ABSP: BEST Tournament

BEST originated in 2001, with Andrew Fisher winning the inaugural title. It is a knockout competition which lasts around nine months. Played as a series of face-to-face knockout matches at regional and then national level, the winner typically plays more than 70 games over the year to lift the trophy. Many big names in the game have won the title in its illustrious history, including World Champions Mark Nyman and Adam Logan, and 2018 winner, Times Scrabble Columnist Paul Gallen. For the full list see here.

BEST will be taking a break for 2026, but James Burley will be organising the 2027 edition of BEST, which is due to start in the Spring of 2027.

Many players post detailed match reports on their own social media feeds and these are often shared on the ABSP Facebook page (ABSP membership required)

Some reports from 2017 are available here, though, as a taster of what this tournament is all about:

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.

Are You The BEST?