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. This was the second time a player representing Canada has won, the first being when 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 PositionNameCountryWin–lossSpreadPrize (USD)1Wapnick, JoelCanada18–6+106815,0002Nyman, MarkEngland17–7+8087,5003Boys, DavidCanada17–7+6933,0004Logan, AdamCanada16–8+8862,0005Fisher, AndrewEngland16–8+7971,5006Byers, RussellEngland16–8+6471,2507Tiekert, RonUnited States16–8+3661,0008Richards, NigelNew Zealand15–9+16167509Cook, AndrewEngland15–9+98340010Holgate, JohnAustralia15–9+78240011Cappelletto, BrianUnited States15–9+71130012Boyd, KendallNew Zealand15–9+60330013Fernando, Naween TharangaSri Lanka15–9+21720014Appleby, PhilEngland15–9+19120015Sherman, JoelWorld Champion15–9+7320016Chinnaiyah, SureshSri Lanka14–10+91020017Wiegand, DavidUnited States14–10+82018Klaphajone, JakkritThailand14–10+63519Quiballo, VirgilioPhilippines14–10+56620Luebkemann, JohnUnited States14–10+30921Chunkath, Mohan VergheseIndia14–10+29222Awowade, FemiEngland14–10+20323Odom, LisaUnited States14–10+15124Ndungu, Stanley NjorogeKenya14–10+10225Epstein, PaulUnited States14–10+8826Jackman, BobAustralia13½–10½+16627Webb, DavidEngland13–11+60228Edley, JoeUnited States13–11+44729Credo, RonaldPhilippines13–11+43930Gongolo, MichaelKenya13–11+25531Gruzd, StevenSouth Africa13–11+22232Rosenthal, JoanAustralia13–11+21433Warner, HowardNew Zealand13–11+19434Williams, GarethWales13–11+17835Hersom, RandyUnited States13–11+10636Thobani, ShafiqueKenya13–11+1437Ploysangngam, AmnuayThailand13–11-1638Cherry, JamesCanada13–11-2739Pra, MichaelOman13–11-36940Nemitrmansuk, PakornThailand13–11-38241Grant, JeffNew Zealand13–11-58842Chishty, IshtiaqSaudi Arabia12½–114½+39943Rio, Odette CarminaPhilippines12–12+56944Smitheram, BrettEngland12–12+55545Felt, RobertUnited States12–12+36046Geary, JimUnited States12–12+35847Filio, RolandPhilippines12–12+28548Schonbrun, LesterUnited States12–12+10049Gipson, HelenEngland12–12+3750Pui, Cheng WuiMalaysia12–12+651Jimoh, SaheedNigeria12–12-2252Bwire, MatayoKenya12–12-3153Hahn, AlbertCanada12–12-4854Bondin, OwenMalta12–12-29355Asirvatham, GaneshMalaysia12–12-29356Warwick, WilmaScotland11½–12½-51457Bhandarkar, AkshayBahrain11½–12½+15658Cleary, Paul StephenAustralia11½–12½+5959Sutthasin, TaewanThailand11½–12½-72860Sim, TonySingapore11–13+24761Early, DylanSouth Africa11–13+11562Gonzalez, Ricardo VGulf Champion11–13+11263Lipton, BobUnited States11–13-864Polatnick, SteveUnited States11–13-13065Tang, MichaelMalaysia11–13-17266Sinton, PeterNew Zealand11–13-19767Elbourne, PeterMalta11–13-31968Abraham, ArvindUnited Arab Emirates11–13-35969Khan, Rashid AteeqPakistan11–13-42770Berlin, BarbaraAustralia11–13-48771Gan, Cher SiongSingapore11–13-72672Hirai, KeiichiroJapan10½–13½+18873Hovelmeier, Trevor MarkSouth Africa10–14+19774McDonnell, BrendanIreland10–14+7575Webb, AliceEngland10–14-3376Lobo, SelwynUnited Arab Emirates10–14-8377Kong, Chock HengMalaysia10–14-21078Judd, RodneyPakistan10–14-36679Assesa, DixonKenya10–14-39880Penaflor, VivianBahrain10–14-47681Pray, Linda HazelOman10–14-59182Kuroda, KunihikoJapan10–14-61483Eburu, GoldNigeria10–14-74084Usakiewicz, WojciechPoland10–14-87685Costello, CatherineIreland9½–14½-23786Charles, LeslieTrinidad and Tobago9½–14½-60387Blom, RogerAustralia9–15+21588Metivier, EdwardTrinidad and Tobago9–15-16489Kane, AlistairAustralia9–15-35390Goh, EugeneSingapore9–15-49891Sandu, Dan LaurentiuRomania9–15-200892Nanavati, JimCanada8–16+693Fasuba, JohnsonSeychelles8–16-49194Wanniarachchi, LakshanSri Lanka8–16-51995Michel, AntoninFrance8–16-95196Silva, DhanpalaSeychelles8–16-118797Saliba, MarioMalta7–17-86898Caba, Catalin-EugenRomania3–21-2991
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