About The Association
In 1987, the Association for British Scrabble Players was formed to bring together people who enjoy Scrabble’s fantastic ability to connect innovative players and oversee competitive Scrabble in the United Kingdom.
The organization’s formation came about when J. W. Spear & Sons, the game’s trademark owner, formed the Association for British Scrabble Players (ABSP) in 1993, and Mattel later acquired them.
Currently, the player roster stands at an impressive 600 members.
Gyles Brandreth, former Member of Parliament and founder of the British National Scrabble Championship in 1971, is the honorary president of the Association.
Countdown series champion Stewart Holden, who previously served as ABSP publicity officer, served as ABSP chairman, and Scrabble author Allan Simmons once maintained the Association’s website. The current ABSP chairperson is Mike Whiteoak.
Scrabble tournaments across the country are organized by the ABSP, including the National Championships. A rating system maintained by the ABSP contains the names of over 2,000 people who have participated in Scrabble tournaments around the country.
The ABSP also maintains a year-round calendar of these and other Scrabble-themed events, and it actively pursues sponsorship and the introduction of tournament Scrabble in the UK.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, The ABSP has been unable to run face-to-face tournaments this year, but it will be back after the summer.
In addition, the ABSP runs a fortnightly online league on Scrabble Go, which is a great way to meet other members before playing live.
We can also provide you with information about local Scrabble clubs.
How Do I Join?
ABSP membership year runs from January to December. Renewals for the following year may be made from the AGM onwards. New members joining after the AGM receive membership until the end of the following year.
You can join or gift a membership to somebody else by sending our membership secretary a cheque in the post, direct bank transfer, or online by entering the membership details in the form below and paying with PayPal.
Send your name, address, and a cheque for the correct amount above, payable to ‘ABSP’ to our Membership Secretary:
Nuala O’Rourke, 22 Kestrel Road, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6BU, or email Nuala for more information.
Publications
ABSP Documents
- Rules of the Association
- Organiser’s Guide (March 2015)
- Director’s Guide (2012)
- Tournament Result/Challenge slips
Game Rules
Since 2011, all ABSP-rated tournaments have used the WESPA rules in force at the tournament date. These documents are all published by WESPA.
If you have a query on the rules of Scrabble, please note there are differences between the “box-lid” regulations and the documents listed here.
In tournament play, the WESPA rules take precedence. All the resources are available from the WESPA site.
- WESPA Game Rules version 4 (from Jan 2020-onwards)
- Summary of changes between version 3 and version 4 (PDF)
These versions of the rules have been superseded but are provided for historical reference:
OnBoard
These are historical editions of OnBoard. The current and recent editions are on the ABSP Database (requires login)
- OnBoard Omnibus 2017
- Issue 143 April 2012
- Issue 142 February 2012
- Issue 141 December 2011
- Issue 140 October 2011
- Issue 139 August 2011
- Issue 138 June 2011
- Issue 137 April 2011
- Issue 135 December 2010
- Issue 134 October 2010
Resources
Find out more about:
- Scrabble Books
- Scrabble Magazines
- Scrabble Scoresheets
- Advice for New Players
- Mike O’Rourke’s An A-Z of Variants
- Mike O’Rourke’s Mnemonic Book (Updated for CSW 2012)
Members
Please take a moment to get acquainted with our Committee Members.
Also, please pop over to our Facebook Group to check out the UK Scrabble Community and connect with other skilled players like yourself.