Easter Online Scrabble Challenge 2022
Enjoy Scrabble last Easter and miss your Scrabble friend? Miss Scrabble too much but cannot play it with your friends due to the pandemic?
HKSPA will be organising the Easter Online Scrabble Challenge 2022 to unite Hong Kong Scrabble players again and provide an opportunity for everyone to meet their Scrabble friends online!
Introductory workshop
Date: 2 April 2022
Time: 15:00 - 16:30
Venue: Anywhere with internet access. The workshop will be conducted online.
Content: Basic game rules, score calculation and demonstration on how to play Scrabble games online.
Language: Cantonese with English handouts
The workshop is free of charge and is open to all players. Interested players may sign up for the workshop when they enroll for the tournament.
Competition information
Date: 15 - 18 April 2022 (Friday to Monday)
Venue: Anywhere with internet access. We will play online on Woogles.io (“Woogles”) or isc.ro (“ISC”).
There will be three divisions - Secondary (Novice), Secondary (Open) and Open Division.
Update 1 Apr: The Open Division is now cancelled
| Division | Secondary (Novice) | Secondary (Open) | Open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | Local Secondary School Novice players [Note 1] Check if you are eligible |
Local Secondary School students, except Novice players | Hong Kong residents (except primary and secondary students) [Note 2] |
| Date | 16 Apr 2022 (Saturday, The day following Good Friday) | 18 Apr 2022 (Monday, Easter Monday) | 15 Apr 2022 (Friday, Good Friday) |
| Time [Note 3] | 11:00 to 17:00 | 10:00 to 18:00 | 09:30 to 18:00 |
| Registration starts | 10:30 | 09:30 | 09:00 |
| Platform | Woogles (Tournament Room) | ISC | |
| Format and rules | |||
| Game Format [Note 4] | Round 1: Random Draw Round 2-5: Australian Swiss Draw Round 6: King of the Hill (KOTH) |
Round 1: Random Draw Round 2-7: Australian Swiss Draw Round 8: King of the Hill (KOTH) |
Round 1: Random Draw Round 2-7: Australian Swiss Draw Round 8-9: King of the Hill (KOTH) |
| Challenge rules | Free challenge | 5 points unsubstantiated challenge penalty | |
| Time allowed | 25 minutes per player | 20 minutes per player | |
| Overtime maximum | 5 minutes | 1 minute | |
| Aids permitted | Two- and three-letter word list | CSW21 Initiation Kit | None |
| Word list | The Collins Scrabble Word dictionary accepted by the platform | ||
| CSW21 | CSW19 | ||
| Prizes | |||
| School prizes [Note 5] | Top 3 schools Best Player from a School |
None | |
| Individual prizes | Winner 1st Runner-up 2nd Runner-up |
||
| Individual Youth Titles | Best Under-16 Player (born on or after 1/1/2006) Best Under-14 Player (born on or after 1/1/2008) |
None | |
- “Novice” refers to all students EXCEPT players who have:
- Participated in at least one WESPA-rated overseas tournament
- Participated in at least one virtual tournaments attracting significant international interest (e.g.WESPA Youth Cup, WESPA Championship and ASTAR Scrabble Challenge International. Please consult us if you are in doubt)
- Players who have played more than 30 games in HKSPA-rated or HKSPA-recognised tournaments, including rated or non-rated games; or having a HKSPA ratings higher than 1500
- “Hong Kong Residents” include those players who are currently residing outside the Hong Kong but are eligible for Hong Kong Affiliation or Hong Kong Representation Statuses under the “Hong Kong Player Statuses Regulation”.
- We will have lunch break / short breaks between games. Finishing time of the tournament may vary subject to the actual tournament schedule.
- Players from the same school team will not play against each other in the first round as far as practically possible.
- To compete for school prizes, the student must be enrolled by a school teacher to be considered part of the school team. A school team must have at least three players participating in all rounds in the tournament. Only the top 3 players in the school team will be counted when calculating school ranking and awards.
Certificates of Participation and Certificates of Awards
An e-Certificate of Participation will be issued to a player if (s)he completes all games in the tournament. Players who are absent or resign from any assigned games without reasonable excuses will not be treated as completing all games in the tournament.
An e-Certificate of Award will be issued to all award winners (For School Prizes, everyone in the school team will receive individual certificates for the award).
A printed certificate can be issued on request. The printed certificate will be charged as per our policy on Issuance of Certificate. To apply for printed certificates, players may make an application within one week after they receive the e-Certificate(s). For students enrolled as part of a school team, the certificates will be sent to their school. As a token of appreciation, we will waive the administrative fee for students enrolled as part of a school team and have at least 3 members in their school team.
Qualifying mechanism for Hong Kong Scrabble Championship 2022
Top 2 players in the Secondary (Open) division and top 2 players in the Open Division are qualified for playing in the Hong Kong Scrabble Championship 2022 (“the Championship”).
The Championship is expected a 2-day face-to-face tournament with a maximum 16 players competing for the title of Hong Kong Scrabble Champion. Its details are subject to confirm due to the ever-changing development of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualified players will be invited to the Championship after the tournament result is finalised and the details of the Championship is confirmed. Their spots are only confirmed if the player accepts the invitation and pay the required qualification fee.
Play Games with Integrity and Honesty
It is our duty to ensure players play every game with integrity and honesty. Fair games are of the essence in a tournament. Due to the nature of the tournament, we are unable to supervise every player. Thus, these games are not HKSPA-rated nor recognised.
Players monitoring
We will be monitoring players during the tournament. All players must follow the organiser’s instruction to join a Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or obs.ninja session with their camera on. They may use a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer or desktop computer for this purpose. This camera must be switched on and visible to the organiser at all times during their games (i.e. they may temporarily switch off their camera during their break). Failure to present a live camera feed up to the satisfaction of the organiser may render in disqualification in the tournament.
As part of our spot check, we may require selected players to show us the environment around them or unmute themselves during their games to ensure they have no attempt to cheat in the games.
Aids permitted
To assist the players in their games, we permit players to use selected materials during their games. Players may opt to use those materials at their own decision. If they decide to use it, they must print the material out on their own. They must not write anything on those materials before the end of the tournament. No soft copy of those materials may be referred to during the tournament.
Expectation on players
Players are expected to conduct their games on a friendly-basis and play honestly. Respectful, courteous, fair and honest play is required. Players are honour bound not to cheat.
Players shall not seek external assistance in completing the games. External assistance includes:
- use any devices for word checking (including the use of anagram applications),
- discussing the game with someone else (including teachers, parents or coaches) during play, or
- falsifying your identity on the online platform.
Players should not involve in any match-fixing as well.
HKSPA has the right to intervene if any games are not conducted fairly in an acceptable manner. If a player thinks that, in any particular game, his or her opponent might be seeking excessive external assistance in completing the games such that the game is not conducted fairly in all circumstances, he or she shall report the game to the Tournament Director directly and promptly.
All players must pledge to adhere to the aforementioned policy when they sign up for the tournament. Players who are found not to comply with this policy may be disqualified from a particular round, the whole tournament or even be barred from joining other tournaments organised by the Association.
Observers (including teachers, parents or coaches) are welcome to observe any game on the Woogles platform. All games are opened for observation. To maintain the integrity of the tournament, they are expected not to discuss the game with any players playing in the tournament before the game completes.
Acceptance of the policy
All players must accept the above policy to play in the tournament. Acceptance must be indicated via the application form to the event. For school enrollment, school teachers should ensure their students accepts the above policy before signing up.
Players who declined to accept the above policy will not be allowed to play in the tournament.
Enrollment
Enrollment should be submitted online. The deadline for application is now extended to 11 April 2022 (tentative) for all divisions. There is no entry fee for this tournament.
While this tournament will take place online, there will still be a quota on the number of participants allowed in the tournament considering the limited manpower of the organiser in monitoring the players. The spots will generally be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Secondary (Novice) and Secondary (Open) Division
Applications are mainly accepted on a school basis. School may enroll up to 8 students from their school per division. School teachers may click here to submit the application.
We also accept applications submitted by individual students. However, they will not be regarded as part of any school team (even their school is enrolled as a team) and will not be eligible for any school prizes. Individual students who wish to join may enroll here.
School teachers please submit separate application form for the two divisions. If you are in doubt which division the students’ belong to, you may contact us. The organiser reserves the final decision rights on allocating a particular participant into the appropriate division.
Open Division
The division is now cancelled.
Application is accepted on an individual basis. Please click here to submit your application.
Technical requirements for joining the tournament
To participate in the tournament, you must:
- Have an account on the designated platform (It is free to register for an account).
- Have a computer with an up-to-date internet browser installed. We recommend using a desktop or laptop computer for the game. Tablet computer is also acceptable but mobile phone is strongly not recommended.
- Have a secondary device for monitoring. It could be another desktop, laptop, tablet computer or a mobile phone.
- Have stable internet connection.
- Be able to print the “Aids permitted” on your own since the organiser is unable to provide you with a hard-copy while soft copy is not accepted in the tournament.
Enquiry: Please send an email to info@hkscrabble.org.
We hope everyone will enjoy this tournament with fun and joy :)