World Scrabble Champions: A Definitive Guide

International Scrabble Honor Board

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.

WESPAC Champions

The World English Language Scrabble Players' Association Championship (WESPAC) is a merit-based, invitation-only tournament organized by WESPA for the global Scrabble community. You could call it the World Cup of English Scrabble.

The crème de la crème global Scrabble rendezvous is organized by the Tournament and Ratings Committee Chair, Nick Ivanovski. Only players qualifying through WESPA or through the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) competition are permitted to compete.

The LCQ (a one-day, 8-game tournament) is for players who didn’t make the quota but still want to compete with the worlds' best Scrabblers. The top 20% of LCQ finalists and the winner of the 18 and under competition are eligible to play in the main WESPAC tournament.

The WESPA Championship is held every second year at a location selected by WESPA in coordination with a local organizing team. WESPAC is not officially affiliated with Mattel or the World Scrabble Championship.

Here are the recent international Scrabble winners and second-place finalists:

Brand's International Scrabble Championships

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:

World Scrabble Champions

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

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.

At the 2023 Niagara Falls International Open, 43 people participated in the 22 games played. Here are the winners of the 2023 Niagara Falls International Scrabble Tournament:

Malta International Scrabble Open (MISO)

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.

World Seniors Scrabble Championship

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:

WESPA Youth Cup

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:

2019 WESPA Youth Cup - Winner Details

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

UK Open

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

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.

City of Sydney International Masters

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:

Israeli Open Scrabble Tournament

The Israeli Open Scrabble Tournament is in its 13th 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 Scrabble Tournament

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.

Cape Town International

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: