From: MBaron1949 <MBaron1949@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 02:07:20 EST
Subject: State of the World of Scrabble update (long)
Message-id: <9afbdd38.3459837d@aol.com>
CGPers:
It appears there may be about 20,000 players worldwide who are current members of a national Scrabble association, and about 6,000 of these members play in tournaments.
Since "State of the World of Scrabble" was last posted 9/6/97, two countries (Liberia and Qatar) have been added as the 35th and 36th countries (with UK subsuming 4 of those 36). To date, data from only one third of all countries have been received. For discussion purposes, I have inserted the figures 100 and 50 (in parentheses below) to represent the number of association members and tournament rated members, respectively, for those countries for which I have yet to receive such data. This is equivalent to the numbers provided by relative Scrabble newcomer Malaysia (100/50) and not significantly different from the figures provided by the veteran Scrabble country of Israel (150/63). I welcome any information which may help update or correct the tables below.
As before, data are presented in two ways: (A) ALPHABETICAL BY COUNTRY, and (B) BY WORD SOURCE (AND CHALLENGE RULE) USED.
SN 135 reported there will be a "Global Meeting" 11/21/97 at the WSC in D.C. to discuss, in part, "the current system of determining allocations for countries participating in the WSC." Toward that end, the last section below, (C) WSC "UNDER/OVER" REPRESENTATION, is also included.
Thanks, again, to John Holgate, Lynne Butler, Steve Goldberg, Sam Orbaum, Mohammad Ali Ismail, Butch Maniego, Ravee Joradol, Philip Nelkon, Graeme Thomas, Chris Lennon, Joel Sherman, and Ron Tiekert for their provision of information.
Mike Baron
key:
C# = Country number (if *, see footnotes listed by C#)
1 = does country have a players assoc?
2 = current players assoc membership. "(100)" used until data received.
3 = is a rating system used?
4 = type of rating system (NA, UK, other)
5 = current rated assoc members. "(50)" used until data received.
6 = assoc head/contact address
7 = corporate overseer/contact address (Hasbro/Milton Bradley
oversee US and Canada; Mattel/Spear for most of rest of
World)
8 = number of WSC reps
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 01*Australia Y 1500 Y NA 1500 * M/S 4 02 Bahrain (100) (50) 2 03*Canada Y 1000?* Y NA 188?* * H/MB 6 04 Eire (100) (50) 1 05 England see United Kingdom 7 06 France (100) (50) 1 07 Ghana (100) (50) 3 08 Guyana (100) (50) 1 09 Hong Kong (100) (50) 1 10*Israel N* 150* Y NA 63 * * 2 11 Japan (100) (50) 1 12 Kenya (100) (50) 3 13 Kurdistan-Iraq (100) (50) 1 14 Kuwait (100) (50) 1 15 Liberia (100) (50) 1 16*Malaysia Y 100+* Y other* 50+ * M/S 2 17 Malta (100) (50) 2 18*New Zealand Y 500 Y other*350 * M/S 4 19 Nigeria (100) (50) 3 20 N.Ireland see United Kingdom 1 21 Oman (100) (50) 1 22 Pakistan (100) (50) 1 23*Philippines Y 300* Y other*100* * M/S 1 24 Qatar (100) (50) 1 25 Romania (100) (50) 1 26 Saudi Arabia (100) (50) 1 27 Scotland see United Kingdom 1 28 Seychelles (100) (50) 1 29 Singapore (100) (50) 2 30 South Africa (100) (50) 2 31 Sri Lanka (100) (50) 2 32*Thailand Y 500 Y other 100 * * 3 33 Trinidad (100) (50) 1 34 UAE (100) (50) 1 35*United Kingdom Y 5400* Y UK 1000* * M/S [11*] 36*United States Y 9000+* Y NA 1696?* * H/MB 12 37 Wales see United Kingdom 2 38*World Champion (David Boys (CAN)) 1 39*Gulf Champion (Naween Fernando (Bahrain)) 1 ----------------------------------------------------------- TOTALS to date: 20,850 6,247 82 Footnotes: 01 Australia (6) Alistair Kane, Head of CASPA, 1/39a Callander Rd., Noble Park 3174 Victoria Australia. (7) Mattell Australia, Port Melbourne, Melbourne Australia 03 Canada (2)1000?, based upon NSA's stated membership of "over 10,000" and 1:9 ratio between Canada and US among players above 1800 rating in past. (5) 188?, prorated from Joel Sherman's 6/27/97 cgp post citing 1884 current total (US+CAN) NSA members with a rating. There are about 15 clubs. Ron Tiekert's more recent estimate of 2400 NSA rated players would translate to about 240 Canadian players (6) John Williams, Executive Director, National Scrabble Assn, Box 700, Greenport, NY 11944 USA, PH: 516-477-0033; email: info@SCRABBLE-assoc.com 10 Israel (1) "We have an assn in name only, but it's inactive," Sam Orbaum; "No players association (no need)," Steve Goldberg. (2) "Roughly 150 play more or less regularly in 5 clubs," Orbaum. (6) Sam Orbaum, c/o The Jerusalem Post, POB 81 Jerusalem 91000, Israel; orbaum@netvision.net.il (7)"Officially we're under Spear, but we align ourselves with MBradley" Orbaum. 16 Malaysia (2) "This is the national association (in the capital city). Clubs at towns/cities, districts and states not counted. Actual no. of associations cannot be determined, but I believe in the tens, and member-players in thousands." (4) "Somewhat peculiar and stand-to-abuse rating system, where point will be given to any participation of a tournament (could be a spontaneous tournament)." (6) "Bro. Michael [address not listed]." Mohammad Ali Ismail: mhmdali@pc.jaring.my 18 New Zealand (4) "Other - based loosely on US system. Tournaments here are played on round-robin basis. Very generally, alterations to ratings are made by calculation of average rating of players in each grade and performance against expected wins. Adjustments are made at end of tourney not after each game," Lynne Butler. (6) John Foster, 117 Pohutukawa Crescent, Whangamata, NZ; PH: 64-7-865 8933. 23 Philippines (2) "From what I understand, we...have only about 300 members of our national association SCAPI (5) of which maybe one-third are active and have local ratings (4) which are strictly our own and very rudimentary," Maniego. (6) Butch Maniego: bmaniego@cnl.net "as our president is still in the process of acquiring a modem and leaping into cyberspace. But we are in close coordination." 32 Thailand: From Ravee Joradol: "1. Yes, Thailand has the official association called 'Thailand Crossword Club'. 2. There are about 500 members in our club.3. Yes, we do have a rating system. 4. We use other rating system. 5. At present, about 100 players are rated. 6. Mr. Amnuay Ploysangngam is the President of the Thailand Crossword Club, the address is Thailand Crossword Club, 631 Rama 3 Road, Bangpongpang, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120 THAILAND, Tel: (662)2950861-5 Fax:(662)2950866 email:crosword@ksc.th.com 7. There is no corporate overseer here at all." 35 United Kingdom includes England, N. Ireland, Scotland, Wales. Breakdown by country not as yet acquired. (2) "Scrabble Clubs UK has a membership of c320 clubs containing c5400 individual players (inc. Eire...).... I believe that the APSP (Players Association) membership is c800." Nelkon; "527" Thomas, though this presumably is the APSP total. (5) "around 1000," Nelkon; "c750" Thomas. (6) Philip Nelkon: 101354.3235@CompuServe.COM; Graeme Thomas(APSP): thogr04@mail.cai.com (7) Philip Nelkon: 101354.3235@CompuServe.COM (8) 11 WSC reps: 1 N. Ireland + 7 England + 1 Scotland + 2 Wales (not duplicated in World totals). 36 United States (2) 9000?, based upon NSA's stated membership of "over 10,000" and 9:1 ratio between US and Canada among players above 1800 rating in past. There are about 170 clubs. I would estimate 3000-5000 annual attendees. (5) 1696?, prorated from Joel Sherman's 6/27/97 cgp post citing 1884 current total (US+CAN) NSA members with a rating. Ron Tiekert's more recent estimate of 2400 NSA rated players would translate to about 2160 US players. (6) John Williams, Executive Director, National Scrabble Assn, Box 700, Greenport, NY 11944 USA, PH: 516-477-0033; email:info@SCRABBLE-assoc.com 37 World Champion (David Boys (CAN)) not duplicated under Canada. 38 Gulf Champion (Naween Fernando (Bahrain)) not duplicated under Bahrain.**************************************************************************
(? = uncertain)
OSPD/double
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
03*Canada Y 1000* Y NA 188* * H/MB 6
10*Israel N* 150* Y NA 63 * * 2
17 Malta (100) (50) 2
32*Thailand Y 500 Y other 100 * * 3
36*United States Y 9000+* Y NA 1696* * H/MB 12
38 World Champion (David Boys (CAN)) 1
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 10,750 2097 26
OSW/single
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
04 Eire (100) (50) 1
05 England see United Kingdom 7
20 N.Ireland see United Kingdom 1
27 Scotland see United Kingdom 1
35*United Kingdom Y 5400* Y UK 1000* * M/S 11*
37 Wales see United Kingdom 2
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 5500 1050 12
SOWPODS/single
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
01*Australia Y 1500 Y NA 1500 * M/S 4
02 Bahrain (100) (50) 2
07 Ghana? (100) (50) 3
08 Guyana? (100) (50) 1
12 Kenya? (100) (50) 3
13 Kurdistan-Iraq? (100) (50) 1
14 Kuwait? (100) (50) 1
15 Liberia? (100) (50) 1
16*Malaysia Y 100+* Y other* 50+ * M/S 2
19 Nigeria? (100) (50) 3
21 Oman? (100) (50) 1
23*Philippines Y 300* Y other*100* * M/S 1
24 Qatar? (100) (50) 1
26 Saudi Arabia? (100) (50) 1
30 South Africa? (100) (50) 2
31 Sri Lanka? (100) (50) 2
33 Trinidad? (100) (50) 1
34 UAE? (100) (50) 1
39 Gulf Champion? (Naween Fernando (Bahrain)) 1
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 3400 2400 32
SOWPODS/double
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
18*New Zealand Y 500* Y other*350 * M/S 4
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 500 350 4
SOWPODS/penalty (5 pts)
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
29 Singapore (100) (50) 2
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 100 50 2
OTHER UNKNOWN
C# COUNTRY (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
06 France (100) (50) 1
09 Hong Kong (100) (50) 1
11 Japan (100) (50) 1
22 Pakistan (100) (50) 1
25 Romania (100) (50) 1
28 Seychelles (100) (50) 1
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL to date: 600 300 6
--------------------------------------------------------------
GRAND TOTAL to date: 20,850 6,247 82
Tentatively, the totals to date by word source:
#Countries (2) (5) (8)
OSPD 5 10,750 2,097 25 (excl World Champ)
OSW 5 5,500 1,050 12
SOWPODS 20 4,000 2,800 37 (excl Gulf Champ)
UNKNOWN 6 600 300 6
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS 36 20,850 6,247 80
******************************************************************
C# = country number
* = see footnotes above
(5) = current rated assoc members. "(50)" used until data received.
(8) = number of WSC97 reps
(9) = percentage of country's rated-tournament players at WSC97 (x 10)
(10) = percentage over (+) or under (-) column (9)'s mean of 12.8
(11) = number of WSC97 reps, if each country sent same percentage of reps,
rounded to nearest tenth, followed by figure round to whole number.
C# COUNTRY (5) (8) (9) (10) (11) rounded
01*Australia 1500 4 2.7 - 79% 19.2 19
02 Bahrain (50) 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
03*Canada 188*[1] 6 31.9 +149% 2.4 2
04 Eire (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
05 England see UK 7[2]
06 France (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
07 Ghana (50) 3 60.0 +369% 0.6 1
08 Guyana (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
09 Hong Kong (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
10*Israel 63 2 31.7 +148% 0.8 1
11 Japan (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
12 Kenya (50) 3 60.0 +369% 0.6 1
13 Kurdistan-Iraq (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
14 Kuwait (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
15 Liberia (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
16*Malaysia 50+ 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
17 Malta (50) 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
18*New Zealand 350 4 11.4 - 11% 4.48 4
19 Nigeria (50) 3 60.0 +369% 0.6 1
20 N.Ireland see UK 1[2]
21 Oman (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
22 Pakistan (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
23*Philippines 100* 1 10.0 - 22% 1.3 1
24 Qatar (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
25 Romania (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
26 Saudi Arabia (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
27 Scotland see UK 1[2]
28 Seychelles (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
29 Singapore (50) 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
30 South Africa (50) 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
31 Sri Lanka (50) 2 40.0 +213% 0.6 1
32*Thailand 100 3 30.0 +134% 1.3 1
33 Trinidad (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
34 UAE (50) 1 20.0 + 56% 0.6 1
35*United Kingdom 1000* 11[2] 11.0 - 14% 12.8 13
36*United States 1696*[1] 12 7.1 - 45% 21.7 22
37 Wales see UK 2[2]
--------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS to date: 6,247 80[3] 12.8 79.0 88
[1] Ron Tiekert's more recent estimate of 2400 NSA rated players
would translate to about 240 rated Canadian and 2160 US
players. If these figures were used, World TOTAL would be
6,763 and a 1.18% rather than 1.28% overall representation
figure would apply. This would translate to US reps increasing
from 12 to 25 (rather than to 22), Canadian reps reducing from
6 to 3 (rather than to 2), UK increasing from 11 to 12 (rather
than to 13), and Australia increasing from 4 to 18 (rather
than to 19).
[2] UK's 11 = England 7 + N.Ireland 1 + Scotland 1 + Wales 1.
Only UK figures (Country# 35) are used in World totals.
[3] Excludes World and Gulf Champions.