Scrabble Australia
The Alchemist Cup 2018
Contenders

The event

Michael Tang has created the Alchemist Cup as an elite team event organised in the same way as the Teams division of the Causeway Challenge of the past. Pictured below is the victorious Australian team from 2006 (Naween Fernando, Edward Okulicz, Andrew Fisher, David Eldar, Chris May).
Ten teams of 5 players will play 45 rounds from 5th to 9th December 2018 in Penang, Malaysia. The ten teams are Australia, New Zealand, England, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Rest of Asia, Rest of World.

Selection process

This is an invitational event where Australian players are selected by the Council of Australian Scrabble Players Association, subject to approval of criteria by Michael Tang.

Qualification criteria

The qualification criteria are:

1. A player must be a financial member of ASPA for the entire qualifying period.
2. A player must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Temporary visa holders are not eligible.
3. The method of ranking candidates is by the three peak statistic (the Q statistic) described below.

The three peaks Q statistic

The primary criterion for ranking candidates is the Q statistic calculated like this:

1. The qualification period is the nine months from Dec 1 2017 to Aug 31 2018 inclusive.
2. Subperiods are Dec 2017 to Feb 2018, Mar 2018 to May 2018 and June 2018 to Aug 2018.
3. A multiday tournament which spans two periods will be treated for peak and game count as occurring on the first day.
4. The qualifying statistic is Q = (P1 + P2 + 2 x P3)/4 , which is a weighted average of peak ratings in three subperiods.
5. If you play no games rated by ASPA in a period, your peak in that period is equal to the rating before that period minus 200.
6. You must have played at least 45 games rated by ASPA in the qualifying period before the last peak.
7. You must have played 60 games recognised by ASPA in the qualifying period, which includes games rated nationally by ASPA and up to 15 games played outside Australia and rated by WESPA.
8. You cannot be credited with a peak in a tournament where you are absent from a game for any reason except an allocated bye.

The secondary criterion is number of rated games within the qualification period. If two players have the same Q statistic, the one with the greater number of rated games in the qualification period is ranked higher.

The contenders

The table below shows the notional team as at 04.05.2018 plus 10 more who are almost in.

More details revealed as you move your mouse over the table.

Rank	THE TEAM	Q Stat 04.05.2018	Games	Peak (games) Dec-Feb	Peak (games) Mar-May	Peak (games) Jun-Aug
1	David Eldar(VIC)	2182.00	49	2182 (49)
2	Edward Okulicz(NSW)	2015.50	92	2036 (55)	1995 (37)
3	Naween Fernando(VIC)	2015.00	81	2019 (47)	2011 (34)
4	Chris May(NSW)	2000.50	76	2024 (36)	1977 (40)
5	Trevor Halsall(VIC)	1971.00	54	1950 (25)	1992 (29)
	ALMOST IN
6	Andrew Fisher(VIC)	1970.00	95	1985 (54)	1955 (41)
7	Peter Kougi(VIC)	1939.50	97	2005 (68)	1874 (29)
8	Esther Perrins(NSW)	1926.00	69	1914 (29)	1938 (40)
9	Cameron Farlow(QLD)	1917.50	84	1910 (36)	1925 (48)
10	Daniel Piechnick(SA)	1889.50	95	1861 (39)	1918 (56)
11	Michael Cameron(SA)	1860.00	15	1860 (15)
12	Anand Bharadwaj(VIC)	1824.50	41	1843 (17)	1806 (24)
13	Russell Honeybun(WA)	1822.50	62	1842 (31)	1803 (31)
14	Joanne Craig(NSW)	1800.00	110	1795 (57)	1805 (53)
15	Bob Jackman(NSW)	1797.00	118	1809 (65)	1785 (53)

Candidates who are unavailable:
Alastair Richards

Recently processed:
29.03.2018 Nats Warmup (ACT)
31.03.2018 2018 Oz CHAMP (ACT) New peak for Edward Okulicz, Daniel Piechnick, Esther Perrins, Russell Honeybun, Anand Bharadwaj, Peter Kougi
14.04.2018 Beecroft Marathon (NSW) New peak for Joanne Craig
14.04.2018 SA April (SA) New peak for Daniel Piechnick
14.04.2018 Saturday Session IV (VIC)
15.04.2018 Tangara (QLD)
21.04.2018 Civil War (SA) New peak for Daniel Piechnick
22.04.2018 Almost Free (ACT)
22.04.2018 YOOF APRIL (WA)
29.04.2018 Brunswick Valley (QLD)
29.04.2018 Nunawading (VIC)