Back to Toronto SCRABBLE Club Tournaments.
This year’s FanExpo Canada convention on August 27–29 features for the first time a SCRABBLE tournament officially sanctioned by the North American SCRABBLE® Players Association (NASPA). Attendees of the convention can spend one or more half days on Saturday and/or Sunday playing rated SCRABBLE games, when not participating in the rest of the convention’s pop culture exhibits and events from genres including science fiction, fantasy, horror, anime, manga, animation, toys, collectible card games, video games and web entertainment.
SCRABBLE-playing space is limited, so preregistration is recommended. Players must be members in good standing of NASPA; first-time players may include $15 with their entry fee for a six-month trial membership. Each half-day three game session costs $10 ($12 at the door). Payment may be sent by cheque or INTERAC Email Money Transfer to John Chew at jjchew@math.utoronto.ca, 9 Fulton Avenue, Toronto ON M4K 1X6.
On August 11, FanExpo offered to sell us weekend passes for $50 if we had 25 confirmed players by Wednesday, August 25th. This seems extremely unlikely given the short notice, but if you'd like to try signing up for this, please (1) email me (John Chew, jjchew@math.utoronto.ca) and (2) come to the Toronto Scrabble Club meeting that evening and we'll make sure there are 25 of us. Otherwise, you are responsible for purchasing FanExpo admission online and allowing enough time to enter the site before play begins. Regular admission is $38 on Saturday, $32 on Sunday, or $63 for Saturday and Sunday together. Players must be present and ready to play no later than ten minutes before the start of their session. Players paying at check-in time must do so in cash.
Funds collected as entry fees, less expenses, will be returned as prizes. 20% of the prize fund from each event will be reserved to award to players who perform well overall on the weekend.
Session 1: Saturday, 11:00–2:00
Session 2: Saturday, 3:00–6:00
Session 3: Sunday, 11:30–2:30
Session 4: Sunday, 2:30–5:30
Each event lasts three rounds starting at hourly intervals. Players who finish a round early may leave to look at the show; their clocks will be started if they do not return on time. Players will be divided according to NASPA rating into groups of four to twelve, with as many divisions of eight as possible. In the first round, the top half of the field will play the bottom half in random order; the second round pairings will be modified Swiss; and the third round pairings will be King-of-the-Hill.
Tournament players are requested to bring complete equipment (board, tiles, tile bag, racks, clock, scoresheets), and may forfeit games if equipment is not available. A limited number of games will be available for those who do not do so.
Food and beverages are available for purchase in designated areas of the convention.