Scrabble Australia

The WESPA Scrabble Championship 2019

Selective events 2019

WESPAC is a prestige invitational event in the spirit of the World Scrabble Championship. The first such event was held in Perth in 2015, and it is intended that it should take place under the supervision of WESPA every odd year. This time the location is Goa, India from 16 to 20 October, 2019.

Selecting Australia's team for 2019

A team of thirteen Australians will be selected by ASPA to play in the 2019 WESPAC. This is in addition to players selected by WESPA, which includes the WESPA Top 5 at some cutoff date. More details of other ways to qualify here, including the pathway via the Last Chance Qualifier. The event web site has much more information about Scrabble events and the attractions of Goa.

Qualifying period The qualifying period is the twelve month span from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019.
Eligibility: You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident on 30 June 2019, and be a financial member of ASPA on 30 June 2019.

Selection by major titles

A maximum of two eligible players are selected by tournament success, namely

(1) The winner of the 2018 Australian Masters. Andrew Fisher
(2) The highest placed eligible Australian in the 2019 Australian Championship. Cameron Farlow

Players who qualify this way must also play 90 games recognised by ASPA during the qualifying period.

If any of these berths is unfilled for any reason, the place is taken by another player selected via ratings.

Players who qualify via ratings

All remaining eligible places will be determined by ratings as follows
  1. The method of ranking candidates is by the three peak statistic (the Q statistic) described below.
  2. Players may appeal to CASPA for a special dispensation in exceptional circumstances.
  3. In the event of any unforeseen issue the decision of CASPA is final.

The three peaks Q statistic

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

  1. Subperiods are May to Aug 2018, Sep 2018 to Dec 2019 and Jan to Apr 2019.
  2. The Qstat: The qualifying statistic is Q = (P1 + P2 + 2 x P3)/4 , which is a weighted average of peak ratings in the three subperiods.
  3. Third peak: You cannot earn the peak in the third subperiod until you have played 60 games rated by ASPA in the qualification period.
  4. Penalty: If you do not earn a peak in a subperiod , your peak in that subperiod is equal to the last rating minus 200. There is no requirement about how often this may be applied.
  5. Games quota: You must play at least 90 games recognised by ASPA or WESPA in the qualification period.
  6. Multiday tournament which spans two subperiods will be treated for peak and game count as occurring on the first day.
  7. Missed games: If you miss a game in a tournament for any reason other than an assigned bye, you cannot count a peak attained in that tournament for any qualification purposes. Games played will count towards games quotas. Ratings will be calculated as usual, with byes and forfeits not rated.

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


Selection has now finished. Adam Kretschmer is asking contenders whether they intend to go.


Goa
goer?		 CONTENDERS
13 quota		 Games Q Stat
03.06.2019		 Peak (games)
May-Aug		 Peak (games)
Sep-Dec		 Peak (games)
Jan-Apr
NO Andrew Fisher (VIC) 2018 MASTERS WINNER 137+45✓ 2034.252001 (48)2030 (28)2053 (61)
NO David Eldar (VIC) 53+97✓ 2026.75**1982 (0)2175 (16)1975(37)
NO Chris May (NSW) 113+45✓ 2013.502008 (47)2048 (24)1999 (42)
1.YES Cameron Farlow (QLD) 2019 AUST CHAMP WINNER 137✓ 1968.001923 (32)1945 (57)2002 (48)
NO Naween Fernando (VIC) 118+69✓ 1963.501934 (37)2000 (27)1960 (54)
NO Edward Okulicz (VIC) 98+45✓ 1955.25*2010 (33)1793 (0)2009 (65)
2.YES Trevor Halsall (VIC) 100✓ 1952.501977 (30)1935 (18)1949 (52)
NO Peter Kougi (VIC) 109✓ 1944.251884 (7)1953 (45)1970 (57)
NO Esther Perrins (NSW) 111+97✓ 1892.001949 (18)1891 (42)1864 (51)
NO Michael Cameron (SA) 106✓ 1865.251864 (5)1873 (40)1862 (61)
NO Daniel Piechnick (SA) 167✓ 1861.001916 (37)1812 (53)1858 (77)
NO Joanne Craig (NSW) 202+228✓ 1840.751815 (57)1808 (50)1870 (95)
3.YES Jakob Teitelbaum (ACT) 90✓ 1834.751818 (4)1821 (39)1850 (47)
NO Anand Bharadwaj (VIC) 74+34✓ 1830.251830 (28)1871 (24)1810 (22)
5.YES Bob Jackman (NSW) 231+24✓ 1809.501772 (43)1814 (84)1826 (104)
6.YES Adam Kretschmer (SA) 221+24✓ 1805.751786 (47)1787 (63)1825 (111)
NO Rod Talbot (NSW) 252+24✓ 1751.501737 (80)1727 (95)1771 (77)
7.YES Wayne Jones (NSW) 171✓ 1739.001762 (39)1732 (62)1731 (70)
8.YES John Holgate (NSW) 183+119✓ 1737.751793 (62)1748 (44)1705 (77)
NO Ryan Sutton (NSW) 140+24✓ 1727.501672 (47)1670 (42)1784 (51)
9.YES Andrew Hamblin (QLD) 144✓ 1722.751705 (56)1724 (33)1731 (55)
10.YES Tony Hunt (NSW) 268+24✓ 1716.751707 (65)1724 (133)1718 (70)
NO Ron Baginski (QLD) 120+24✓ 1716.751683 (40)1740 (48)1722 (32)
11.YES Victor Tung (NSW) 158+24✓ 1711.501688 (29)1696 (45)1731 (84)
NO Nick Ivanovski (VIC) 92✓ 1684.751679 (25)1652 (22)1704 (45)
NO Trevor Tao (SA) 106✓ 1676.251650 (36)1663 (35)1696 (35)
12.YES Graeme Lock Lee (NSW) 185+24✓ 1667.001714 (59)1654 (50)1650 (76)
NO Carmel Dodd (SA) 166+52✓ 1651.751561 (34)1610 (54)1718 (78)
13.YES John Hamilton (ACT) 122✓ 1644.251568 (33)1675 (65)1667 (24)
ALMOST IN
14.YES Dianne Brumby (TAS) 106+24✓ 1622.501600 (50)1626 (18)1632 (38)
NO Geoff Wright (VIC) 182✓ 1604.251593 (58)1576 (60)1624 (64)
15.YES Noel Barrett (ACT) 192✓ 1602.501545 (46)1595 (48)1635 (98)
NO Jane Taylor (SA) 241✓ 1601.251569 (65)1604 (65)1616 (111)
NO John Spaan (ACT) 108✓ 1589.751639 (38)1612 (61)1554 (9)
16.YES Karen Richards (QLD) 198+118✓ 1587.251581 (54)1590 (84)1589 (60)
NO Tony Miller (SA) 123✓ 1583.501529 (27)1581 (25)1612 (71)
18. Jane Brown (QLD) 145✓ 1559.751546 (40)1569 (57)1562 (48)
19. Norma Fisher (VIC) 151✓ 1558.001499 (22)1523 (74)1605 (55)
20. Carol Johnsen (VIC) 136✓ 1556.501530 (35)1586 (55)1555 (46)

International games:
Andrew Fisher : 45 games (Alchemist Cup)
David Eldar : 97 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins,Alchemist Cup)
Chris May : 45 games (Alchemist Cup)
Naween Fernando : 69 games (Sri Lanka Open,Alchemist Cup)
Edward Okulicz : 45 games (Alchemist Cup)
Esther Perrins : 97 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins,Alchemist Cup)
Joanne Craig : 228 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins,Continental,WSC,WSC fling,Malaysian Open,World Seniors,Trans Tasman,Alchemist Cup)
Anand Bharadwaj : 34 games (Capgemini)
Bob Jackman : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Adam Kretschmer : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Rod Talbot : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
John Holgate : 119 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins,WSC,WSC fling,Trans Tasman)
Ryan Sutton : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
David Vanzyl : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Ron Baginski : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Tony Hunt : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Victor Tung : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Graeme Lock Lee : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Carmel Dodd : 52 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins)
Dianne Brumby : 24 games (Trans Tasman)
Karen Richards : 118 games (NASC Collins,Niagara Collins,WSC,WSC fling,Trans Tasman)

Too few games
Mythili Rudra (VIC) 69 games, (currently rated 1803)
Michael McKenna (ACT) 7 games, (currently rated 1850)
Graham Bell (WA) 59 games, (currently rated 1780)
Stephen Mooney Purse (TAS) 63 games, (currently rated 1644)
Simon Walton (SA) 20 games, (currently rated 1696)
Natasha Podesser (VIC) 72 games, (currently rated 1653)
Tim Mason (WA) 42 games, (currently rated 1643)
Barry Jordan (SA) 88 games, (currently rated 1593)
Helen Hynes (QLD) 28 games, (currently rated 1624)
Rocky Sharma (NSW) 39 games, (currently rated 1673)
Rael Hayman (QLD) 61 games, (currently rated 1586)
Diyath Visidagamage (VIC) 7 games, (currently rated 1616)

Missed a peak
David Eldar (VIC) (currently rated 2110) Peak 1 = 2182−200 Peak 3 = 2175−200
Edward Okulicz (VIC) (currently rated 1998) Peak 2 = 1993−200