contact John Chew

Equipment

Players should take careful note of what equipment they will be provided, and what equipment they should bring.

Boards

Players must bring their own boards, but may if travelling from outside of the greater Toronto area arrange to borrow a local player’s board. If neither player in a scheduled game has a board, both may forfeit their game.

Racks

Racks will be provided at this event; players may choose to use their own racks instead.

Tiles

All players will be given a set of 2018 CNSC Protiles at registration. Please check their distribution carefully before playing your first game; as per NASPA rules, no changes may be made once a game has begun. Games must be played using CNSC Protiles, but players may bring and play with Protiles from past CNSC events if they wish (and are encouraged to do so to avoid having to play with two sets of the same colour at the same table).

Tile Bags

NASPA tile bags will be available; players may use these or their own. If using their own, the provided tile bag should stay at its table.

Clocks

Players are requested to bring their own digital game timers. A limited number of timers will be available on a first-come basis; if neither player in a game can find a clock, both may forfeit the game.

Scoresheets

A limited number of standard NASPA scoresheets will be available for player use, as well as plentiful supplies of blank paper.

Pens/Pencils

A limited number of writing implements will be available for player use, but we strongly recommend that players bring their own.

Further Information

If you have questions about the 2018 CNSC that are not answered on this website, please contact CNSC Director John Chew.