Revision as of 19:00, 15 May 2011

Preamble

• A total of 52 entrants will qualify to compete at the next Canadian National SCRABBLE Championship (CNSC).
• This event will take place in Toronto from June 10 to 13, 2011.

Eligibility

• All participants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
• All participants must be NASPA members in good standing.
• All participants must meet the minimum participation requirement.
• IMPORTANT! Anyone likely to be in the top 48 in the qualification standings should contact John Chew no later than March 31, 2011. A $75 cheque payable to John Chew must be submitted by any player who is in the top 48 by peak rating. Those below the 48th spot are encouraged to forward a cheque, but are not required to do so. (Those who fail to qualify will have their cheques returned or destroyed.) Any player in the top 48 who does not indicate interest in participating in the 2011 CNSC by March 31 will be assumed to have declined and will be ineligible to participate in the qualifying tournaments. Please see the 2011 CNSC event page for further details.

Qualification period

• As announced at CNSC 2008, the qualification period (QP) began immediately following CNSC 2008.
• The qualification period for the 2011 CNSC ended on March 27, 2011.

The following rules had been established for CNSC qualification periods...

• The QP will end four months before the start date of the CNSC or one month after the official announcement of the CNSC, whichever comes later.
• Exception: If the CNSC is announced one month or less from its start date then the QP will end immediately.
• Tournaments in progress at the end of the QP will be considered to have fallen within the QP.

Defending CNSC champion

Adam Logan receives an automatic berth as defending champion.

Participation requirement

Players who wish to qualify for any of the remaining 51 berths must meet a minimum participation requirement. Players will be credited for rated NSA or NASPA tournament games played and directed within the qualification period. This requirement varies from province to province and is based upon each player's primary residence:

• Ontario and outside Canada: 40 games played or directed
• Alberta, BC, and Quebec: 30 games played or directed
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 20 games played or directed
• Maritimes, Newfoundland, and Territories: 10 games played or directed
• The maximum amount of credit any one player may receive for directing is 1/2 of that player's minimum requirement.
• No credit will be given for games directed in tournaments in which the director also played.

Peak rating

The next 47 berths will be awarded based on peak rating (PR). A player's PR is defined as his or her highest rating that satisfies the following conditions:

• It is achieved in an open rated tournament.
• It is not achieved before the tournament in which the participation requirement has been met.
• It is achieved in the last 18 months of the qualification period.
• It may be either a TWL rating or a (NASPA) Collins rating.

If two or more players have the same PR, then the tie will be broken by each player's second highest PR eligible rating. If still tied then the tie will be broken by drawing of lots.

Qualifying tournaments

It is the intention of the Canadian Committee to award the four remaining berths based on two qualifying tournaments (QTs). However, either or both of these QTs may be cancelled if, for reasons of logistics or practicality, the process becomes unworkable. In that event, the berths that would have been awarded based on the cancelled QT(s) will be awarded based on PR.

• The QTs will be held after the 47 PR berths have been awarded.
• One QT will be held in western Canada. The other will be held in eastern Canada. (The Ontario-Manitoba border is the regional dividing line.)
• The sites, dates, and formats of the QTs will be announced in due time.
• The QTs may be held in conjunction with other Scrabble events.
• The QTs will be restricted to players who have not already qualified for the CNSC.
• Only players who are eligible to play in the CNSC and who intend to play in the CNSC will be allowed to compete in the QTs.
• Players may compete in only one QT, not both.
• All QT participants must meet the same minimum participation requirements as those who qualified based on peak rating.
• There is no minimum PR requirement to play in a QT, but interested players must notify the director in advance to confirm their intention to play in a QT.
• The director of each QT has the right to limit the number of entrants based on the size of the venue. The director of the QT will determine and announce which criteria (PR or first-come-first-served) will be used to enforce this limit.
• The top two finishers at each QT will receive CNSC berths.
• Any ties in the QTs will be broken by PR.

2011 Qualifying tournament hosts

The following clubs will host the regional qualifying tournaments for the 2011 CNSC in May.

Eastern Regional QT: Club #471 (Cambridge, ON); the one-day event will be held on Saturday, May 14 in Valens, ON. (CNSC berths were won by Jackson Smylie and Shan Abbasi.)

Western Regional QT: Calgary, AB; the two-day event will be held on May 7-8. See flyer on cross-tables.com for details. (CNSC berths were won by Jeff Parsons and Betty Bergeron.)

Players who compete in QTs must meet the same requirements as those who qualified for the CNSC based on peak rating.

Players may compete in either QT, but not both.

Current standings

Current qualification standings will be updated regularly until the close of the qualification period.

Alternates

Based on a ruling by the NASPA Advisory Board on May 8, 2011, James Leong is slotted as the first alternate in case any of the 52 players who have accepted (or won) berths in the CNSC decide to withdraw. Below is the list of the top ten alternates in the order they would be chosen (based upon their respective peak ratings).

• James Leong
• Priya Fernando
• Curtis Kowalski (y$)
• Carl Madden
• Kevin Turner
• Sary Karanofsky
• Lydia Keras
• Roger Cullman (y$)
• Heather McCall (y$)
• Lilla Sinanan

A (y$) designation means the player has indicated interest in participating in the CNSC but has not yet forwarded an entry fee. Such a player was initially far down the alternates' list and was specifically told that prepayment of an entry fee was not required. Thus he/she is still eligible to be on the alternates' list. Those listed without the (y$) designation have already paid the $75 entry fee.

Others below Lilla Sinanan will be added to this list as needed.

Standbys

In the event of one of the 52 players withdrawing from the event on very short notice or if there is a no-show on June 10, a standby will be used to fill the vacancy only in a case where it is impractical to notify an alternate. Hopeful players are therefore welcome to be present at starting time on June 10 to act as standbys.

Standby players will be selected in order of PR standings with ties broken by their current NASPA ratings. Any further ties will be broken by a lottery.

All standbys must meet the event's Canadian citizenship or residency requirement and be NASPA members in good standing.

Disputes

Any dispute regarding the application or interpretation of any of the above rules and guidelines will be resolved by the Canadian Committee, whose decision will be final.