The World Scrabble Championship is the sport's premier English-language event, first held in London in 1991 with 48 players. It ran on a biennial cycle in odd-numbered years from 1991 to 2013, then became an annual event, and is organized today under the World English-language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA).
Facts
Founding Year Founding DateThe inaugural World Scrabble Championship ran 27 to 30 September 1991 in London; Peter Morris, playing for the United States, won the first title. FrequencyBiennial (odd years) from 1991 to 2013, annual from 2013 onward. 1 Host HistoryLondon hosted the inaugural 1991 championship and hosted again in 1995 and 2005. Other hosts have included New York (1993), Washington DC (1997), Melbourne (1999), Las Vegas (2001, 2023), Kuala Lumpur (2003), Mumbai (2007), Johor Bahru (2009), Warsaw (2011), Perth (2015), Lille (2016) and Torquay, England (2018 and 2019). 3 Frequency
Frequency (category) Frequency (category)Biennial (Every Two Years) 1 Connections
Competitors Include
Source Wikipedia, Adam Logan
Source Brett Smitheram (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia, Brian Cappelletto
Source Craig Beevers (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia, David Boys
Source Wikipedia, David Eldar
Source Wikipedia, Ganesh Asirvatham
Source Wikipedia, Harshan Lamabadusuriya
Source Joe Edley (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia, Joel Sherman
Source Wikipedia, Joel Wapnick
Source Wikipedia, Mark Nyman
Five-time English-language champion (2007, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2019).
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source Wikipedia, Pakorn Nemitrmansuk
Source Wikipedia, Panupol Sujjayakorn
Source Wikipedia, Peter Morris
Source Wikipedia, Wellington Jighere
Features
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.entity record, SubLabel (scope)
SubLabel: Mind Sport World Championships
- Features: Scrabble
- Competitors Include: Nigel Richards
View the Source 2. Wikipedia, World Scrabble Championship 1991
3. Wikipedia, World Scrabble Championship
Wikipedia, Wellington Jighere
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Wellington Jighere, Career sectionQuote, Competitors Include: Wellington Jighere, Career section
He won the World Scrabble Championship 2015, the first win for an African nation.
Wikipedia, Joel Sherman
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Joel Sherman, LeadQuote, Competitors Include: Joel Sherman, Lead
1997 World Scrabble Championship
Wikipedia, Pakorn Nemitrmansuk
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Pakorn Nemitrmansuk, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Pakorn Nemitrmansuk, Article text
An architect and resident of Bangkok, Nemitrmansuk has competed at World Scrabble Championship six times between 1999 and 2011, and was the runner-up in 2003 and 2005.
Wikipedia, Brian Cappelletto
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Brian Cappelletto, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Brian Cappelletto, Article text
He was the runner-up at the inaugural World Scrabble Championship in 1991 and won the event in 2001.
Wikipedia, David Boys
WikipediaCompetitors Include: David Boys, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: David Boys, Article text
He won the World Scrabble Championship (WSC) in London, UK, in 1995, and the Canadian Scrabble Championship in 2003.
Wikipedia, Joel Wapnick
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Joel Wapnick, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Joel Wapnick, Article text
Joel Wapnick (born 1946) is a Scrabble player from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, best known for winning the 1999 World Scrabble Championship (WSC).
Wikipedia, Panupol Sujjayakorn
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Panupol Sujjayakorn, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Panupol Sujjayakorn, Article text
He won the Thailand Matchplay Championship 2002, World Scrabble Championship 2003, Thailand King's Cup 2005 and was runner-up in the American National Scrabble Championship 2005 to Dave Wiegand.
Wikipedia, Mark Nyman
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Mark Nyman, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Mark Nyman, Article text
He is most widely known as the first (and, until Craig Beevers' victory in 2014, only) British player to win the World Scrabble Championship, which he accomplished in 1993.
Wikipedia, Ganesh Asirvatham
Wikimedia FoundationCompetitors Include: Ganesh Asirvatham, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Ganesh Asirvatham, Article text
He was the World Scrabble Championship 2007 runner-up.
Brett Smitheram (Wikipedia)
Competitors Include: Brett Smitheram, Article textQuote, Competitors Include: Brett Smitheram, Article text
He won the 2016 World Scrabble Championship and has been ranked in the World top 5, and as a UK Scrabble Grand Master for nearly 20 years.
Wikipedia, Peter Morris
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Peter Morris, Lead or career sectionQuote, Competitors Include: Peter Morris, Lead or career section
He won the National Scrabble Championship in 1989, and was the first winner of the World Scrabble Championship, held in London, England in 1991.
Wikipedia, David Eldar
WikipediaCompetitors Include: David Eldar, Lead or career sectionQuote, Competitors Include: David Eldar, Lead or career section
In 2023, Eldar became the then second player to win multiple World Scrabble Championships, besides Nigel Richards, who has six wins.
Joe Edley (Wikipedia)
Competitors Include: Joe Edley, Lead or career sectionQuote, Competitors Include: Joe Edley, Lead or career section
Edley has also never finished higher than third in a World Scrabble Championship, and posted 13-11 and 14-10 records in 1999 and 2001, his most recent World Scrabble Championships.
Wikipedia, Harshan Lamabadusuriya
Competitors Include: Harshan Lamabadusuriya, Lead or career sectionQuote, Competitors Include: Harshan Lamabadusuriya, Lead or career section
Harshan regularly participated in various international Scrabble competitions representing the United Kingdom including the World Scrabble Championship in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Wikipedia, Adam Logan
WikipediaCompetitors Include: Adam Logan, Lead paragraph (competition)Quote, Competitors Include: Adam Logan, Lead paragraph (competition)
In Scrabble, he has won the World Scrabble Championship in 2005 and 2025.
Craig Beevers (Wikipedia)
Competitors Include: Craig Beevers, Article text (competition)Quote, Competitors Include: Craig Beevers, Article text (competition)
Beevers won the UK National Championship, and hit a peak rating of 2161 (World No. 7), but failed to defend his title at the 2015 World Scrabble Championship, at which he finished 9th.
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