2015 WSC Qualification Criteria

Scrabble Association, Singapore
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2015 WSC Qualification Criteria

The WESPA Championship (WC) will be held at Gloucester Park in Perth on 3 to 8 November 2015. This will be an invitational event using the World Scrabble Championship system as a basis for allocating country seats, and at this time Singapore expects to be allocated places for 6 players. There will also be an open event, the Perth International, alongside for those not qualifying for the WESPA Championship. The event website is http://scrabble.org.au/events/15WSC/index.html

For previous WSCs the qualification process was formulated with the expectation in advance that a WSC would be held every two years. For 2015 SA has elected to await the confirmation of a WSC or equivalent (viz WC), and the qualification scheme is therefore adjusted accordingly. SA will address situations not covered below if required, with the overall objective of achieving a fair and workable selection process.

It is noted that the possibility of adopting the 2013 WSC qualification criteria largely unchanged has been considered. This would require backdating the start date to the date of the 2014 National Championship.

The places will be allocated to

The 2014 National Champion [Note 1]
The 2015 National Champion
Any remaining places and any others available to be allocated on the basis of SA ratings in descending order, as at the conclusion of the 2015 National Championship or 3rd August 2015 whichever is earlier [Note 3].
In addition to be eligible, a player:
1. must be a member of SA from 21 January 2015 to 3 November 2015;
2. must be a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore;
3. must not have represented other countries in preference to Singapore in the WSC or equivalent;
4. resident in Singapore, must play a minimum of 48 SA rated games including at least one major [Note 2] tournament between 21 January 2015 and the conclusion of the 2015 National Championship, or 3rd August 2015 whichever is earlier;
5. resident overseas, must play a minimum of 48 games rated by WESPA or a WESPA member country of including at least 16 SA-rated games between 21 January 2015 and the conclusion of the 2015 National Championship, or 3rd August 2015 whichever is earlier. SA may adjust the requirement as appropriate if a player's residency status changes during that time. Overseas-based players are requested to retain score cards or equivalent head-to-head results of their non-SA rated games in the event the ratings officers consider it advisable to calculate a depreciation of their SA rating for purposes of determining a fair notional SA rating under this criterion.

Note 1 "The National Champion will hold the Teck Ghee challenge shield until the 2015 Nationals, and will qualify to represent Singapore at the 2015 World Championship in the event that one is announced (subject to any other terms of the 2015 WSC Qualification Criteria)" was previously approved and announced.
Note 2 A major tournament is for this purpose one in which the top division lasts for at least 16 rounds.
Note 3 It is desirable to aim to hold the 2015 Nationals before 3 August 2015 as a result.

Cheah SH
for SA Committee

ADDENDUM: MODIFICATION TO THE 2015 WSC QC (13 July 2015)

As announced previously, the National Scrabble Championship will be held on 15-16 August 2015 at Jurong Green CC.

Given that the Nationals date unexpectedly falls outside the end of the qualification period (QP), the SA committee has deliberated whether modification is needed to the WSC qualification (QC), in the interest of fairness. The decision has been taken by the disinterested members of the committee.

There was reasonable expectation until very recently that the Nationals would be the final rated tournament of the QP. At the request of the SA committee, the Nationals date was determined at the discretion of the organising chairman, after consultation, solely in best interest of the event. The committee also notes that some major tournaments (as defined in the QC) expected to take place during the QP did not eventuate due to venue unavailability.

Therefore, the SA Committee has ruled that the QP be extended to the conclusion of the 2015 National Championship such that the Nationals will, as intended, be the final rated tournament in the QP, and to accept no other tournaments for rating between now and the conclusion of the Nationals. The intent is that the QC will apply as if the Nationals had been held on 1-2 August.

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