Russian Spelling Bees

[Philip Hammond]

I'm sure it would be easy for me to ask one of my Russian friends this
question, but I think it would be more interesting to hear from the list:

Do Russians have Spelling Bees?  I mean, since Russian words are
*generally* spelled the way they are pronounced wouldn't a Russian
Spelling Bee be much easier than an English Spelling Bee?  I know, I know
- students learning Russian constantly misspell words.  And of course
there are Russian spelling dictionaries (implying that Russians also have
spelling problems).  Nevertheless, if a Russian word was slowly and
carefully pronounced for a student, it would probably (maybe?) be easy to
spell.

I know this posting is full of assumptions.  I'm curious nonetheless.

-Phil Hammond