World Scrabble Championship 1999
The World Scrabble Championship 1999 was the fifth World Scrabble Championship and was held at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne, Australia.
The winner was Joel Wapnick of Canada.[ 1] David Boys won in 1995 . The 1991 champion, Peter Morris , was also a Canadian but represented the United States.
Eight games were played on each of the first three days with the top two players advancing to a best-of-five finals.
In the first game, Wapnick opened with the bingo CHAPLET and took a 249-60 lead three turns later with the double -double FILTHIER then cruised to a 624-307 victory. Nyman took the second game and Wapnick took the third then got off to an early lead in the fourth before losing a turn when he tried the phony FUROUR. The game remained tight, with both players getting down two bingos, until Wapnick drew the X and DEOXY for 50 to take a one -point lead and take the last tile out of the bag. With Wapnick having multiple places to go out, Nyman was unable to catch him and lost by a single point. Joel Wapnick could now add a world title to his US national title and Canadian title , one of only two players to have won the big three.
Complete Results
Position
Name
Country
Win–loss
Spread
Prize (USD )[ 1]
1
Wapnick, Joel
Canada
18-6
+1068
15,000
2
Nyman, Mark
England
17-7
+808
7,500
3
Boys, David
Canada
17-7
+693
3,000
4
Logan, Adam
Canada
16-8
+886
2,000
5
Fisher, Andrew
England
16-8
+797
1,500
6
Byers, Russell
England
16-8
+647
1,250
7
Tiekert, Ron
United States
16-8
+366
1,000
8
Richards, Nigel
New Zealand
15-9
+1616
750
9
Cook, Andrew
England
15-9
+983
400
10
Holgate, John
Australia
15-9
+782
400
11
Cappelletto, Brian
United States
15-9
+711
300
12
Boyd, Kendall
New Zealand
15-9
+603
300
13
Fernando, Naween Tharanga
Sri Lanka
15-9
+217
200
14
Appleby, Phil
England
15-9
+191
200
15
Sherman, Joel
World Champion
15-9
+73
200
16
Chinnaiyah, Suresh
Sri Lanka
14-10
+910
200
17
Wiegand, David
United States
14-10
+820
18
Klaphajone, Jakkrit
Thailand
14-10
+635
19
Quiballo, Virgilio
Philippines
14-10
+566
20
Luebkemann, John
United States
14-10
+309
21
Chunkath, Mohan Verghese
India
14-10
+292
22
Awowade, Femi
England
14-10
+203
23
Odom, Lisa
United States
14-10
+151
24
Ndungu, Stanley Njoroge
Kenya
14-10
+102
25
Epstein, Paul
United States
14-10
+88
26
Jackman, Bob
Australia
13½-10½
+166
27
Webb, David
England
13-11
+602
28
Edley, Joe
United States
13-11
+447
29
Credo, Ronald
Philippines
13-11
+439
30
Gongolo, Michael
Kenya
13-11
+255
31
Gruzd, Steven
South Africa
13-11
+222
32
Rosenthal, Joan
Australia
13-11
+214
33
Warner, Howard
New Zealand
13-11
+194
34
Williams, Gareth
Wales
13-11
+178
35
Hersom, Randy
United States
13-11
+106
36
Thobani, Shafique
Kenya
13-11
+14
37
Ploysangngam, Amnuay
Thailand
13-11
-16
38
Cherry, James
Canada
13-11
-27
39
Pra, Michael
Oman
13-11
-369
40
Nemitrmansuk, Pakorn
Thailand
13-11
-382
41
Grant, Jeff
New Zealand
13-11
-588
42
Chishty, Ishtiaq
Saudi Arabia
12½-114½
+399
43
Rio, Odette Carmina
Philippines
12-12
+569
44
Smitheram, Brett
England
12-12
+555
45
Felt, Robert
United States
12-12
+360
46
Geary, Jim
United States
12-12
+358
47
Filio, Roland
Philippines
12-12
+285
48
Schonbrun, Lester
United States
12-12
+100
49
Gipson, Helen
England
12-12
+37
50
Pui, Cheng Wui
Malaysia
12-12
+6
51
Jimoh, Saheed
Nigeria
12-12
-22
52
Bwire, Matayo
Kenya
12-12
-31
53
Hahn, Albert
Canada
12-12
-48
54
Bondin, Owen
Malta
12-12
-293
55
Asirvatham, Ganesh
Malaysia
12-12
-293
56
Warwick, Wilma
Scotland
11½-12½
-514
57
Bhandarkar, Akshay
Bahrain
11½-12½
+156
58
Cleary, Paul Stephen
Australia
11½-12½
+59
59
Sutthasin, Taewan
Thailand
11½-12½
-728
60
Sim, Tony
Singapore
11-13
+247
61
Early, Dylan
South Africa
11-13
+115
62
Gonzalez, Ricardo V
Gulf Champion
11-13
+112
63
Lipton, Bob
United States
11-13
-8
64
Polatnick, Steve
United States
11-13
-130
65
Tang, Michael
Malaysia
11-13
-172
66
Sinton, Peter
New Zealand
11-13
-197
67
Elbourne, Peter
Malta
11-13
-319
68
Abraham, Arvind
United Arab Emirates
11-13
-359
69
Khan, Rashid Ateeq
Pakistan
11-13
-427
70
Berlin, Barbara
Australia
11-13
-487
71
Gan, Cher Siong
Singapore
11-13
-726
72
Hirai, Keiichiro
Japan
10½-13½
+188
73
Hovelmeier, Trevor Mark
South Africa
10-14
+197
74
McDonnell, Brendan
Ireland
10-14
+75
75
Webb, Alice
England
10-14
-33
76
Lobo, Selwyn
United Arab Emirates
10-14
-83
77
Kong, Chock Heng
Malaysia
10-14
-210
78
Judd, Rodney
Pakistan
10-14
-366
79
Assesa, Dixon
Kenya
10-14
-398
80
Penaflor, Vivian
Bahrain
10-14
-476
81
Pray, Linda Hazel
Oman
10-14
-591
82
Kuroda, Kunihiko
Japan
10-14
-614
83
Eburu, Gold
Nigeria
10-14
-740
84
Usakiewicz, Wojciech
Poland
10-14
-876
85
Costello, Catherine
Ireland
9½-14½
-237
86
Charles, Leslie
Trinidad and Tobago
9½-14½
-603
87
Blom, Roger
Australia
9-15
+215
88
Metivier, Edward
Trinidad and Tobago
9-15
-164
89
Kane, Alistair
Australia
9-15
-353
90
Goh, Eugene
Singapore
9-15
-498
91
Sandu, Dan Laurentiu
Romania
9-15
-2008
92
Nanavati, Jim
Canada
8-16
+6
93
Fasuba, Johnson
Seychelles
8-16
-491
94
Wanniarachchi, Lakshan
Sri Lanka
8-16
-519
95
Michel, Antonin
France
8-16
-951
96
Silva, Dhanpala
Seychelles
8-16
-1187
97
Saliba, Mario
Malta
7-17
-868
98
Caba, Catalin-Eugen
Romania
3-21
-2991
Finals Game 1: Wapnick 624 – Nyman 307
Game 2: Nyman 444 – Wapnick 330
Game 3: Wapnick 462 – Nyman 339
Game 4: Wapnick 403 – Nyman 402
References