World Scrabble Championship 1997

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World Scrabble Championship 1997
20 November 1997 – 24 November 1997
WinnerJoel Sherman
Number of players80
LocationWashington, D.C.
SponsorHasbro

The World Scrabble Championship 1997 was the fourth World Scrabble Championship. The winner was Joel Sherman of the United States.[1]

Format

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The World Scrabble Championship 1997 was held in the Stouffer Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., and was the second to be held in the United States. Eighty players played a Swiss tournament of twenty-one games each, with each player playing seven games on each of the first three days. The two top players from this tournament then played a best-of-five game final to decide who would be World Scrabble Champion 1997.

Prize money was provided by the Milton Bradley Company, owned by the tournament's sponsor Hasbro, to a total value of $50,100. The winner received $25,000, the runner-up $10,000 and the remainder of the top twenty players received prizes down to $150.

This was the first World Championship to have featured a live web site, a copy of which is now archived at the main WSC web site.

Results

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After the initial Swiss tournament, the top two players were Joel Sherman (16 wins, winning spread +829) and Matt Graham (15 wins, winning spread +993). Notably, all the top four players were representing the United States. This was particularly surprising since the WSC uses the SOWPODS wordlist, which includes many words not present in the traditional American wordlist, TWL 98.

Graham took the first game of the finals 409-334 but lost a 387-363 squeaker in the second after missing BOWNED.

In game three, Graham made another error when he played HERB instead of BERTH and Sherman took another close game, 419-405.

In game four, Sherman got off to a big lead and began shutting down the board. Graham took a chance on FLEXERS for 101 points, but Sherman successfully challenged it off. Graham drew a rack full of consonants. Sherman won the game and was crowned World Scrabble Champion, after losing in the final two years earlier.

Complete results

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Position Name Country Win–loss Spread Prize (USD)[1]
1 Sherman, Joel United States 16-5 +829 25,000
2 Graham, Matt United States 15-6 +993 10,000
3 Edley, Joe United States 15-6 +915 5,000
4 Felt, Robert United States 14-7 +814 3,000
5 Nyman, Mark England 14-7 +741 2,000
6 Boyd, Kendall New Zealand 14-7 +401 1,000
7 Byers, Russell England 14-7 +396 800
8 Bhandarkar, Akshay Bahrain 14-7 +353 600
9 Logan, Adam Canada 13-8 +1064 400
10 Cappelletto, Brian United States 13-8 +946 300
11 Boys, David World Champion 13-8 +935 250
12 Acton, David England 13-8 +517 250
13 Grant, Jeff New Zealand 13-8 +478 250
14 Saldanha, Allan United Kingdom 13-8 +234 250
15 Tiekert, Ron United States 13-8 -27 250
16 Okosagah, Sammy Nigeria 12-9 +816 150
17 Nderitu, Patrick Gitonga Kenya 12-9 +750 150
18 Warusawitharana, Missaka Sri Lanka 12-9 +709 150
19 Fernando, Naween Tharanga Sri Lanka 12-9 +588 150
20 Holgate, John Australia 12-9 +556 150
21 Downer, Penny United Kingdom 12-9 +408
22 Fisher, Andrew United Kingdom 12-9 +382
23 Thobani, Shafique Kenya 12-9 +85
24 Cleary, Paul Stephen Australia 12-9 +82
25 Ndungu, Stanley Njoroge Kenya 12-9 +16
26 Williams, Gareth Wales 12-9 -179
27 Spate, Clive United Kingdom 11½-9½ +344
28 Awowade, Femi England 11-10 +711
29 Onyeonwu, Ifeanyi Nigeria 11-10 +613
30 Yawo, Anaga Takyi Ghana 11-10 +545
31 Perrins, Esther Australia 11-10 +377
32 Pui, Cheng Wui Malaysia 11-10 +305
33 Sukhumrattanaporn, Charnwit Thailand 11-10 +94
34 Gruzd, Steven South Africa 11-10 +63
35 Addo, Joshua Ghana 11-10 +48
36 Wapnick, Joel Canada 11-10 +27
37 Carter, Gerald Thailand 11-10 -439
38 Daniel, Robin Pollock Canada 11-10 -503
39 Hahn, Albert Canada 11-10 -719
40 Sigley, Michael New Zealand 10½-10½ +516
41 Webb, Mark England 10½-10½ +127
42 Klaphajone, Jakkrit Thailand 10-11 +606
43 Blom, Roger Australia 10-11 +520
44 Hersom, Randy United States 10-11 +511
45 Mead, Jeremiah United States 10-11 +507
46 Schonbrun, Lester United States 10-11 +379
47 Geary, Jim United States 10-11 +218
48 Khan, Rashid Ateeq Pakistan 10-11 -333
49 Luebkemann, John United States 10-11 -400
50 Elbourne, Peter Malta 10-11 -435
51 Grayson, John Wales 10-11 -447
52 Khoshnaw, Karl Kurdistan-Iraq 10-11 -582
53 Jonah, J.J. Israel 10-11 -645
54 Chinnaiyah, Suresh Sri Lanka 9½-11½ +124
55 Mensah, Edem Kafui Ghana 9½-11½ -296
56 Butler, Lynne New Zealand 9½-11½ -745
57 Lao, Armando Philippines 9-12 +246
58 Lipton, Bob United States 9-12 +12
59 Quek, Sim Ho Singapore 9-12 -284
60 Raychbart, Paloma Israel 9-12 -351
61 Lobo, Yvonne Bahrain 9-12 -413
62 Saldanha, Norbert United Arab Emirates 9-12 -551
63 Saliba, Mario Malta 9-12 -586
64 Davids, Gerald South Africa 9-12 -643
65 Tan, Kiat Hing Austin Singapore 9-12 -769
66 Nanavati, Jim Canada 9-12 -964
67 Ul-Haq, Assad Qatar 8-13 +306
68 Abdullah, Raja Fuadin Malaysia 8-13 +137
69 Salih, Sala Fadl Mohamed Saudi Arabia 8-13 -47
70 Pray, Linda Hazel Oman 8-13 -234
71 Chune, Albert Trinidad and Tobago 8-13 -828
72 Nakai, Ken Japan 8-13 -865
73 Clenaghan, Nuala Ireland 8-13 -872
74 Meghan, Eileen Éire 8-13 -891
75 Springer, Robert France 8-13 -1097
76 Mamadou, Wone Kuwait 7-14 -755
77 Paolella, Libero Canada 7-14 -862
78 Sandu, Dan Laurentiu Romania 5-16 -1528
79 Gibbons, Randall Guyana 4-17 -913
80 Nanayakkara, Harischandra Seychelles 3-18 -2141
  • FINALS:
  • Game 1: Graham 409 – Sherman 334
  • Game 2: Sherman 387 – Graham 363
  • Game 3: Sherman 419 – Graham 405
  • Game 4: Sherman 410 – Graham 324

References

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  1. ^ a b "WSC 1997 Prizes".
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