An announcement by Michael Tang, also known as Alchemist.
Dear Scrabblers around the World,
I am pleased to announce that Alchemist Cup 2024 will be held from December 4 - 8, 2024 in Jakarta,
Indonesia. 10 countries with 5 players each will compete 45 games over 5 days.
Here are the details of Alchemist Cup 2024.
Dictionary: CSW 21
Challenge: 5-point challenge per word
Rules: WESPA
Registration of intent: August 9, 2022 till December 31, 2022. Please email to alchemist9189@gmail.com with your name
and the eligible country you wish to represent.
Players eligible to qualify for multiple countries must choose one country for qualification purposes during
this same time period. By signing up, players understand that Alchemist Cup 2024 will be played using the CSW21 dictionary
A list of interested players will be published on January 1, 2023 to kick off the qualification process.
Qualification process:
Players will qualify during an 18-month period. The qualifying period spans January 1, 2023 to June 30,
2024. This includes events beginning before January 1, 2023 and concluding after this date. This
includes events beginning before June 30, 2024 and concluding after this date.
Alchemist will follow up after June 30, 2024 to confirm attendance of qualifying players. 10 countries
will be finalized by July 15, 2024 to give players ample time to book travel.
Alchemist may refuse future entry to players who drop out after July 15, 2024.
Players will qualify via peak National Ratings. Players qualify for their team via a peak rating
achieved during the qualifying period. Each country has 5 players.
Alchemist reserves the right to allot 1 spot to any country based on past Alchemist Cup performance.
The player who finishes 6th in qualification standings is considered an alternate, and will be contacted
by Alchemist after June 30, 2024 to confirm this role. From there, alternates would be considered as
7th, 8th, 9th, etc.
Ties in peak rating will be resolved, in the following order: highest current rating, head-to-head
match-up during the qualifying period, tiebreaker match.
Qualification will be determined via standing in an eligible country’s national organization(s) rating
system.
For countries with multiple organizations (e.g. CoCo, WGPO, NASPA in the United States and Canada), an
average of all eligible peak ratings will be used.
In order to promote equitable access for interested players to rated events, WESPA ratings will not be
considered for Alchemist Cup 2024 qualification.
Players must play at least 50 games after January 1, 2023 in order for peak rating to begin counting for
qualification standings.
For players trying to qualify for a country in which they do not currently reside, they will still be
required to play 50 rated games under that country’s rating system.
For players from countries with multiple national organizations:
Players must have at least 50 games with one eligible organization. They may play an additional 50 games
for each other eligible organization they’d like to use as part of an average qualifying rating.
Example: if a player plays 50 games with Organization A, 49 games with Organization B, and 50 games with
Organization C, only A and C will be averaged for the player’s qualifying rating)
Alchemist will run the qualification process, using data from relevant country rating databases
Players must be able to provide proof of connection to an eligible country and eligible Scrabble
organization.
Eligible Scrabble organizations are defined as WESPA member organizations, as well as any other
organizations hereby approved by Alchemist: USA = WGPO, CoCo (in addition to WESPA member
organization NASPA)
Players must reside in the country they’re representing, or hold citizenship / appropriate permanent
residency for that country as of June 30, 2024.
Players must be in good standing (not suspended or banned) with a majority of eligible organizations for
the country they represent. Alchemist reserves the right to verify standing with players and
organizations.
50 players who qualify will receive formal invitation to compete in Alchemist Cup 2024 for a prize money
to be announced on September 9, 2024.
For avoidance of doubts, there will be NO registration fees for Alchemist Cup 2024.
I look forward to seeing you all in Jakarta, Indonesia in December 2024!
Alchemist