2007 National Championship

About the Event

The finals of the 2007 National Championship were held on Sunday, October 21st at The Cavendish Conference Centre, Duchess Mews, London W1G 9DT. Finalists Stewart Holden, 28 from Nottingham and Paul Allan, 37 from Glasgow played a best-of-five match to determine the new National Champion.

Congratulations to 2007 National Champion Paul Allan, who defeated Stewart Holden three games to one: 537-364, 491-419, 409-418 and 462-366.

Players competed in six regional events to qualify for a semi-final event, held in Leeds on 15–16 September. Holden and Allan finished at the top of a 60-player field that weekend, each winning ten games and losing two, with Holden finishing in first place with a spread of +1222 ahead of Allan on +582.

The public was invited to attend the finals. Doors opened at 10:00 A.M. (or earlier, if the weather is inclement), and entry was free. The UK’s only ever World Champion – Mark Nyman – was on hand to explain and comment on the moves as they occur and the audience was able to make their own comments and ask questions as the action unfolded.

Each of the (NSC) final games were posted live to this web site in interactive form, through the links listed below. To find out more about the event and about Scrabble in the U.K., please visit the ABSP web site.

About the Secondary Schools Championship

Also taking place at the same location this year were the finals of the first Secondary Schools Championship: the following top eight Schools Champions in the country battling for a £500 first prize and for money for their school.

Annie Hawes, Henrietta Barnett, London NW11
Austin Shin, Stantonbury Campus, Milton Keynes
Dimitri Olayzola, Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen
Ben Field, Bishop Stopford, Kettering
Tim Butcher, Wheldon School, Nottingham
Nicholas Mather De Ferrers School, Burton upon Trent
Harry Barnett, Gleed Boys School, Spalding
Ben Rigler, Idsall School, Shifnal, Shropshire

Here are the final standings:

Rank	Wins-Losses	Spread	Player
1	4.0-0.0	+991	Shin, Austin
2	3.0-1.0	+588	Hawes, Annie
3	2.0-2.0	+135	Field, Ben
4	2.0-2.0	-94	Butcher, Tim
5	2.0-2.0	-200	Rigler, Ben
6	2.0-2.0	-311	Olayzola, Dimitri
7	1.0-3.0	-634	Barnett, Harry
8	0.0-4.0	-475	Mather, Nicholas

Tournament Results

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Schedule

THEATRE		WHITTINGTON SUITE
10:30 A.M.	Game 1 – NSC Game 1 – Schools Tournament	10:00 A.M. onwards	Simultaneous Games – featuring one of the country’s top players, Terry Kirk Club and ABSP membership information
11:30 A.M.	Game 2 – NSC Game 2 – Schools Tournament
12:30 P.M.	Lunch Break
1:30 P.M.	Game 3 – NSC Game 3 – Schools Tournament
2:30 P.M.	Game 4* – NSC Game 4 – Schools Tournament
3:30 P.M.	Game 5* – NSC
4:30 P.M.	Prize presentation*

* NSC Games 4 and 5 will be played only if necessary: the final is the best of five games. The presentation will take place once both tournaments have been completed.

Staff

Stage Presentation	Paul Chadwick (MC), Mark Nyman (Commentator)
Large Board	Allie Nelkon, Alice King
Tournament Director	Wayne Kelly
Schools Tournament Director	Kat Wilkes
Game Annotators	Jo Kollar, Mauro Pratesi, Mike Whiteoak
Internet Relay	Wayne Kelly
Webmaster	John Chew
Simultaneous Games	Terry Kirk
Reception	Julie Nelkon
Tournament Organiser	Philip Nelkon
Press Officer (Mattel)	Charlotte Bird, Emma Holmes

Past Champions

Year	Champion	Year	Champion
1971	Stephen Haskell	1989	Russell Byers (2nd title)
1972	Olive Behan	1990	Philip Nelkon (3rd title)
1973	Anne Bradford	1991	Phil Appleby
1974	Richard Sharp	1992	Philip Nelkon (4th title)
1975	Olive Behan (2nd title)	1993	Allan Saldanha
1976	Alan Richter	1994	Mike Willis (2nd title)
1977	Mike Goldman	1995	(not contested)
1978	Philip Nelkon	1996	Andrew Fisher
1979	Christine Jones	1997	Andrew Cook
1980	Joyce Cansfield	1998	Mark Nyman
1981	Philip Nelkon (2nd title)	1999	Evan Simpson
1982	Russell Byers	2000	Brett Smitheram
1983	Colin Gumbrel	2001	Mark Nyman (2nd title)
1984	Mike Willis	2002	Mark Nyman (3rd title)
1985	Esther Byers	2003	Harshan Lamabadusuriya
1986	Viraf Mehta	2004	Mark Nyman (4th title)
1987	Nigel Ingham	2005	Wale Fashina
1988	Margaret Rogers	2006	Jake Jacobs

This coverage was produced live from the event site by Wayne Kelly and John Chew, webmaster of the (North American) National SCRABBLE® Association. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J.W. Spear & Sons Limited, Maidenhead SL6 4UB, England except in Canada and the United States, where it is a registered trademark of HASBRO. Used under license from Mattel Europa BV.