The Tel Aviv Scrabble® Club

We're pleased to announce that the Third Israeli Open Scrabble Tournament will take place October 8-10, 2010. Mark the dates in your diaries! Information regarding the venue and registered participants will follow, but you can already find details regarding the schedule and format. Please read carefully, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Evan. For a noticeboard flyer, click here.

The event will take place at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Haifa. The hotel has an outdoor pool, a state-of-the-art fitness centre, and many more facilities to make your stay as pleasurable as possible. The hotel is high on Mount Carmel, overlooking the bay, and in the city centre. 

Haifa, on the coast of Mediterranean, has average October temperatures in low-mid twenties (Celsius) and there is about an 8% chance of rain on any given day. Great autumn weather for Scrabble (or beaches, for that matter...).

Dates: 8-10.10.10

Timetable:

Divisions
There will be a single division in the event, all games will be internationally rated and played according to WESPA rules. The pairings system (see below) ensures that players will be playing opponents with a similar record in the event.

Ratings
The tournament qualifies for international ratings and for ABSP ratings. Players' international ratings will be updated accordingly. Needless to say, this tournament qualifies for Israeli ratings too.

Pairings
The first game will be pairing according to players' pre-tournament ratings. If players do not have an international rating, their Israeli, ABSP, Maltese or other available rating (in that order) will be used instead. Swiss pairings according to the standings will be used for games 2-19. Game 20 will be strict KOTH. There will be no repeats in games 1-10, or in games 11-19. The pairing and standings will all be done using internationally used software.

Prizes
The minimum prize fund will be NIS5000 (~1000 Euros). The winner will receive a cash prize, in addition to being the Third Israeli Open Champion. The runner-up will also receive a cash prize. In addition, there will be at least two ratings prizes, and other prizes for special achievements will also be awarded. Sponsorship and registration may increase the overall prize fund.

Lexicon
The CSW (a.k.a. SOWPODS, the international Scrabble dictionary) will be the official word source.

Challenges
A player may challenge any number of words played by his/her opponent. If all the words are acceptable, the opponent will get an additional 5 points added to his/her score. No turn loss for the challenging player. If one or more of the words are unacceptable, the move will be removed and the opponent will lose a turn. Players, supervised by the tournament director, will take their own challenges using Zyzzyva.

Registration fee
There is a non-refundable registration fee of NIS200 (~35 Euros). The registration fee can either be paid in cash, or by cheque. 
Registration is only finalised after paying the registration fee and/or booking a hotel room.

Accommodation
Person in double room (sharing): NIS928 (~160 Euros). Note, foreign players get a 16.5% reduction (VAT refund). 
Person in single room: NIS1590 (~280 Euros). Note, foreign players get a 16.5% reduction (VAT refund).  
Prices include:
* Two nights
* Half-board (a full Israeli breakfast + one meal). The hotel food is amazing (just ask anyone who was there last year...).
* Drinks (hot and cold) throughout the event in the playing room.
* Full use of the hotel facilities.
* Additional nights (before/after the event) are at the same rate (i.e. NIS795 for a single, NIS464 per person in a double room, half-board).
Prices do not include the NIS200 registration fee.
The above prices only apply when booking rooms via the organisers. We cannot guarantee the price when booking via the hotel.
Note: Foreign players do not pay sales tax (i.e. a 16.5% refund will be given).
Payment for Israeli residents: Credit card, equal instalments, the first on the day of registration, the last upon check-in. The sooner you register, the more hotel payments you can pay.
Payment for foreign players: Before event, two payments, 30% upon registration, the balance two weeks before the event. 
Cancellation 10-21 days before the event: NIS300 ; After this, cancellation is 50% of the hotel cost.

Note: The organisers reserve the right to refuse entries.

To register, contact the organisers
Evan Cohen - +972-77-8844-013 or evan@post.tau.ac.il
Naomi Landau - +972-3-5287084 or ninja@netvision.net.il

So who's coming to the event? So far, over 50 players from 12 countries (Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, The Gambia, United States) with international ratings ranging from 0 to over 2000+ have registered. The following players have registered for the event. Players in bold have finalised registration. Ranking is according to WESPA (as of 1.7.2010) ratings. WESPA ratings in italics are estimated ratings based on other ratings:

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