Qualification for 2005 World Scrabble Championship

Scrabble Association, Singapore
Mailing address: Scrabble Association, 14 Robinson Road, #08-01A Far East Finance Building, Singapore 048545
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SINGAPORE WSC QUALIFICATION CRITERIA

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he World Scrabble Championship (WSC) is a biennial event whose venue alternates between North America and the rest of the world, and is attended by the top players representing various countries in the world where English-language Scrabble is played competitively. ~~The next WSC is to be held in USA in 2005. The exact date and venue will only be announced by the organizers at a later date.~~ Update: It is to be held in London, click here for details.

The commendable performances of Singapore's two representatives, Tony Sim and Andy Kurnia, in the 2003 WSC in Kuala Lumpur, have garnered Singapore an additional slot from WSC 2005 onwards. Therefore, the Scrabble Association (SA) will be selecting 3 players to represent Singapore the next WSC.

SA has set the Qualifying Period (QP) for WSC selection to be from 1 October 2004, to 31 July 2005 or the conclusion of the 2005 National Championship, whichever is the later. Games in rated tournaments held within this QP will count towards the eligibility and selection of the Singapore representatives.

Eligibility criteria
A person will be eligible for consideration to represent Singapore in WSC 2005 if he/she :

is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident as at end QP
is an SA member from the commencement of the QP (1 October 2004) to the date of WSC;
has played during the QP the required number of rated games, which is at least 56 games in rated tourneys, and includes at least 1 major tournament. A major tournament is defined as an SA-rated tournament in which there are at least 16 rounds in the highest division;
has an SA rating of at least 1750 at the end of the QP;
has not represented another country at the WSC while being eligible to represent Singapore.

Selection criteria
The following three players will be selected as Singapore's playing representatives (henceforth referred to as the Representatives), subject to their satisfying the eligibility criteria:

Singapore National Champion 2004,
Singapore National Champion 2005, and
Highest eligible rated player in Singapore ranking at the end of QP other than the 2004 and 2005 Singapore National Champions.

Reserve Selection
A Reserve will also be selected in the event that any of the Representatives are not able to play in the WSC. The reserve will be the highest-rated eligible player other than the Representatives.

If any of the 3 WSC slots are not filled by reason of a Representative declining, becoming ineligible, or because both 2004 and 2005 National Champion are one and the same, the Reserve will be promoted to a Representative, and a new Reserve will be selected as stated above.

In the event of tied ratings, the player with the better head-to-head record against the other tied player(s) during the QP will be accorded priority. If this does not suffice, SA will arrange for a play-off between the tied players

Inquries
For any queries on the selection for WSC 2005, please email your question to vp at toucanet.com or call Ricky Purnomo (92707260). In the event of a dispute during the selection process, the Scrabble Association main committee will be the arbiter, and their decision will be final.

The Committee,
Scrabble Association

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