Prize pool to end all prize pools

A total prize pool of US$180,000. Yes, you heard right — $180,000! Michael Tang has announced details of the 10th Causeway Scrabble Challenge, to be held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, from 30 November to 4 December.

This is without doubt the highest sum ever put forward for a single tournament.

This year's event will include four divisions — Premier, Masters, Advanced and Open. Other than the massively increased prize money on offer, the main difference from previous years is that the Premier division will not be a teams event. According to Tang, this is to avoid clashing with the World Scrabble Championships and adding an travel extra burden for the top players.

The top division will instead be available for players ranked over 1900. Masters is for players ranked 1600–1900, Advanced 1300–1600 and Open below 1300. Premier players will compete in a king-of-the-hill format (with repeats all the way). The other three divisions will all use the 'Causeway draw' — groups of four. All divisions play 45 rounds.

The prizes in each division go down to 10th place. They include a record-setting $50,000 first prize for the winner of Premier (down to $4000 for 10th); $10,000 down to $600 for Masters; $2000 to $200 for Advanced; and $1000 to $200 for Open.

Entry fees are a whopping $500 for Premier, $300 for Masters, $200 for Advanced and $200 for Open.

The top division continues to use a 10-point penalty for challenges, as in previous years. But it's the usual five points for the other fields.

Entries close on 9 September. Tang says he would like to attract enough players to this prestige event so he can shut down the Zon Regency Hotel for a week and eliminate the usual sleep-depriving nocturnal noise levels.

Click here for the full Causeway 2011 announcement.

Jan 2011