Scrabble Australia
Australian Masters and State Team Challenge
Rules and Qualification Criteria

Special Rule:

In the Australian Masters round robin tournament
  1. In the event of a player being absent for one game a forfeit will apply.
  2. Where a player is absent for more than one game, that player cannot resume participation in the tournament and no standby player may be introduced into the tournament.
  3. Where a player is absent for more than one game, any games already played by the no-show/evictee will be voided for the calculation of tournament placings.
  4. Any games already played will be recognised for calculating ratings.

Qualification criteria

Australian Masters and State Team Challenge

Criteria for both events

  1. To qualify for a state team, or to represent an Australian state or territory, a player must be a financial member of ASPA for the entire qualifying period.
  2. The State of Representation is the State that the player was representing in the majority of games played during the qualifying period. Any anomalies concerning what amounts to a majority of games will be resolved by CASPA.
  3. A player must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Temporary visa holders are not eligible.
  4. The method of ranking candidates is by the three peak statistic (the Q statistic) described below.

Australian Masters - Qualification criteria

The State Representative: The player with the highest Q statistic from each state (territories are considered states according to the CASPA Constitution) will be selected for the Masters team if he or she is among the national top 40 active players (those players who have played at least one game during the qualification period) ranked by Q statistic. If the top eligible state player declines the invitation to compete, the place vacated will be offered to the next player from that state providing that player meets the above criteria.
Rest of the Masters players: After the state representatives have been selected, further players ranked by Q statistic irrespective of state will make up the total of twenty.

State Team Challenge - Qualification criteria

Each state team will comprise three eligible players who have not already been selected for the Masters event and are the next best three from their state, ranked by Q statistic.

If insufficient eligible players are available, the state will not be permitted to participate in the State Team Challenge for that year unless a maximum of one stand-in can be fielded before the tournament from any state (generally, but not necessarily, that state in which the tournament takes place). That stand-in must also meet the above criteria.

An eligible stand-in may also be fielded in the event of illness or other unforeseen circumstance during the tournament.

The three peaks Q statistic

The primary criterion for ranking candidates is the Q statistic calculated like this:

The secondary criterion is number of rated games within the qualification period. If two players have the same Q statistic, the one with the greater number of games in the qualification period is ranked higher.

Etiquette for acceptance

Once the selection process is finished, it is incumbent on team members to accept their places within a reasonable amount of time. Any issues that may prevent a member from playing in the event should be discussed with CASPA as soon as reasonably possible after they arise. Such discussion may include negotiating with the reserve team members as to their ability to replace the team member."