Roswell Student to Compete in National SCRABBLE Championship Saturday

Contestants from 41 states and multiple countries will descend upon the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando this weekend to compete in the 2012 National SCRABBLE Championship - and a Roswell student will be among them.

Seventeen-year-old Joey Krafchick developed a taste for competition when he began playing competitive SCRABBLE in 2006. Since then he has played in 59 rated events, according to a recent release from the National SCRABBLE Association.

Krafchick started his competitive SCRABBLE career in the School SCRABBLE Program and placed second in the 2008 National School SCRABBLE Championship. He has since worked on the committee of the 2010 National School SCRABBLE Championship as a game recorder at Table One.

Krafchick will play in his sixth Nationals this year, with a rating of 1748.

Contestants in the Aug. 11 championship will compete in 31 rounds of SCRABBLE game play over five days. First prize is $10,000 courtesy of game manufacturer Hasbro, Inc. and “bragging rights” among the thousands of SCRABBLE tournament players throughout the United States and Canada.

“Approximately 40 million people play the SCRABBLE game on a leisurely basis, but SCRABBLE is a lifestyle and passion for our group,” said Chris Cree, a veteran top expert and co-president of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association (NASPA), in the release.

There are 200 official SCRABBLE tournaments every year that are overseen by NASPA. Players at the expert level memorize the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary and devote hours to studying obscure words.

“This year we have a past National School SCRABBLE Champion competing and several former School SCRABBLE Program participants are playing in the top division,” said John D. Williams Jr., Executive Director of the National SCRABBLE® Association, NASPA’s sister organization, which runs the School SCRABBLE® Program.

Over a million students in 20,000 schools have participated.

Nigel Richards, current National and World Champion, will be defending his title during this marathon SCRABBLE tournament. There is no elimination, and everyone plays all 31 games. Rounds begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. The final three rounds begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15 followed by the prize ceremony.

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