Fee Levied for Scrabble Player Ratings

Feb. 16, 2009 - PRLog -- Scrabble clubs wanting their tournaments internationally rated will need to pay a fee as of July 1, according to the World English-language Scrabble Players Association.
           Based on Australian Bob Jackman's system, the Wespa ratings will apply to national associations approved by the world association's tournament subcommittee, using its official word source and rules "with minor variations allowed," says subcommittee chair Chief Toke Ake (Nigeria).
           The rating levy is $2 per player payable to Wespa with a payment medium to be announced imminently. National associations need to use a software program for au-pair fixtures.
           Established international competitions, like the World Scrabble Championship, World Youth Scrabble Championship and recognised regional contests, would be rated as well as tourneys with at least two-fifths of the participation from outside the host country.
           Tournaments with at least $2,500 as a first prize and no less than a fifth of the participation from outside the host country would also count for ratings as well as competitions piggybacking on a major event with no less than 20 per cent taking part from outside the host country can apply for Wespa ratings.
           Jackman has been rating competitions for the last 16 years, including 21 contests last year, with players from nearly 40 countries in the listings.
           "There are 1,342 rated players of which 458 are ranked," he says, meaning they have played at least 50 games to stabilise their ratings and competed in at least one international contest in the past three years. The rating system is similar to the Elo, a scale on which the ability of chess players is gauged.
           "We're currently planning a project to have available through the web a player's history in terms of tourneys played, ratings history and individual opponents win-loss records," Jackman underlines. Wespa ratings list players in alphabetical order as well as according to country of residence.
           Of the hundreds of millions of Scrabble English-language players, an estimated 25,000-30,000 compete in hundreds of tournaments annually in 40-45 countries.

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Wespa is the regulatory body for Scrabble players in the English language with an estimated 25,000 competitive players in upwards of 40 countries. The association concentrates on youth, dictionary, rules, tournament format, communications matters.