In 1971, author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth visited Bristol Prison whilst conducting research for a book and noticed the inmates playing Scrabble; at around the same time, he also saw the Royal Family playing the game in a British TV documentary.
He placed a small ad in The Times inviting anyone interested in taking part in a National Scrabble Championship to contact him.
Hundreds replied, and after he contacted the game's owners at the time, J. W. Spear & Sons, the Championships were born.
In 1989, a hybrid format was introduced, in which the winner had to win all of his/her four games with the highest score possible.
A Scrabble tournament is split into at least two divisions based on players' ratings, and placings are determined by the number of wins, then by accumulated point differences (called the spread).
The player who finishes first after 17 games is crowned the UK National Scrabble Champion and wins a cash prize of £1,000.