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:
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Friday, 8.10.10 |
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12:00-14:00 14:30-14:45 |
Registration Opening words |
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14:45-17:45 |
Games 1-3 (3) |
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17:45-18:00 |
Break |
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18:00-20:00 |
Games 4-5 (2) |
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Saturday, 9.10.10 |
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9:30-11:30 11:30-11:45 |
Games 6-7 (2) Break |
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11:45-13:45 13:45-15:15 15:15-17:15 17:15-17:30 17:30-19:30 |
Games 8-9 (2) Games 10-11 (2) Break Games 12-13 (2) |
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Sunday, 10.10.10 |
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9:00-11:00 11:00-11:15 |
Games 14-15 (2) Break |
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11:15-13:15 13:15-14:45 14:45-17:45 |
Games 16-17 (2) Games 18-19-20 (3) |
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18:00 Mealtimes |
Closing ceremony – see you all next year! |
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: Name Surname Country WESPA Israeli ABSP Mikki Nicholson England 2019 189 Lukeman Owolabi Scotland 1997 185 Jared Robinson England 1956 186 Evan Cohen Israel 1918 1757 184 Anthony Ikolo Nigeria 1915 Theresa Brousson Malta 1913 1906 184 Ricky Zinger Scotland 1898 1774 165 Elie Dangoor England 1851 186 Jack Mpakaboari Nigeria 1837 Olobatoke Aka Nigeria 1792 171 Sam Kantimathi United States 1785 176 Gboye Balogun Ireland 1754 164 Sandie Simonis England 1732 164 Jojo Delia Malta 1729 164 Cecil Muscat Malta 1727 1534 162 Abraham Sosseh England 1687 159 Raz Na'ot Israel 1614 1454 155 Abba Hydara The Gambia 1604 1538 161 Nicholas Vella Laurenti Malta 1584 1454 149 Suleiman Gora Nigeria 1555 Olajide Akinyemi Nigeria 1531 Omri Rosenkrantz Israel 1528 1311 146 Naomi Landau Israel 1496 1413 144 Charles Micallef Malta 1468 1357 139 Ruth MacInerney England 1450 145 Jake Berliner England 1417 1359 136 Moshe Feingold Israel 1377 1371 137 Gila Blits Israel 1328 1338 120 Ya'ir Yehuda Israel 1232 1300 109 Cara Goldberg Israel 1220 1269 117 Hilda Ben Nun Israel 1202 1222 117 Tova Serkin Israel 1179 1176 115 Maureen Hoch Israel 1152 1284 111 Cody McCormick England 1130 113 Raquelle Azran Israel 1129 1128 113 Amos Fabian Israel 1085 1128 103 Nancy Alroy Israel 1046 1054 101 Juliet Collins Israel 1001 1178 090 Mona Nobil Israel 0967 1128 087 Avril Shaw Israel 0914 0943 087 Linda Marguy Israel 0909 0925 085 Masha Katz Israel 0860 0968 082 Norman Marcus Israel 0824 0935 078 Adriana Spira Israel 0796 0968 075 Charlotte Perlin Israel 0731 0694 070 Vanessa Rudolph Israel 0721 0721 Marion Loewenstein Israel 0682 0682 062 Gusta Gross Israel 0652 0672 058 Brigitte Brath Germany 0630 063 Kay Faust United States 0558 0593 050 Elisheva Auerbach Israel 0475 0523 050 Daniel Lipman Lowbeer Israel 0000 0000 000
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