Back to 2003 MWMST

MWMST Speed Scrabble Tournament

Rules

Play in this event will be conducted under NSA Tournament Rules, except as emended as follows:

1. Each game involves two players and a non-playing scorekeeper. For each play that is made, the scorekeeper is responsible for recording the first letter of the play, the play score and the cumulative score. If play gets ahead of the scorekeeper, the scorekeeper should record only the first letter of the play, and catch up when time permits. If a scorekeeper does not see a play made, s/he may ask the player to identify it. Either player may ask the scorekeeper for the current score at any time.
2. To begin the game, both players draw seven tiles facedown, before the timer is started. If a player sees a tile, s/he must leave it faceup.
3. Clocks start at 03:00, not 25:00.
4. At the end of each turn, you must hit the clock. You do not have to announce or record any scores. If you play a blank, clearly announce its designation and check to make sure that the scorekeeper records it correctly.
5. If your opponent calls hold on a play, you may draw your provisional tiles imediately.
6. Guideline 24 on fast-bagging does not apply.
7. Time penalties are 1 point per second, not 1 point per minute.
8. When your clock reaches -1:01, you may make no more plays. If a partially or completely executed play is on the board when your clock passes -1:00, it should be removed from the board with the clock paused.
9. If your opponent runs out of time and you are still behind, you may continue to make plays if you think you can catch up doing so. Your opponent may hold or challenge your plays before passing his/her turn.
10. Recounts must be completed within sixty seconds.

Format

Players will play according to the following schedule, with unpaired players acting as scorekeepers. Each player faces each opponent twice in succession, alternating who goes first. Time permitting, the round-robin will be followed by one KOTH, with the two bottom-ranked players acting as scorekeepers.

[We had a walk-in at the tournament, so I had to scrap the carefully concocted schedule in favour of one in which 7 players and 2 nonplaying scorekeepers played a double-round-robin in 14 rounds, with one player acting as scorekeeper each round, all followed by a KOTH. We finished in just about exactly 3 hours.]

Players score one match point for a win, half a match point for a tie, no match points for a loss. Scorekeepers score one match point for correctly determining the outcome of a game, no match points for being shown wrong in a recount or for being unable to determine the winner.

The winner of the tournament will be determined based on match points. 1st place wins $45, 2nd place wins $20 [and with the walk-in, third place $15].