- French World Scrabble Championships
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The French World Scrabble Championships (French: Championnats du monde de Scrabble francophone) is an annual Scrabble tournament that takes place in a different French-speaking country every year. Created in 1972 by Hippolyte Wouters, it was the first of the three World Scrabble Championships to be created, with the English version being created in 1991 and the Spanish version being created in 1997.
Unlike the English and Spanish versions, the French World Championships are made up of various tournaments, somewhat like the World Series of Poker. The "Main Event" is the Elite tournament which has existed since 1972, and was first won by the tournament's creator Hippolyte Wouters.
Contents
List of tournaments
World Championships
See also: Duplicate Scrabble and Francophone Scrabble- Elite: Each national federation has a specified number of places in the Elite division in different age categories: Up to 16, 16-18, 18-25, 25-60, 60-70 and 70+. Each of these age categories has its own World Champion, but the individual World Champion is the player that wins the tournament. The tournament is a duplicate tournament where players do not play matches, but play every move with the same letters and board configuration as every other player and try to get the maximum score by playing the highest scoring move every time. Players play 7 games; 3 games of 3 minutes per move and 4 games of 2 minutes per move. The current World Champion is Hugo Delafontaine from Switzerland.
- Pairs: Duplicate Scrabble in pairs, with two players discussing and submitting their solution together. 4 games are played with two minutes per move, followed by 2 games with just one minute per move. The current World Champions areHugo Delafontaine and Florian Lévy from Switzerland and France respectively. Players can form mixed pairs e.g. France/Belgium.
- Blitz: A normal duplicate tournament but with 4 games with just one minute per move for all four games. The current World Champion is Franck Maniquant from France.
- Match play: Players play matches, two players to a board with the final standings being judged by games won and total points scored minus the total number of points scored by the player's opponents. The top two players in the standings play a best-of-three final to determine the World Champion. The tournament is very popular with African players as Duplicate Scrabble is less popular in Africa than it is in Europe. Since the tournament was created in 2006 the first three winners were all of African origine, however the most recent winner was Benjamin Valour of France.
Other tournaments
Some other tournaments are organised during the week which do not crown a World Champion but do have a winner:
- Open: an open duplicate tournament which anyone can compete in. Players who are qualified for the Elite are barred from competing in the Open under the rules of the International Federation. The current champion is Anthony Clémenceau of France.
- Defi mondial: A duplicate game reserved for qualified players. The game is a normal duplicate game, apart from any player who misses the highest scoring solution is eliminated. This process continues until there is only one player remaining. To make things harder, the game starts at 80 seconds per move and goes down to 60 then 40 seconds per move. The current champion is Antonin Michel from France.
- Defi des jeunes: the same as the Defi mondial but for players aged under 18. Another notable difference is that each player can miss the highest scoring move once before being eliminated. The current champion is Julien Dubreuil from France.
- Soirée toping: A duplicate pairs event using a computer. Players form teams of two players and sit in front of a computer. On the computer, a duplicate game is loaded and the pair has to find the highest scoring solution for every move to complete a game. Each time they play a move that's not the best, the move is not accepted and they have to play another word. The aim of the game is to get the maximum score of the game in the quickest time possible, and the pair with the best time wins. The toping is not a tournament like the other tournaments but rather an exhibition with well known players competing in pairs (former World Champions, national champions, World Junior Champions, etc.) the tournament is by invitation only.
History of the Championships
The French World Scrabble Championships started off as a small tournament in Cannes with just 7 players, and at the time, was not considered to be a World Championship. The tournament moved each year and more and more players which led to other tournaments being created at the same venue. The Elite tournament was at first dominated by Belgian players, with 5 of the first 7 championships being won by Belgian players. After three French winners in 1979, 80 and 81 the tournament was taken over by Michel Duguet of France who won the tournament 5 times in 7 years, while finishing second twice in that period. Duguet also set various championship records by dropping just 12 points in 5 games, which is 99.71%. After winning the Elite World Championship for a 5th time he retired from Scrabble and took up contract bridge and became one of the best players in the world, competing in both the French national championships and the European team championships.
After Duguet's retirement the French domination of the championships continued, with in total 12 championships in a row being won by France. Indeed France also took second place every year during that ran, apart from in 1990 when Christian Pierre of Belgium finished second. In 1991 it was Christian Pierre who won Belgium's first title since 1978 and continued to win the title a total of 5 times in 8 years, matching what Duguet did in the 1980s. In 2002 and 2003 Jean Pierre Hellebaut became the first Swiss winner of the tournament. In fact he was born in Belgium and had previously finished second in the Belgian national championship in 1991 but after moving to Switzerland, won the World Championship 2 years in a row, a feat only accomplished before that by Duguet and Pierre. Antonin Michel has since dominated the Elite World Championships, having won the tournament twice in 2005 and 2007 and having finished second in 2001 and 2006.
The pairs event has been mainly dominated by France; Michel Duguet holds the record with five titles while Antonin Michel and Franck Maniquant (also of France) are just behind with 4 titles. Two African players have won the title - Ndongo Samba Sylla and Mactar Sylla of Senegal - these two are in fact brothers.
The blitz is a relatively recent event, added in 2001 and 5 of the 8 championships have been won by Antonin Michel. The four other winners and Florian Lévy and Franck Maniquant of France, and Ndongo Samba Sylla and Mactar Sylla of Senegal.
The match play tournament known as le Championnat du monde de Scrabble classique was brought in in 2006 and has been systematically dominated by African players, showing that the traditional form of Scrabble is more popular in Africa than the duplicate one. In 2008 in Dakar, 7 of the top 10 players were African, the three exceptions being Pascal Astresses, Antonin Michel and Hervé Bohbot all from France.
List of winners of the Elite division
1970s
Antonin Michel, winner of the Elite tournament in 2005, 2007 and 2010.
Year Host City Winner Nationality Runner-up Nationality 1972 Cannes Hippolyte Wouters 
BelgiumSarah Wolfowitz Belgium1973 Liège Agnès Lempereur BelgiumDominique Darmstaedter Belgium1974 Monaco Marc Selis BelgiumDominique Darmstaedter Belgium1975 Estepona Michel Charlemagne 
FranceMarc Selis Belgium1976 Djerba Marc Selis BelgiumMichel Charlemagne France1977 Aix-les-Bains Jean-Marc Bellot FranceMichel Pialat France1978 Brussels Yvon Duval BelgiumClaude Del France1979 Vichy Benjamin Hannuna FranceVincent Labbé France1980s
Year Host City Winner Nationality Runner-up Nationality 1980 Liège Vincent Labbé FranceRobert Laïk France1981 Montreux Jacques-Henri Muracciole FranceMarc Esquerré France1982 Hammamet Michel Duguet FranceBenjamin Hannuna France1983 Grenoble Michel Duguet FranceFrank Pluven France1984 Montreal Benjamin Hannuna FranceMichel Duguet France1985 Brussels Michel Duguet FranceClaude Del France1986 Lausanne Philippe Bellosta FranceMichel Duguet France1987 Metz Michel Duguet FrancePhilippe Lorenzo France1988 Quebec Michel Duguet FranceJean-Louis Pallavicini France1989 Namur Paul Levart FranceMarc Treiber France1990s
A completed game in FrenchYear Host City Winner Nationality Runner-up Nationality 1990 Dakar Marc Treiber FranceChristian Pierre Belgium1991 Fleurier Christian Pierre BelgiumPaul Levart France1992 Hull Christian Pierre BelgiumEmmanuel Rivalan France1993 Saint-Malo Emmanuel Rivalan FranceFranck Maniquant France1994 Libramont Christian Pierre BelgiumEddy Clauwaert Belgium1995 Ovronnaz Jean-François Lachaud FranceFranck Maniquant France1996 Aix-les-Bains Christian Pierre BelgiumNicolas Grellet France1997 Saint-Hyacinthe Aurélien Kermarrec FranceEmmanuel Rivalan France1998 Brussels Christian Pierre BelgiumFranck Maniquant France1999 Bulle Emmanuel Rivalan FranceJean-François Lachaud France2000s
Year Host City Winner Nationality Runner-up Nationality 2000 Paris Florian Lévy FranceGérard Boccon France2001 La Rochelle Franck Maniquant FranceAntonin Michel and Emmanuel Rivalan France2002 Montreal Jean Pierre Hellebaut 
SwitzerlandThierry Chincholle France2003 Liège Jean Pierre Hellebaut SwitzerlandChristian Pierre Belgium2004 Marrakech Germain Boulianne 
CanadaFranck Maniquant France2005 Neuchâtel Antonin Michel FranceJean Pierre Hellebaut Switzerland2006 Tours Pascal Fritsch FranceAntonin Michel France2007 Quebec Antonin Michel FranceChristian Pierre Belgium2008 Dakar Éric Vennin BelgiumAurélien Delaruelle France2009 Mons Hugo Delafontaine SwitzerlandChristian Pierre Belgium2010s
Year Host City Winner Nationality Runner-up Nationality 2010 Montpellier Antonin Michel FranceDidier Roques France2011 Montreux Francis Desjardins CanadaAntonin Michel FranceExternal links
- (English) Article about the 2008 World Championships on bbc.co.uk
- (French) FISF.net the site of the International French language Federation.
- (French) Official site of the tournament in Paris in 2000, includes a list of the previous winners 1972-1999.
- (French) FFSC en direct retransmission via the Internet of major French language tournaments.
- (French) French World Scrabble Championships on the French Wikipedia.
Categories:- Scrabble tournaments
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