Easter Scrabble Challenge 2021

Miss your Scrabble friend? Missing the Scrabble experience these days? In order to provide players an opportunity to play Scrabble despite the pandemic, HKSPA will be organising the Easter Scrabble Challenge 2021 to encourage Scrabble players to play Scrabble online!

General Information

Date: 10 April 2021 (Saturday)

Time: 13:30 to 18:00 Hong Kong Time (Registration starts at 13:00)

Venue: Online - Woogles.io

Eligibility: Players who -

• Have a registered account on Woogles.io (It is free to create an account), and
• Are local players, or oversea players who have played at least 1 HKSPA-rated game(s).

are eligible for the Challenge.

“Local players” refers to players eligible for Hong Kong Representation Status (i.e. Hong Kong Permanent Residents) or Affiliation Status (i.e. Hong Kong Residents who are not yet Permanent Residents).

Format: To simulate a face-to-face tournament, this Challenge will take place using format similar to face-to-face tournament.

• Round 1: Random Draw
• Round 2-4: Australian Swiss Draw
• Round 5: King of the Hill (KOTH)

Free challenge (i.e. SINGLE challenge on Woogles), 20 MINUTES initial time, overtime maximum 5 minutes.

Players should refer to the Event Coverage website for pairings and official results. In this tournament, players who are assigned to start first should send the MATCH request to the opponent. As Woogles will randomly assign the first and second player of the game, the player who send the request may not be the one playing first in the game. Please follow the first/second assignment by Woogles.

Dictionary: Collins Scrabble Words 2019 (CSW19)

Prize: There are the following awards:

• Winner
• 1^st Runner-up
• 2^nd Runner-up

Individual Youth Awards

• Best Under-18 Player (born on or after 1/1/2003)
• Best Under-16 Player (born on or after 1/1/2005)
• Best Under-14 Player (born on or after 1/1/2007)
• Best Under-12 Player (born on or after 1/1/2009)

(Players may receive more than one award, e.g. the Best Under-14 Player might as well be the Best Under-16 Player)

School Awards (a school must have at least 3 players playing in order to be eligible)

• Best Player from a School

A e-Certificate of Award will be issued to all award winners. A e-Certificate of Participation will be issued to all participants as well. Printed certificate can be issued with a fee as per our policy on Issuance of Certificate

Qualifying mechanism for Hong Kong Scrabble Championship 2021: Top 4 players in this tournament are qualified for playing in the Hong Kong Scrabble Championship 2021 (“the Championship”).

The Championship is a 2-day face-to-face tournament with a maximum 16 players competing for the title of Hong Kong Scrabble Champion. For details, please refer to the event website.

Qualified players will be invited to the Championship after the tournament result is finalised. Their spots are only confirmed if the player accepts the invitation and pay the required qualification fee.

Entry fee: Free of charge

Enrollment: Please complete an online application form on or before 4 April 2021 (Sunday).

Application is accepted on an individual basis. Students are reminded to fill in their school name so that they can compete for the “Best Player from a School” award if they are eligible.

Preparation before the tournament:

Players should prepare their own desktop or tablet computer with camera and microphone to join the tournament. Since the tournament will be completed online, players are advised to stay in an area with stable internet connection.

As Woogles will compute the scores of each move and track the tile movements automatically, no score sheets are required.

Integrity and honesty policy:

As the games are conducted online and due to the nature of the tournament, all games are not played in a supervised environment. Thus, these games are not HKSPA-rated nor recognised. Results of the tournament will still be published online.

However, players are expected to conduct their games on a friendly-basis, and play honestly. Players shall not seek external assistance in completing the games. External assistance includes the use of anagram applications, discussing the game with someone else (including your teachers, parents or coaches) during play, or falsifying your identity on the online platform. 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 may 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 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.

Enquiry: Please send an email to info@hkscrabble.org.