Bob Jackman has been prominent in organising, promoting and innovating in Scrabble for many years. He has also played in many tournaments in Australia and overseas. In this year;s Australia Day Honours, he was awarded the Order of Australia medal for service to competitive Scrabble.
Joanne Craig and Bob at the CSIM
The nomination was put forward by Joanne Craig with help from John Holgate and Howard Warner. Joanne Craig spoke at CSIM about how he deserved the award because of his many years as President of ASPA NSW and his work in establishing and supporting clubs. He set up a national OzScrabble mailing list, and had acted as rating officer for Australia and also internationally. He started events such as the City of Sydney International Masters and the Trans Tasman.
Bob has represented Australia in international events, including the World Scrabble Championship. He came runner up in the Pan Pacific Scrabble Championship in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
2025 CSIM
The City of Sydney Masters has been a major event for decades. This year it was hotly contested, with the top spot always in contention right to the end.
Josh Watt who has only been playing since 2023, won convincingly.
Josh's final game with Ryan Sutton clinched the title
Prizes were presented down to fifth place.
DRONGOS, HELIUMS, BARITES, CATELOGS, ALUNITES : Nick Ivanovski
Long winning streak 9
(6+3) Cameron Farlow at Logan Clovers and CITY OF SYDNEY MASTERS
See 2025 Records
Barry Harridge provided a webshow of full round by round results.
This tournament has been rated by WESPA using the new WESPA rating system. This system has higher ratings generally, and considers the volatilty of each player as measured by their rating deviation.
See WESPA rating of CSIM.
Happy New Words
Australian Scrabblers are now using an updated version of Collins Scrabble Words. You can check out our word advice here, including update kits, books, apps and printable lists.
The last tournament of 2024 (Decathon in Victoria) and the first tournament of 2025 (Janboree in NSW) cheerfully started using these new words. Look at these savvy plays.
AVI (slang) An avatar (profile picture) on a social media platform
BAW A ball usually found in a pair in a BAWBAG (Scots)
UWU The emoticon (uωu) for cuteness MPOX Monkey pox, a viral illnessGLAMAZON A tall glamorous womanVAQUITA A rather small porpoise
from Spanish for little cow
Events
Selective events
These events are invitational, based on rating.
2025
Join us in Adelaide for the Scrabble National Championships. You can now easily register and pay.
Please go here for all details.
Townsville
Townsville is proud to be hosting both the Australian Women's Scrabble Championship and the Queensland Scrabble Championship in 2025 and there is further fun on beautiful Magnetic Island in between.
Australian Women's Championship Townsville CIC Meeting Rooms, 280 Flinders St, Saturday 9th to Sunday 10th
Magnetic Island Tournaments Magnetic Island Bowls Club,
18 Marine Parade, Arcadia Bay, Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th
Magnetic Island pub trivia at Arcadia Village Hotel, Thursday 14th
All tournaments will use CSW24 and be WESPA rated.
Townsville experiences 24 sunny days and an average daily maximum temperature of 26° in August, making it an ideal time to visit.
There are direct flights to Townsville from Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, as well as overnight train trips from the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
The Townsville tournaments will be held in the CBD within walking distance from a range of accommodation and restaurant options.
There is much to see and do in Townsville and around. Make a holiday of it.
Julie Brice can give you further information and advice.
WYSC
The first World Youth Scrabble Championship was held in Australia in 1995, and our David Eldar won it. Since then the event has been held in many parts of the world.
Date and Location:
This year is the 20th WYSC and will be held in Malaysia (at the Sri Kuala Lumpur International School - Primary at Subang Jaya, Selangor). It is a three day event (Aug 30 to Sep 1) with 24 games, but there will also be a Plate section of 15 rounds. Prizes are awarded for overall placings and placings within age groups.
The Aussie team: Our team of six will be selected considering the ratings of the players over a 12 month period. See the selection process. These six will have free entry, but others may also enter. Parents are encouraged to consider travel plans already. We are now marking the intentions as YES, NO or MAYBE to give some certainty to all.
Coaching: Karen Richards has been appointed as Youth Coach for Australia for this event. She has had much experience in this and can provide advice both at an individual level and also in coaching sessions.
2025 WESPA Championship
See wespac.ghanascrabble.com
The 2025 WESPA Championship will be held at The Rock City Resort,in the Kwahu-Nkwatia mountains in Eastern Region of Ghana.
November 9 - WESPAC check in
November 11 - Last Chance Qualifier
November 12-15 - WESPA Championship 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 games
November 16 - Best of 7 Final and awards ceremony
Australia is entitled to send 14 players in addition to David Eldar who qualifies because he was World Champion. Selection is by ratings over a twelve month period ending May 31 2025. See full details
World Team Scrabble Championship
WTSC - NOTICE OF POSTPONEMENT
It is with profound regret that we announce that the World Team Scrabble Championship (WTSC) originally scheduled to be held in Accra, Ghana has been postponed until further notice. New dates and details of the championship will be communicated in due course.
We have had to take the difficult decision to postpone the championship based on the general feedback received from national associations and Scrabble players globally.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this announcement.
Kind regards Lukeman Owolabi For MGI.
