Headstart Cup. Hong Kong Inter-Secondary School Scrabble. Championship 2017 R 1 K 5 S 1 H 4 V 4 T 1 Q 10 K 5 J 8 N 1 E 1

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1 Hong Kong Scrabble Players Association Headstart Cup Hong Kong Inter-Secondary School Scrabble Championship 2017 Y4 R 1 B3 I 1 N 1 T 1 H 4 K 5 S 1 A 1 E 1 T 1 Q 10 K 5 P3 U1 A1 V 4 P 3 J 8 A 1 E 1 N 1 O 1 E 1 E 1 L 1 F 4 A 1 Rules and Regulation Guidebook X 8 D 2 U 1 C 3 A 1 I 1 G 2 W 4 O 1 B 3 P 3 Y 4 Z 10 M 3

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3 Table of Content Introduction P.1-2 Rules & Regulations P.3 10 Word List P.11 19

4 Introduction Headstart Cup Hong Kong Inter-Secondary School Scrabble Championship 2017 Headstart Group is partnering with Hong Kong Scrabble Players Association (HKSPA) to organize the Headstart Cup Hong Kong Inter-Secondary School Scrabble Championship 2017, an open Scrabble Championship for all local secondary schools. Headstart Cup aims to provide a platform for secondary school Scrabble players to play competitively and to foster friendship through playing this meaningful and famous word game. This game can also enhance students English language skills and spelling ability. Headstart Cup is specially created to recognise students outstanding achievement and to celebrate Headstart Group s 10th anniversary. About Scrabble Scrabble is a word board game in which two players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board which is divided into a grid of squares in order to form words scoring as many points as possible. Competitive Scrabble follows global standard rules, the WESPA Rules Version 3, and a standard word list, Collins Scrabble Words Competitive Scrabble is a kind of Mind Sport. 1

5 Introduction About Headstart Group Limited Founded in 2006, Headstart Group Ltd. is Hong Kong s and Macau s pre-eminent English educational institution. The company is dynamic, driven and a market leader in the industry. It offers bespoke English curriculum development, in-class and after-school English programmes, UK study tours, teacher training and native-speaking English teacher (NET) recruitment services for its clients. The company serves more than 250 schools and universities, and is well-known for its superior quality of services all round. About Hong Kong Scrabble Players Association (HKSPA) Hong Kong Scrabble Players Association (HKSPA) is a member of the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA), recognised as the only Scrabble association representing Hong Kong at the international level. The Association was founded in 2014 as Hong Kong Student Scrabble Players Association (HKSSPA), and in 2015 merged with the main local group organising tournaments for the general community. It organises a mixture of school and open tournaments almost weekly throughout the year, and maintains a rating and ranking system for the players. In 2015, for the first time in Hong Kong Scrabble history, a representative team was sent to World Youth Scrabble Championship 2015 and WESPA Championship 2015, and obtained excellent results for first-time participants. During 2016 the HKSPA organised the first tournament in Hong Kong that qualified for world rankings as well as many local competitions, and started to attract overseas players to compete. In April 2017 HKSPA will co-organise the first-ever East Asian Scrabble Championship with Japan Scrabble Players Association (JASPA). The HKSPA is dedicated to developing the Scrabble scene in Hong Kong, both in the school environment and in the general community. 2

6 Rules & Regulations Summary of WESPA Rules Version 3 Note: This summary is not itself a set of rules The full rules can be found at Before starting Absent from the table Starting timer The bag Counting tiles Order of play 3 Records of previous games must not be visible. The non-starting player may choose the position of the timer. Both players must check there are 100 tiles. If you are absent, the Tournament Director (TD) may start your timer. If you arrive with less than 15 minutes remaining, you may choose to play, or forfeit meaning your opponent wins with 100 points spread. If you fail to arrive before your assigned game time expire, you MUST forfeit the game. Start your opponent s timer when they draw the first tile from the bag. When drawing tiles, the bag must be at eye level. Your opponent must always be able to see the bag. Look away. Show an open hand before entering the bag. You may put your hand into the bag to count tiles, unless your opponent is having their move and needs the bag. Announce your intention first. Keep the bag at eye level, and look away. Show an open hand both before and after placing your hand in the bag. If you want to count tiles, and your opponent is taking too long selecting new tiles, you may stop the timer. To complete a turn, a player must, in this order: (a) Place the tiles on the board and declare blanks on results slip (b) Announce the score for the turn (c) Press the timer (d) Record the score for the turn and the cumulative score in the normal space on their score sheet (e) Draw replacement tiles (f) Tile tract (if desired) When the bag is empty it is not necessary to record move scores or cumulative scores, once the bag is empty (until game finishes). Tile-tracking out of order. If your opponent tile-tracks before drawing replacement tiles, you may ask the TD to allocate you additional time.

7 Rules & Regulations End of turn Accepting a turn Drawing replacement tiles Flashdrawing Hold You may change a move, as long as the time has not been pressed. After you press the timer, you cannot change the move including the number of tiles to be exchanged, or the designation of blanks. Your turn finishes when you press the timer. If you forget to press the timer, and place your hand in the bag to get new tiles, your move is also over. The opponent accepts the turn if they neither call hold, nor issue a challenge, before the player removes a replacement tiles from the bag. Writing by the opponent does not affect acceptance of a turn. If the opponent has neither called hold nor issued a challenge, the player may draw replacement tiles. The opponent s right to call hold, or issue a challenge, survives only until the player has removed the first replacement tile from the bag. Tiles may not be drawn until the players recorded the scores. It is UNETHICAL! (This means the player fails to record score plus cumulative total, before drawing a replacement tiles, and the opponent has thus not had the chance to say hold or challenge.) The opponent should call the TD if they consider the player has drawn replacement tiles too quickly for the opponent reasonably to assess whether to call hold or issue a challenge. The TD may then still allow a challenge even after a replacement tile is drawn. Once a player has pressed the timer, the opponent must either accept or challenge the turn, or say hold (leaving the timer running). If you think you may want to challenge your opponent s play, say hold, to stop them from drawing tiles. If you then decide to challenge, you now stop the timer. If your opponent call hold for over 30 seconds, you may draw and view replacement tiles but these remain face down on the table until you have accepted the move, or a challenge has been resolved. If you decide not to challenge, say accept or okay. 4

8 Rules & Regulations Challenge Wait until opponent presses the timer before challenging. Once you stop your opponent s timer, you cannot withdraw a challenge. If your opponent starts to take new tiles, you cannot withdraw a challenge. If your opponent starts to take new tiles without pressing the timer, you may then challenge, if you want. You should clearly say the word Challenge. Stop the timer, and say which words are being challenged. Hide tiles on racks. Both players walk to the challenge station. The challenger types in all words to be challenged. The player checks these words are correctly typed, then hits the TAB key (if using computer to challenge). After a challenge, the timer may not be restarted until both players are seated, and tiles have been returned to racks. If challenge was unsuccessful, re-announce move score before pressing timer. Changing Before exchanging tiles, check there are at least seven tiles in the bag. Announce Change, plus the number of tiles to be changed. Place these tiles on the table, then start your opponent s timer. Then return discarded tiles to bag. Note: Changing is only allot when there are 7 or more tiles in the bag Blanks Overdrawn tiles (x+2 rule) State which letter the blank represents, and record it on the result slip. Do not pronounce the whole word. If your opponent fails to record the blank, switch the timer back to them, until they do so. Declare the overdraw, and neutralize the timer. If no new tiles has touched your rack, place the new tiles face down on the table, and your opponent selects excess tiles plus two (up to the maximum number drawn), turns them face up and chooses the excess tile(s) to return to the bag. If any new tile has touched your rack, all tiles on the rack plus all new tiles are placed face down on the table. Your opponent selects excess tiles plus two, turns them face up and chooses excess tiles to return to the bag. 5

9 Rules & Regulations Timers In your turn only Ending the game Six zeros Tiles Remaining The timer may only be stopped during the game, when: (a) A player says Challenge (b) Either player wishes to resolve a score discrepancy (c) Player wants to count tiles, but opponent is slow in drawing tiles (d) Enforcing the overdraw rule (e) Calling the Tournament Director to resolve a problem These actions may only be done during YOUR turn: 1. Rotating the board (if turning board is used in your game) 2. Adjusting tiles on the board 3. Verifying the score When you play your final move, pause the timer, and if: i) Your opponent accepts the move, revealing his or her unplayed tiles and the game ends. ii) Your opponent does not accept the move, where his/her timer will be resuming for: a. calling hold, b. challenge the turn. The game is also ended when there are six successive scores of zero resulting from passes, exchanges, or challenges. When one player has played out, his or her score is increased by twice the value of the opponent s unplayed tiles, and the opponent s score is unchanged. If neither player is able to play out, each player s final score is reduced by the total value of the tiles on his or her rack. Overtime You have gone overtime if you use up your 25-minute game time. Subtract 10 points for each minute, or part thereof, by which the limit was exceeded. If you run 10 minutes overtime, your game is forfeited. Call the Tournament Director. 6

10 Rules & Regulations Scores Both players must record the score for each turn and the cumulative (total) score (except the bag is empty) Check the cumulative scores every three or four moves (not every move as this disrupts opponent s play) Scoring errors may be corrected at any time prior to signing the final result slip, if both players agree. Check the final scores before signing the result slip. After signing, the only change which can be made, with permission of the Tournament Director, is correcting reversed score. Recounts Leaving the playing area (rescoring each individual move) If the final margin is 20 points or less, either player may request a recount at the end of the game, before the result slip is signed. The entire game must be recounted. Timers remain off. Players must obtain the Tournament Director s permission to leave the playing area during a game. If an emergency, players may leave the playing area without obtaining permission. The opponent must alert the Tournament Director immediately if this occurs. 7

11 Rules & Regulations Basic Flow of A Round 1. Read the pairings of the next round, and sit down at the assigned table. 2. Player A draw 7 tiles from the bag to start the game. The timer of player A will start once he/ she has removed a tile from a bag. 3. Player A s turn I. He/ she can choose to place words / exchange / pass II. Pass the timer III. Write down the details and the scores on the scoresheet IV. Draw the replacement tiles 4. Player B s turn 5. After the game, please fill in and sign the result slip. You must write down your player number (please refer to Read the Pairings for details) and the scores and spread clearly. 6. After signing, both players must ensure that the tiles on the board in preferably four 5x5, in order to check that there are no missing tiles. 7. The winner needs to submit the result slip to the Score Counter (in front of the stage). 8. Both player cannot leave the playing area after the game. They need to wait until the break. Read the Pairings All players are required to follow the pairings of each round and fill in the result slip with information display on the pairing list. The following is an example of pairing list: Each row representing one pair of players, with their assigned Board number on the left. For both player and opponent side, from left to right the following information are displayed: I. Player/opponent s display name II. Corresponding group, player number and schools name in abbreviation e.g. YOUTH46/MS is group: YOUTH, player number: 46, school abbreviation: MS III. The order of play for the corresponding pair. For example, Jillian Bau Yin Lam will play against Lau Wai Keung in Board 25, Jillian starts the game first. 8

12 Rules & Regulations Players Pairing Mechanism 1. The Championship will adopt Australian Swiss System. 2. Round 1, the players in the same division will be paired up random by the computer program. Players from the same school cannot play each other. 3. Round 2-4, the players in the same division will be paired up according to the cumulative win and spread before that round (i.e. 1st vs 2nd, 3rd vs 4th, and so on ). In round 2-3, small adjustment of the pairings will be made as the players from the same school cannot play with each other. In round 4, no adjustment will be made. 4. In round 1-3, players will play 3 different opponents. In round 4, player may be face the same opponent of the previous 3 rounds. Demonstration of Australian Swiss System Pairings of Round3 - Results after Round 2 For Round 3, Chan Hok Hei (ABC School) will play against Wong Wai Ho (DEF School). Wong Siu Ki (ABC School) will play against Cheung Siu Kwan (XYZ School). Lee Kwan Yee (ABC School) will play against Ho Ka Wai (XYZ School) Originally the 1st ranked player should play against the 2nd rank player. However, both the 1st and the 2nd ranked players are from the same school. Therefore, the 1st ranked player will play against the 3rd ranked player due to the adjustment. 9

13 Rules & Regulations School Prize Designation Final Ranking For the final ranking, only the top 3 players from the school will be counted. ABCD School EFGH School XYST School ABCD School is the Champion, EFGH School is the 1st Runner-up, XYST School is the 2nd Runnerup. 10

14 Word List Two-letter Word List 11

15 Word List Three-letter Word List 12

16 Word List Three-letter Word List 13

17 Word List Three-letter Word List 14

18 Word List Vowel Heavy Words Words with only one or no consonants 15

19 Word List Consonant Dumps Words with all consonants 16

20 Word List Words with high-valued letter J 17

21 Word List Words with high-valued letter Q Words with high-valued letter X 18

22 Word List Words with high-valued letter Z 19

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24 Headstart Group Limited: Address: 2508, Nanyang Plaza, 57 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. HK Tel: (852) Macau Tel: (853) HK Fax: (852) Website: Headstart Group