World Scrabble Champions: A Definitive Guide

Collins Scrabble Words (CSW), or the Collins lexicon, is the official word list used by English-speaking countries other than the United States, Canada, and Thailand and Israel (who use the OSPD Scrabble Dictionary).
 

With its standardized format, CSW is the primary word list players used in global Scrabble competitions.
 

CSW was previously called the SOWPODS, which is an anagram of two acronyms: 1) Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) and 2) Official Scrabble Words (OSW).

The WESPA-rated honor board features players who have excelled in competitive Scrabble worldwide. This global ranking system provides a good snapshot of the leading Scrabble devotees from around the world at a given time.
 

A notable highlight of the following honor record is the continued performance of word whiz Nigel Richards. Richards further solidified his reigning position as the best Scrabble player in history, as well as the only player to win the Scrabble title more than once when he claimed his FIFTH world title in 2019.

Brand's International Scrabble Championships, formerly known as the Thailand International and the King's Cup, is the largest Scrabble tournament in the world.
 

The tournament is basically the Wimbledon of English-language Scrabble matches, bringing as many as 8,000 players from around the world under one roof.
 

Many Thais compete in the tournament as well as international competitors hailing from the US, UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, India, and Pakistan.
 

The international Scrabble competition is hosted in Bangkok every July. The tournament aims to promote the learning of English and the adoption of Scrabble as a sport in Thailand.
 

And it has had tremendous success achieving this goal. In fact, many Thais love Scrabble, the world’s most popular word game, and call it “Crossword Game”.
 

Here are the past winners and runners-up of the global Scrabble tournament:

The World Scrabble Championship (WSC) is one of the premier titles in competitive English-language Scrabble tournaments. The global Scrabble event draws top-tier players from more than 30 countries.
 

The official name of the international Scrabble tournament has changed a number of times depending on the sponsor.
 

The tournament was originally called the World Scrabble Championship. It was changed in 2013 to the Scrabble Champions Tournament, then to the WESPA Championship (WESPAC) in 2015. The name switched yet again in 2016 to Mind Sports International (MSI) World Championships and then to Mattel World Scrabble Championships in 2018.
 

The World Scrabble Championship is currently sponsored by Mattel. The mind-sport contest has been organized the past few years by a third party (Mind Sports Academy or MSA) under contract with Mattel.
 

The World Scrabble Championship is currently sponsored by Mattel. The mind-sport contest has been organized the past few years by a third party (Mind Sports Academy or MSA) under contract with Mattel.

Niagara Falls International Open is a growing tournament that’s quickly becoming one of the top global Scrabble competitions in the world.
 

Niagara Falls brings wordsmiths from around the world, including Scrabble competitors from across North America as well as Australia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Malaysia, Israel, Germany, and Japan.
 

There were 74 registered players and 21 games played at the 5th Niagara Falls International Open. Here are the prizewinners of the 5th Niagara Falls international Scrabble tournament.

The Malta International Scrabble Open (MISO) is an annual, week-long international competitive Scrabble event with three different tournament brackets. MISO is sanctioned, rated and played to the rules of WESPA. The maiden annual edition commenced in 2008.
 

The following tables outline the top-three finalists from the main tournament bracket each year.

The 12th annual Malta International Scrabble Open attracted more than 300 players from around the world. The global Scrabble competition was recorded in history after two of the players, David Webb (711 pts.) and Bob Violett (502 pts.), set a new world record for the most points scored in a tournament game.
 

	Position		Player		Home Country		Team Country		# of Wins		Spread
1		Vincent Boyle		Scotland		Scotland		8		+656
2		David Webb		England		England		7		+909
3		Mohamed Kamara		Sierra Leone		Sierra Leone		7		+582

Every year since 2014, there has been a WESPA-sanctioned and rated event specifically for seniors born on or before December 31, 1964.
 

Here is a look at past winners of the seniors-only global Scrabble tournament:

	Year		Location		Winner
2022		Australia		Howard Warner (New Zealand)
2019		Australia		Esther Perrins (Australia)
2018		Malaysia		Odette Rio (Philippines)
2017		New Zealand		Joanne Craig (NZ)
2016		Malaysia		Tony Sim (Singapore)
2015		Thailand		Howard Warner (NZ)
2014		Sri Lanka		Howard Warner (NZ)

The WESPA Youth Cup, formerly known as the World Youth Scrabble Championship, is designed to encourage young players to engage in Scrabble tournaments both at home and abroad.
 

Here is a roundup of the Scrabble world youth champions of the annual tournament:

Here are the details on the prize winners for the 2019 WESPA Youth Cup:
 

	Award		Player		Country
Champion		Tarin Pairor		Thailand
Runner Up		Janul De Silva		Sri Lanka
3rd Place		Yash Potnis		India
4th Place		Joshua Law Bing Han		Singapore
5th Place		Imaad Ali		Pakistan
6th Place		Vignesh Pirapaharan		Sri Lanka
7th Place		Liao Yi		Singapore
8th Place		Brian Po		Hong Kong
9th Place		Jarrett Tan Yan Keat		Singapore
10th Place		Eirfan Razman		Malaysia
Best National Team (based on combined  results of top 3 players from each country)		Thailand		Tarin Pairor, Napat Vatjaranurathorn, and Thanyanat Niratsungnoen
Under 16 Champion		Imaad Ali		Pakistan
Under 16 Runner Up		Napat Vatjaranurathorn		Thailand
Under 16 Third Place		Hasham Hadi Khan		Pakistan
Under 14 Champion		Jarrett Tan Yan Keat		Singapore
Under 14 Runner Up		Eirfan Razman		Malaysia
Under 14 Third Place		Ronnie Bennett		Australia
Under 12 Champion		Suyash Manchali		India
Under 12 Runner Up		Misbah Ur Rehman		Pakistan
Under 12 Third Place		Lord Garnett Talisic		Philippines
Under 10 Champion		Madhav Gopal Kamath		India
Under 10 Runner Up		Aehzam Ahmed		Pakistan
Under 10 Third Place		Bilal Asher		Pakistan
Under 8 Champion		Rohit Kanna		Malaysia
WESPA Award (Most WESPA games since last WYC)		Madhav Gopal Kamath		India
Best Player from a new country		Surya Chandra Regmi		Nepal
Best Novice (First time in WESPA Youth Cup)		Joshua Law Bing Han (4th)		Singapore
Best Female		Liao Yi (7th)		Singapore
Performance Prize		Suyash Manchali		India
Most Improved WYSC 2018 to WYC 2019		102nd to 37th
High Word 'SQUARING' 203		Manat Panmanee		Thailand
High Game (690)		Muhammad Nur Akbar Nedi Saputra		Indonesia
Encouragement Award (Youngest in top 25)		Monis Khan (12)		Pakistan
Amnuay Award (for mentoring young players)		Chock Heng Kong		Malaysia

The annual UK Open draws players from around the globe each year.
 

The global Scrabble championship, which began in 2008, is one of five major tournaments overseen by the Association of British Scrabble Players (ABSP).
 

Here are the UK Open Scrabble Champions for previous years:

The Alchemist Cup is an invitational, worldwide Scrabble tournament organized by Michael Tang. The international tournament involves ten 5-player teams in which every player competes against players from teams other than their own.
 

Originally called the Causeway Scrabble Challenge, the Alchemist Cup is hosted every even year during the first week of December. This ongoing schedule allows the event to alternate with the WESPA-approved World Scrabble Championship.
 

The following table details the winner, runner-up, and third-place finisher of the inaugural Alchemist Cup 2018.

The City of Sydney International Masters (CSIM) went international in 1999, the year Nigel Richards won the tournament. However, the Scrabble tournament didn’t qualify for international rating until 2012.
 

International Scrabble players are eligible to compete in CSIM regardless of WESPA ratings. Australian players, however, need to have a WESPA rating over 1000 at the time of entry.
 

Here are the titleholders from previous tournaments in the Land Down Under:

The Israeli Open Scrabble Tournament is in its 14th year.
 

The international Scrabble competition draws players from around the world including Austria, Ireland, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, India, Singapore, Nigeria, England, Australia, US, and Canada.
 

It also has the same level of prize money as the two Malta events, MISO and the World Senior Open.
 

Here are the winners of the annual international Scrabble tournament from previous years:

Capgemini International, previously known as iGate, in India, is described by WESPA as the “largest corporate-sponsored tournament in the world”.
 

In addition to Indian Scrabble players, competitors of all ages from Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia flock to the international event.

The Cape Town International (CTI) in South Africa is a relatively new addition to the global scene. Here are the winners of the first two international Scrabble competitions: