2012 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge

2012 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge qualification system

A total of 14 entrants will qualify to compete at the 2012 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge, seven each representing the United States and Canada.

The event will be hosted by the Millburn, NJ NASPA club #411, and will take place at Millburn, NJ, USA on Saturday and Sunday October 27 and 28, 2012.

Eligibility

All Canadian team members must be citizens or permanent residents of Canada. All U.S. team members must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the U.S. All participants must be NASPA members in good standing as of October 27, 2012.

Qualification Period

As in past years, the qualification period is from the beginning of March 2011 (the month in which the previous Challenge was contested) to about three months before this years Can-Am, with dates adjusted slightly to include events played on the first and last weekends during that period: 2011-03-01 to 2012-07-23 (inclusive).

Participation Requirement

Players who wish to qualify must meet a minimum participation requirement of 24 NASPA rated tournament games played during the qualification period. These can be either TWL, CSW or a combination of both.

Peak Rating

Players will qualify based on the higher of their peak NASPA rating (PR) in either TWL or Collins. A player’s PR is defined as his or her highest un-accelerated rating that satisfies the following conditions: It is achieved at the end of a rated tournament played. It is not achieved before the tournament in which the participation requirement has been met.

“Un-accelerated” means that acceleration points earned in a tournament are deducted from the player’s post-tournament rating before it is considered for a peak 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 total number of games played during the QP. If still tied then the tie will be broken by rating achieved after any fully rated tournament in the QP. Drawing of lots will be necessary if there is still a tie.

Lexicon

Previous participants in the Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge were surveyed about their preferred lexicon for the 2012 Challenge. There were 23 surveys returned with the following responses:

Not able to play this year 2

Will only play CSW 5

Will only play TWL 4

Will play either, prefer CSW 10

Will play either, prefer TWL 2

Based on these results the following procedure will be used for the 2012 Can-Am: When registering, players will indicate their preferred lexicon. They will not be able to change this after the end of the qualification period. During the tournament, if both players have registered as preferring CSW, their game will be played to the CSW lexicon, with 10 point per word penalty challenges. All other games will be played to the TWL lexicon with double challenge. Players will have until 2012-7-30, which is one week after the end of the qualification period to withdraw without penalty if they are not comfortable with the number of their opponents who have opted for their non-preferred lexicon.

Current Standings

To see where players currently stand in qualifying to represent their countries, please see the full qualification standings. Players marked ‘y’ have confirmed their intent to play; those marked ‘n’ have confirmed that they will not play. Players preferred lexicon will also be indicated. Please report any corrections to John Chew.

Alternates

All alternates will be chosen on the basis of PR.

Disputes

Dispute Resolution



In the event that a dispute concerning these rules should arise, it will be
 resolved by one of the following bodies as indicated: Canadian Committee 
(matters concerning qualification of Canadian players), TeamUSA Selection Committee (matters concerning qualification of US players), International
 Committee (all other matters arising before the first day of the tournament), 
the Tournament Director (any matters arising on the days on which the 
tournament is contested). As always, rulings concerning disputes may
be appealed to the Advisory Board, which will (time permitting) hear 
them at its next scheduled monthly meeting.

These standings were last updated on .....