2008 National Championship

[photo of auditorium]

About the Event

The finals of the 2008 National Championship will be held on Sunday, October 5th at The Cavendish Conference Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, London W1G 9DT.

Players competed in six regional events throughout the country to qualify for a semi-final event, which was held in Birmingham on 13–14 September. Allan Simmons, 51 from Coldingham, Berwickshire and Craig Beevers, 27 from Stockton-on-Tees emerged as the top two players at that event, both winning 11 out of 14 games. They go forward to play for the title of National Scrabble Champion 2008.

We would love you to attend the Final and view our Theatre presentation of the games. Doors open at 10:00 A.M. and entry is free. The players play in a separate room, with their moves being placed on a large board in the Theatre as they are played. The event will be emceed by the man who makes every word count — Paul Chadwick — and top player and former National Champion — Brett Smitheram — will explain and comment on the moves to the audience as they occur. Audience members are free to make their own comments and ask any questions they like, as the action unfolds. Refreshments are available for purchase throughout the event.

Congratulations to 2008 National Champion Allan Simmons, who defeated Craig Beevers three games to one: 433-389, 298-472, 449-333 and 439-409.

If you are unable to attend the event you may still view it live, online, each of the Final games will be posted to this web site in interactive form, move by move.

To find out more about competitive Scrabble in the U.K., please visit the ABSP web site.

If you have any further queries about the event please contact the Organiser, Philip Nelkon on 01628 500283, philip.nelkon@mattel.com. Press should contact the Press Officer on 01628 500008.

Tournament Results

Craig Beevers

Allan Simmons

Click to view... (links become active when each game begins)

Schedule

THEATRE		WHITTINGTON SUITE
10:30 A.M.	Game 1 – NSC	10:00 A.M. onwards	Club and ABSP membership information Scrabble equipment for anyone to use during the breaks All day refreshments
11:30 A.M.	Game 2 – NSC
12:30 P.M.	Lunch Break
1:30 P.M.	Game 3 – NSC
2:30 P.M.	Game 4* – NSC
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 the tournament has been completed.

Staff

Stage Presentation	Paul Chadwick (MC), Brett Smitheram (Commentator)
Large Board	Allie Nelkon, Becki Ritson
Tournament Director & Internet Relay	Stewart Holden
Game Annotators	Mauro Pratesi, Wayne Kelly, Mike Chappell
Webmaster	John Chew
Reception	Julie Nelkon
Tournament Organiser	Philip Nelkon
Press Officer (Mattel)	Charlotte Bird & Jacey Bunker

Past Champions

Year	Champion	Year	Champion
1971	Stephen Haskell	1990	Philip Nelkon (3rd title)
1972	Olive Behan	1991	Phil Appleby
1973	Anne Bradford	1992	Philip Nelkon (4th title)
1974	Richard Sharp	1993	Allan Saldanha
1975	Olive Behan (2nd title)	1994	Mike Willis (2nd title)
1976	Alan Richter	1995	(not contested)
1977	Mike Goldman	1996	Andrew Fisher
1978	Philip Nelkon	1997	Andrew Cook
1979	Christine Jones	1998	Mark Nyman
1980	Joyce Cansfield	1999	Evan Simpson
1981	Philip Nelkon (2nd title)	2000	Brett Smitheram
1982	Russell Byers	2001	Mark Nyman (2nd title)
1983	Colin Gumbrel	2002	Mark Nyman (3rd title)
1984	Mike Willis	2003	Harshan Lamabadusuriya
1985	Esther Byers	2004	Mark Nyman (4th title)
1986	Viraf Mehta	2005	Wale Fashina
1987	Nigel Ingham	2006	Jake Jacobs
1988	Margaret Rogers	2007	Paul Allan
1989	Russell Byers (2nd title)

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