Association of British Scrabble Players

The ABSP

The Association of British Scrabble Players (ABSP) was formed in 1987 as a not-for-profit association to promote interest in the playing of Scrabble. It co-ordinates tournaments and the provision of a rating system for players in the UK, as well as providing information and support to members, tournament organisers and tournament directors. Media Contact Point

May Tournaments
May 4-6Spring M'play - Daventry, 25 Rds
May 11-14European Open - Malta, 32 Rds
May 12Bournemouth, 7 Rds
May 18-20Malta Open, 24 Rds
May 19NSC(T) North - Shipley, 7 Rds
May 24-27English Grand - Coventry, 30 Rds
 
June Tournaments
Jun 1NSC(T) Scotland - Edinburgh, 7 Rds
Jun 1York Weekend, 7 Rds
Jun 2York Weekend, 7 Rds
Jun 2NSC(T) South - Southampton, 7 Rds
Jun 2NSC(T) South West - Bristol, 7 Rds
Jun 8NSC(T) London & SE - Southgate, 7 Rds
Jun 8Lincoln Open, 7 Rds
Jun 15-16Cotswold RR, 14 Rds
Jun 15-16Scottish Open - Edinburgh, 13 Rds
Jun 16Brighton & Hove RR, 9 Rds
Jun 22NSC(T) Midland - Peterborough, 7 Rds
Jun 22Romford, 7 Rds
Jun 29Luton, 7 Rds
Jun 29-30Masters
 
Full Calendar
Latest Ratings in Rank Order

National Scrabble Championships (NSC) important change!

Due to generous offer from Mind Sports International (MSI) the NSC semi-final will now be held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - still on the 14th and 15th of September. In addition to change in venue there will be significant sponsorship, including lots of cash prizes and contributions towards playing expenses.

There will also be a Mind Games festival coinciding with the NSC semi-final, with the prospect of a prize tournament immediately before or after the NSC semi-final at the same event. Further details in the release here.

The Scrabble Player's Handbook is released!

Announcing the release of a major new Scrabble resource, the product of over one year of hard work by 12 of the greatest Scrabble players in the world.

The Scrabble Player's Handbook is now available to download for FREE at www.scrabbleplayershandbook.com.

Written by a dozen former World Scrabble Championship competitors in a style that is accessible and understandable for players of all levels, The Scrabble Player's Handbook is the definitive 162-page guide to how to play competitive Scrabble. Download it, read it, email it to people you know, print it, photocopy it, SHARE IT.

New Year's Honours List

Four new Grandmasters and four new Experts for 2013! Find out who in Wayne Kelly's report.

Michael McKenna wins World Youth Championships 2012!

Catch up with the action from Birmingham. Well done to the UK team (pictured left).

Recorded games and prize ceremony are on Scrabcast.

Standings can be found on Youth Scrabble.

Paul Gallen is UK National Scrabble Champion 2012!

Paul Gallen from Belfast beat Wale Fashina from Liverpool 3-1 to take the title along with £2,500. Congratulations to Paul and commiserations to Wale but thanks to both for being part of a great final. All four games and the presentation can still be viewed online on USTREAM. Games are also annotated on CentreStar.

Kevin McMahon wins BMSC

Congratulations to Kevin McMahon for winning the much-coveted BMSC title! Details can be found here and a number of the games can be played through here.

Scrabble Matters

www.scrabblematters.com is an exciting new website which intends to give a quirky view of the Scrabble world and provoke constructive debate on the future of the game.

The first 'issue' came out in December and included articles from Scrabble luminaries ranging from Presidents to Chairmen to Club players to Celebrities - Jo Brand wrote the very first piece - to most important of all, my wife!

Other issues will include features from more top players and Anand - the World Youth Champion - there's also the very first piece of official writing from my son Max.

If you have something you want to get out of your Scrabble system and are interested in contributing a short (300 words) light-hearted article, please write to me at nnymans@aol.com

I look forward to hearing from you - let your imaginations fly!!

Mark Nyman

Mnemonic book by Mike O'Rourke (RIP) - updated for CSW 2012

Just a short note to say that Mike O'Rourke's Mnemonic Book has now been fully updated in line with CSW 2012 and can be found under the 'Publications' section here

NASPA logo ABSP/NASPA reciprocal arrangement

ABSP members will now be able enter tournaments in North America without, as previously, having to be a member of NASPA. Under the agreement NASPA members are treated as if they are members of the ABSP when entering tournaments in the UK. NASPA membership and rating information is available on the NASPA website 'membership tools' page. Please note that, at this stage this is only a bilateral agreement between ABSP and NASPA. Associations will be looking to broaden the arrangements but no deals with other WESPA member associations have currently been agreed.


Jessica Pratesi Youth Scrabble News

The seventh World Youth Scrabble Championships are taking place in Birmingham UK, Friday 7th to Sunday 9th December. More details on the Youth Scrabble website.

Seven young players represented the UK in the 6th WYSC: Tim Butcher, Jack Durant, Oliver Garner, Joe Knapper, Shrinidhi Prakash, Jessica Pratesi and Natasha Pratesi. Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely! The full results from WYSC 2011 are available on the Youth Scrabble website.

David Sutton's Words Main Page

You can find well over three hundred categories and over ten thousand words in this comprehensive collection. This month's feature is taken from the confectionery section.

alcorza a kind of sweet; icing
blackball in New Zealand, a hard-boiled sweet with black-and-white stripes.
brickle a kind of brittle candy; (adj.) brittle, easily broken: no comparative.
cachou a violet-scented sweet. [Malay kacu].
caramel caromel a dark brown substance produced by heating sugar; (verb) to coat with caramel: CARAMELLED, CARAMELLING.


Data Protection Act: In joining the ABSP I accept that personal information relating to Scrabble, including my rating and my photograph, may appear on the ABSP website and in ABSP publications. I accept that the ABSP will not be responsible for use or misuse of personal information.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A. by Hasbro Inc., in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc. and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Ltd. of Maidenhead SL6 4UB, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro or Hasbro Canada.

ABSP © 2012

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