Information

Date: 29 and 30 May 2021 (Saturday and Sunday)

Time:

  • 29 May 2021: Registration starts at 09:00. Round 1 starts at 09:30. Last game is expected to complete at around 19:45.
  • 30 May 2021: Round 10 starts at 10:00. Expect to start the closing ceremony at 20:00.

An hour lunch break will be arranged on both days. The finishing time of the tournament may vary subject to the actual tournament schedule.

The venue and lunch arrangement will be communicated with enrolled participants in due course.

Eligibility: Qualified HKSPA individual members with Hong Kong representation statuses defined under the Hong Kong Player Statuses Regulation

Format:
18 games, 8 to 10 games per day.

  • Game 1 to 3: Init Fontes Swiss - Players will be categorized into 4 groups by their HKSPA ratings immediately prior to the tournament. Sub-divisions will be formed by selecting one player from each group to form a sub-division of 4 players. These 4 players will play a single Round Robin. If the total number of players is not divisible by 4 (due to players’ absence), there will be a group containing all the remaining players. They will play partial round robin and opponents / bye will be arranged by random.
  • Game 4 to 9: Australian Swiss Draw (sometimes lagged) without repeat
  • Game 10 to 16: Australian Swiss Draw (sometimes lagged) with one repeat allowed
  • Game 17 to 18: King-of-the-Hill (KOTH)

5 points unsubstantiated challenge penalty.

The tournament will be HKSPA-rated and WESPA-rated.

Dictionary: Collins Official Scrabble Words 2019 (CSW19)

Time limit: Each players has 25 minutes to play each round.

WESPA rules version 4 is applicable to all divisions. Gibsonisation rules apply where appropriate.

Prizes:

Champion – the title of “Hong Kong Scrabble Champion” + the Lion Rock Trophy + plaque
1st Runner-up – medal
2nd Runner-up – medal
3rd Runner-up – medal

Individual Youth Awards
Best Under-18 Player (born on or after 1/1/2003) – medal
Best Under-16 Player (born on or after 1/1/2005) – medal
Best Under-14 Player (born on or after 1/1/2007) – medal
Best Under-12 Player (born on or after 1/1/2009) – medal
(Players may receive more than one award, e.g. the Best Under-16 Player might as well be the Best Under-18 Player. The award(s) will only be available if there are at least 2 eligible players.)

High Word – medal
High Game – medal

Certificate of Participation will be given to participants at the end of the tournament free of charge on request during the application.

Players may request to issue Certificate of Award if they are an award-winner. A certificate fee will be charged per certificate issued (one award title per certificate). Players may request for such certificates after the prize presentation ceremony and pay the application fee on the spot. The certificate will be sent to the player by ordinary mail.

Qualifying Mechanism

In order to reduce the risk of the outspread of the coronavirus, we will introduce a qualifying mechanism to the tournament.

HKSPA individual members with Hong Kong representation statuses defined under the Hong Kong Player Statuses Regulation may qualify to the tournament under one of these 3 routes. The total number of qualified players is limited to 16.

Qualify by Peak Ratings:

The peak rating, including provisional ratings, from 1 March 2019 to 31 March 2021 will be used to determine the peak ratings of the player.

Eligible players (HKSPA Individual Member with Hong Kong representation statuses as at 31 March 2021) with Peak Ratings 1900 are qualified automatically.

Qualify by playing in Easter Scrabble Challenge:

We will be organising the Easter Scrabble Challenge on 10 April 2021 online.

The top 4 eligible players (HKSPA Individual Member with Hong Kong representation statuses as at the date of the tournament) from the tournament who are not qualified via Peak Ratings are qualified automatically.

Qualify by playing in specified face-to-face tournaments:

The following 2 tournaments are designated as specified tournaments:

Details of the tournament will be announced on the “Hong Kong Competitive Scrabble Meetup“ platform. Players who wish to participate in these tournaments should enroll for the tournament on the platform directly. In the event of any difficulty doing so, then please contact the organiser of those tournaments directly: paul.christensen{at}hkscrabble.org

The top 2 eligible players from each of the tournament who are not qualified via Peak Ratings or the online qualifier are qualified automatically.

Qualifying procedure

Players qualified via any of the above routes will be invited to play in the Championship by email.

Players who can be qualified by Peak Ratings will be invited to play in the Championship in around late March to early April. They should promptly response to confirm their spot. If they do not accept the invitation during this stage, they will not be allowed to be qualified via any other routes.

For players who are not qualified by peak ratings, they may participate in both face-to-face tournaments and the online qualifier to maximize their chance to get a spot in the Championship. However, qualified players should note that if they do not accept the invitation to play in the Championship, they will not be invited to play in the Championship even if he/she is qualified on another occasion.

If there are less than 16 players qualified via the above 3 routes, players with HKSPA Ratings (i.e. Have played for 50 games or more) will be invited to play in the Championship according to the Peak Ratings during the period aforementioned until all spots are fully filled.

Players should secure their place by replying to the email to confirm their interest in the tournament as well as paying the qualification fee to the organiser via bank transfer to the designated bank account specified in the email. Failure to reply to the invitation AND paying the prescribed fee by the deadline will result in forfeiting the place allocated to them. The place will be allocated to another player.

Players should also pay the membership fee of session 2020-21 (if applicable) before they accept the invitation if they are not a HKSPA individual member of session 2020-21.

Qualification fee (not including membership fee):

  • Full-time primary and secondary students: $150
  • Full-time university students: $180
  • Others: $200

The fee paid is non-transferrable and non-refundable, unless the tournament is cancelled or postponed.

Special policy under COVID-19 pandemic

To prevent the outspread of the coronavirus:

  • Players with symptoms of sickness should not participate in any tournaments. Please notify the organiser as soon as practicable if you are unable to attend the tournament.
  • Players should keep personal hygiene at all times. Scrabble equipment, including chess clock and the tiles, will be disinfected regularly during the breaks between rounds.
  • The tournament venue is not open to the members of public. Only players and officials are permitted to enter the tournament venue. To comply with the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation (Cap. 599G), non-invited members, including parents of the players, observers, etc. shall not enter the tournament venue. The organiser will provide online streaming to selected games in the tournament.
  • To reduce the amount of cash transactions, player are required to settle their qualification fee prior to the tournament via bank transfer.
  • HKSPA COVID-19 Scrabble tournament policies apply: (1) all players under the age of 18 (as on the date of the tournament) must obtain written consent from at least one of his or her parents to participate in the tournament. Players may use the form prescribed by the Association, but a hand-written signed hard copy is also acceptable. The original form must be submitted to the Tournament Director before the start of the tournament for inspection. (2) All players are encouraged to inform the organiser whether they have travelled to anywhere outside Hong Kong within 30 days prior to the date of the tournament. If the organiser requires a player to so inform him, the player must do so. The Tournament Director may refuse the participation of a player who has so travelled in the relevant time period or who refuses to disclose his or her travel history, or who is under-18 but failed to hand in the written consent.
  • If the situation of COVID-19 in Hong Kong is worsened before the tournament such that (1) the venue is not available for the tournament due to legal restrictions, or (2) in the discretion of the organiser, the tournament may not be organised in a way that is safe for all tournament officials and players, the tournament organiser may postpone the tournament to another date or cancel the tournament. Players may opt to withdraw their enrollment and receive a refund if the tournament is either postponed or cancelled.

Players are required to bring their HKID Card (passport or birth certificate if they do not have a HKID Card) for verification purposes. For students, they should also bring their Student ID Card (student handbook if they do not have a Student ID Card). Players who fail to bring the required documents may not be allowed to play / being charged administrative fee.

HKSPA on