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Newbies First SCRABBLELesson

By Joel Sherman

Editors Note:

This a rticle is part of the New York, NY, Club # 56 website http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeskktx/

Joel Sherma n, the direct or of the c lub and a pa st Nationa l and World SCRABBLE Cha mp ion ga ve

us permission to sha re this. We think this will be a terrific he lp to our new m em bers.

Buy a SCRABBLEdictionary. As of M arch 1, 2006, the Offic ial Tourname nt a nd Club Word

List, Sec ond Edition, c omm only referred to a s OWL2, wa s nam ed the o ffic ial word source

for tourna ment SCRABBLEand ava ilable only to NSA me mb ers throug h

www.wordgear.com.

The Offic ial SCRABBLE Players Dic tiona ry, Fourth Ed ition (OSPD4), a "politically correct,"

expurgated volume sold in bookstores, is not the source used for adjudicating

cha llenges, but c an be a helpful lea rning supp lement, as it co nta ins b rief d efinitions

which c an t be found in OWL2. Bec ome familiar with all the ac c ep tab le two - and three-

letter words; these a re the glue o f the g ame -- that is, they hold to ge ther all the long er,

highe r-sc oring wo rds.

Don't play sc ared . Don't worry how g ood your op po nent is, or how go od her tiles ma y

be a t the mo ment. Concentrate o n wha t you c an d o w ith your tiles, play offensively first.

Accept the idea that SCRABBLE is a m ath ga me just as muc h as it is a word ga me . The

strategic theory of the ga me is based on sta tistica l ana lysis, probab ilities, and spa tial

rela tionships on the b oa rd . Experienc ed p layers see k to ma ximize the va lue of sma ll-

numbered tiles by pla ying b ingos (using a ll 7 tiles on yo ur rac k to ea rn the 50-po int

bo nus), and large -numb ered tiles by c ausing the m to interac t with the c olored premium

squares on the boa rd, or with other words on the bo ard. (i.e., one can sc ore just as

muc h for plac ing a 4-letter word in a plac e w here it lies parallel to 4 othe r letters or who le

wo rds without hitting a ny p rem ium squares as you m ight for the sam e play hitting a

do ub le- or even triple-wo rd-squa re b ut forming o nly one or two wo rds.)

But don't ge t into the ha b it of ho lding onto the highest-numbe red tiles until you m ake b ig

plays with them. They suffoca te your rack, and you d on't sc ore enoug h with the in-

be twe en p lays while you wa it. That is the mo st co mm on mistake mad e by novice

p layers. The w orst lette rs in the poo l are the Q , J, W, in tha t order. If you ha ve them , they

are the first things you shou ld b e loo king t o use up , and the last you should c onsider

holding.

Balanc e your rac k. Loo k at the d istribution o f the letters in the set a t the sta rt o f the

ga me and not ice tha t w ith 56 co nsona nts and 42 vow els (plus 2 blanks = 100), the re is a

c lear rat io o f 4c to 3v, which idea lly should b e w hat you strive to ma intain in your rac k of

7 tiles. The mo re often you ac hieve this balanc e, the more often you c an hop e to m akebingo s. Expert players ave rage c lose to 2 bingos per game !

Always look for way s to break up d uplica tes -- letters that a pp ea r mo re tha n onc e in the

same rac k. Flexib ility is a key to having, finding, and being a b le to play bingos. Eac h

time a tile is duplic ate d in the rack, the numb er of p ossib le lette r orders that might b e

ac c ep table wo rds is c ut in half.

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The best tiles in the SCRABBLEset a re the b lanks and S's; don't waste them . An S sho uld

ge nerally not be played in a no n-bingo unless it yields a sc ore a t lea st 8 points mo re tha n

anything you c an play w ithout it, and the b lank should ne t at least 20 more p oints.

Two rea sona b le e xc ep tions to tha t rule are whe n you ha ve m ore than o ne S in your rack,

and whe n you need to c lose off a dang erous op ening from your opp onent. S's and

blanks a re extra va luable b ec ause they a dd flexib ility bo th to your rac k, and to yourop tions for fitting wo rds on the boa rd (S *sta rts* 50% mo re w ords than a ny o the r letter, in

add ition to a ll the nouns and verbs it plura lizes) -- they usua lly allow b ingos to b e p layed ,

but they can't do it without o ther useful letters...

* ... the best o f tho se o the rs a re the le tte rs in "CANISTER." If you c an c ollec t a ny five o r six

letters in this wo rd , there a re a grea t ma ny lette rs that can c om plete your rac k to yield a

7- or 8-lette r bingo . But do n't forget your vow el/c onsona nt ba lanc e while trying to

c ollec t these lette rs. If you ma ke a p lay tha t keep s CNRST in your rac k, c hanc es a re, one

of three things has hap pe ned or will hap pe n:

1) You alrea dy ha d a bingo a nd failed to p lay it2) You d idn't have a b ingo be c ause you just found it

nec essa ry to p lay off two c onsona nts

3) Your next rac k will still have to o m any consona nts. If you keep 5 ofCANISTER, they shou ld inc lude a t least one vow el, and keep ing 6 of

CA NISTER should inc lude a t lea st two o f the vowels.

Avoid p laying vow els next to da rk blue and red squa res; they let your opp onent p lay a

hea vy co nsona nt pa ra llel and e arn the premium in two d irec tions. Be eXtra a lert to this

while the X is still unseen.

Building la rger words is easier if you think in terms of comm on p refixes like re-, p re-, po st-,

for-, fore-, co -, co n-, sub -, over-, bi-, d i-, tri-, po ly-, mo no-, hyp o-, hyper-, dis-, be-, de -, out,

mis- and un- ; and suffixes suc h a s -ed , -er, -or, -age, -ing, -a l, -ly, -ally, -ic , -oid, -tion, -

ab le, -ib le, -less, -ness, -ma n, -men, -ment, -est, -ier, -ies, -iest, -ist, -ism, -ish, -ium , -ia, -ity, -

ify, -ize, -ise, -ary, -ory, -olog y, -ate, -ite, -ine, -ive , -ase, -ose, -ful, and -like. But d on 't fixa teon UN-; U is UsUa lly the worst vowe l you c an ho ld, and don't fixa te on -ING e ither; a lot o f

wo rds c ontain those three letters but d on't end with them, and the G ca n be a very

aw kward tile if you d on't have a w ord tha t end s with -ing, mo re so if you ha ve m ore than

one G a t a t ime.

Keep your mind op en, and shuffle your tiles on yo ur rack if you a re ha ving troub le find ing

wo rds. When you find wha t you think is a g oo d p lay, sit on your ha nds until you find a

be tter one. Don't feel like you a re in a rac e to finish the g am e -- there's no b onus for

unused time -- you have 25 minutes to ma ke a ll your plays, and the mo re o f it you use

without exceed ing tha t limit, the less you'll miss and the mo re strong p lays you'll find.