The National Scrabble Championship has had a variety of formats over its years of existence. The current format is a two-day championship event for players who have qualified by playing in an NSC Qualifier event through the year, plus a plate event that is open to all-comers who did not qualify for the championship event. This event is currently organised by the ABSP.
The British Matchplay Scrabble Championships (BMSC) is the flagship open event of the ABSP. Consisting of 25 games played over the August Bank Holiday weekend, its current venue is Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes.
The ABSP Masters is an elite invitational event for the 16 best players in the UK. It is usually a 'round robin' event (i.e. everyone plays everyone else once), currently held in July, with the qualifying period lasting for a period of 12 months.
The UK Open was introduced in 2008 and is the longest event of the year, comprising a mammoth 48 games over 5 days in early January in Coventry, with a 30 game main event plus a secondary 18 game tournament (either an early bird or final fling depending on the calendar).
The four seasonal matchplay events complete the set of annual multi-day ABSP major events. The Spring Matchplay is usually held over the early May Bank Holiday weekend; the Easter Matchplay is held over the Easter weekend and comprises 19 rounds, as does the Festival of Scrabble (formerly known as Summer Matchplay), currently in Bournville, in June; and the Winter Matchplay is 17 rounds played in Milton Keynes in November.
The British Elimination Scrabble Tournament (BEST) is an annual knockout competition which lasts over nine months. Played as a series of face-to-face knockout matches at regional and then national level, the winner typically plays more than 70 games over nine months to lift the trophy.
Only one major, the UK Open, took place as scheduled during 2020 due to the pandemic, and none in 2021. However, the NSC and BMSC took place in June and August respectively as the tournament scene has been able to restart.
National Champion | BMSC | ABSP Masters | BEST | UK Open | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | Allan Simmons | ||||
1988 | Allan Simmons | ||||
1989 | Russell Byers | Gareth Williams | |||
1990 | Philip Nelkon | Phil Appleby | |||
1991 | Phil Appleby | Allan Simmons | |||
1992 | Philip Nelkon | Mark Nyman | Di Dennis | ||
1993 | Allan Saldanha | Andrew Fisher | Phil Appleby | ||
1994 | Mike Willis | Russell Byers | Allan Simmons | ||
1995 | Allan Saldanha | Mark Nyman | |||
1996 | Andrew Fisher | Mark Nyman | Gareth Williams | ||
1997 | Andrew Cook | Andrew Davis | Mark Nyman | ||
1998 | Mark Nyman | Helen Gipson | Andrew Fisher | ||
1999 | Evan Simpson | Andrew Perry | Andrew Davis | ||
2000 | Brett Smitheram | David Acton | Mark Nyman | ||
2001 | Mark Nyman | Andrew Cook | Andrew Davis | Andrew Fisher | |
2002 | Mark Nyman | Mark Nyman | Andrew Davis | Paul Allan | |
2003 | Harshan Lamabadusuriya | Brett Smitheram | Mark Nyman | Phil Appleby | |
2004 | Mark Nyman | Brett Smitheram | Mark Nyman | Adam Logan | |
2005 | Wale Fashina | Harshan Lamabadusuriya | Brett Smitheram | ||
2006 | Jake Jacobs | Brett Smitheram | David Webb | Phil Appleby | |
2007 | Paul Allan | Paul Allan | Allan Simmons | ||
2008 | Allan Simmons | Allan Simmons | Harshan Lamabadusuriya | Harshan Lamabadusuriya | Nigel Richards |
2009 | Craig Beevers | Mark Nyman | Jared Robinson | David Webb | Helen Gipson |
2010 | Mikki Nicholson | Brett Smitheram | Lewis Mackay | Mark Nyman | Nigel Richards |
2011 | Wayne Kelly | Lewis Mackay | Craig Beevers | Mikki Nicholson | Nigel Richards |
2012 | Paul Gallen | Kevin McMahon | Femi Awowade | Lewis Mackay | Nigel Richards |
2013 | Paul Allan | Paul Gallen | Paul Gallen | Paul Gallen | Nigel Richards |
2014 | Chris May | Paul Gallen | Paul Gallen | Chris May | Nigel Richards |
2015 | Craig Beevers | Mark Nyman | Lewis Mackay | Paul Allan | |
2016 | Phil Robertshaw | Allan Simmons | Allan Simmons | Allan Simmons | Nigel Richards |
2017 | Austin Shin | Dave Koenig | Paul Allan | Paul Gallen | Nigel Richards |
2018 | Ed Martin | Lewis Mackay | Gary Oliver | Paul Gallen | Nigel Richards |
2019 | Phil Robertshaw | David Eldar | Paul Gallen | Brett Smitheram | Nigel Richards |
2020 | - | - | - | - | Ed Martin |
2021 | - | - | - | - | - |
2022 | Brett Smitheram | Lewis Mackay | - | ||
2023 | Paul Allan | Tobias Outi | - | ||
2024 | Paul Gallen | Lewis Mackay | - |
Spring Matchplay | Easter Matchplay | Festival of Scrabble | Winter Matchplay | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Mark Nyman | |||
1989 | Barrie Knox | Darryl Francis | ||
1990 | Pete Finley | Mark Nyman | ||
1991 | Simon Gillam | Mark Nyman | Mark Nyman | |
1992 | Andrew Fisher | Gareth Williams | Mark Nyman | |
1993 | Mark Nyman | John Grayson | Andrew Fisher | Evan Simpson |
1994 | Helen Grayson | Mark Nyman | Clive Spate | Mark Nyman |
1995 | Mike Willis | Terry Kirk | Russell Byers | Andrew Cook |
1996 | Clive Spate | Andrew Fisher | Martin Fowkes | Joyce Cansfield |
1997 | Clive Spate | Terry Kirk | David Acton | Bob Violett |
1998 | Peter Preston | Phil Appleby | Karl Khoshnaw | Jackie McLeod |
1999 | Rob Dowse | Andrew Perry | Joyce Cansfield | Andrew Perry |
2000 | Mike Willis | Allan Simmons | Paul Allan | Andrew Cook |
2001 | Paul Allan | Gareth Williams | Paul Allan | Andrew Cook |
2002 | David Acton | Andrew Fisher | Robert Richland | Shanker Menon |
2003 | Allan Simmons | Femi Awowade | Martin Thompson | Pete Finley |
2004 | Adam Philpotts | Phil Appleby | Lewis Mackay | Pete Finley |
2005 | Adam Logan | Ed Martin | Stewart Holden | Austin Shin |
2006 | Wayne Kelly | Brett Smitheram | Paul Allan | Craig Beevers |
2007 | Ed Martin | Elie Dangoor | Helen Gipson | Femi Awowade |
2008 | Martin Harrison | Brett Smitheram | Mikki Nicholson | Austin Shin |
2009 | Austin Shin | Phil Robertshaw | Martin Harrison | Azu Ogbogu |
2010 | Martin Harrison | Wayne Kelly | Brian Sugar | |
2011 | Martin Harrison | Elie Dangoor | Azu Ogbogu | Adam Logan |
2012 | Wayne Kelly | Theresa Brousson | Azu Ogbogu | Craig Beevers |
2013 | Martin Harrison | Phil Robertshaw | Terry Kirk | Austin Shin |
2014 | Jackie McLeod | Phil Robertshaw | John Ashmore | |
2015 | Wayne Kelly | Wayne Kelly | David Eldar | Austin Shin |
2016 | Allan Simmons | Rafal Dominiczak | Lewis Mackay | |
2017 | Austin Shin | Harshan Lamabadusuriya | Wayne Kelly | Austin Shin |
2018 | Nick Deller | Lewis Mackay | John Ashmore | Phil Robertshaw |
2019 | Brett Smitheram1 | Lewis Mackay | Paul Gallen | Harshan Lamabadusuriya |
2020 | - | - | - | - |
2021 | - | - | - | - |
2022 | - | - | - | Rik Kennedy |
2023 | - | Elie Dangoor | - | Harshan Lamabadusuriya |
2024 | - | Phil Robertshaw | - |