Lewis Mackay wins the 2026 British Matchplay Scrabble Championship

Lewis Mackay, from Cambridge, has won the British Matchplay Scrabble Championship at the Holiday Inn South Normanton, taking his fifth BMSC title — equalling Mark Nyman’s record — with a 17–6 (+1274) record after a 520–357 victory over Brian Po in the final round.

Sixty-four players contested 23 rounds across three days at South Normanton, with championship division A pairing the leading players against each other again as the event progressed. Lewis and Brian Po had already met twice during the tournament; their third encounter, in round 23, decided the outcome of the title race.

After round 22 the championship division stood Lewis Mackay (16–6, +1111), Brian Po (16–6, +1052), Harshan Lamabadusuriya (15½–6½, +903) and Piotr Andronowski (14–8, +550). Only Lewis and Brian could still win the title, and their third meeting of the tournament—scheduled for round 23 under the division A pairing rules—was a straight decider despite their identical win counts. Lewis won it 520–357 to finish 17–6 (+1274); Brian ended runner-up on 16–7 (+889). Harshan lost to Piotr (375–465) in the last round to finish third (15½–7½, +813), with Piotr fourth (15–8, +640) and Paul Allan taking the fifth place prize (15–8, +366).

The BMSC tournament page on the ABSP calendar links to the three days of stream coverage on the ABSP YouTube channel, so you can rewatch the action and relive how the championship unfolded.

In division B, Peter Thorpe clinched the title on spread after tying Amy Byrne on 16–7 wins. Peter finished +824 to Amy’s +674, sealing first place with a 420–412 win over her in the final round. Omokhowa Asekhame was third (15–8, +1125) ahead of Pauline Johnson (13–10, +132) and Ginny Dixon (13–10, +112).

Division C produced another spread decider at the top. Tess McCarthy and Lisa Atkins both finished on 17–6, but Tess’s +1180 spread held off Lisa’s +887 even though Lisa beat her 394–375 in the last round. Aileen Morrison was third (15–8, +492) with Sayaka Kamikariya fourth (15–8, +373) and Sydney Berger fifth (14–9, +580).

Final standings: Championship division | Division B | Division C