Asheville SCRABBLE School
A brief course adapted by Jacob Cohen from Everything Scrabble, 3rd. ed. by Joe Edley and John D. Williams, Jr.
COURSE DESCRIPTION q Scoring “Hot Spots” on the board q Move tiles on your rack - find letter combos q Learn which tiles to play, which to hold q Balance your rack (ideal 4 cons. / 3 vowels) q Find “bingos” using all 7 tiles- 50 extra pts q Strategy- offense & defense q Asheville Scrabble Club (Sun 12:30-4:30, Stephens-Lee Rec Ctr) q Club website- hi-probability & thematic bingos, quizzes, study INSTRUCTOR JACOB COHEN q Retired teacher and principal q Playing competitively since 2009 q Webmeister & statistician of club’s website ashevillescrabble.com RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Everything Scrabble, 3rd edition by Joe Edley and John D. Williams Jr. ISBN: 978-1-4165-6175-0 (this course is adapted from this excellent reference)
Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players ISBN: 0-14-200226-7 GLOSSARY Alphagram- alphabetic arrangement of letters; Ex: AIJNORT is alphagram for JANITOR Anagram- word spelled with exact same letters as another word. Ex: KITCHEN, THICKEN Bingo- use all 7 letters on rack; score 50 extra points Bingo-friendly tiles- ERS?, AL?, AERST, CANISTER Blank- indicated as ?, most valuable tile-versatile Block- play word to stop opponent’s possible big score “Challenge!”- announce to check if word is acceptable Closed Board- few or no places to play bingos/hi scores Dump- low-scoring play; gets rid of poor letter combo Endgame- strategic play when fewer than 8 tiles in bag Exchange- use turn to trade in 1-7 tiles; need 7 in bag GLOSSARY Extension- add 2+ letters to a word on board; (often to TWS); Ex: CON-QUEST, QUEST-ION Fishing- playing off or trading 1-2 tiles looking for bingo “Hold!”- announced when considering a challenge Hook- add letter to front/back of word to make new one; Ex: HARD + Y = HARDY; C + HARD = CHARD Hot Spots- TLS-TLS, DLS-DWS, TLS-DWS, TWS-DLS, DWS-DWS, TWS-TWS; all places for high scores Leave- group of tiles left on rack after play, before draw Open Board- many places to play bingos/hi score plays OSPD- Official Scrabble Players Dictionary Parallel Play- Ex: M A R L A T E (LATE, MA, AT, & RE all score) GLOSSARY Phoney- unacceptable word (not found in OSPD); may stay on board if unchallenged; some played deliberately (like bluffing in poker) Power Tiles- ten most valuable- 2 ?s, 4 Ss, J, Q, X, Z Rack Balancing- leaving letters on rack that will help score well on next turn; ideal = 4 cons / 3 vowels Stems- 6 & 7-letter bingo-friendly combos to add 1 letter Examples: S-A-T-I-R-E +1 letter make 73 words; N-A-S-T-I-E-R +1 letter make 75 words TWL- Tournament and Club Word List- list of acceptable words (all OSPD, plus about 200 offensive words); not used in schools or by most living room players; no definitions provided Finding “Hot Spots” on the Board
As a novice tournament player, I once asked an expert,
“What’s the difference between a novice and an expert?”
“The novice finds words on the rack to play on the board.”
“The expert finds the best spots on the board, and, then, finds the words on the rack to fit.”
“Hot Spots” are what experts find and play. Premium Squares 61 of 225 squares
DLS light blue
TLS dark blue
DWS light red
TWS dark red
design symmetry by architect/creator, Alfred Butts Premium Squares “Hot Spots”
Parallel Play
TLS-TLS
DLS-DWS
TLS-DWS
DLS-TWS
DWS-DWS
TWS-TWS Parallel Play
Look at 8L (intersection of row 8 and column L- a Double Letter Score)
Your rack
includes
DEFN Parallel Play
play
FEND
at 8L to score
72 points TLS-TLS dark blue-dark blue
columns B, F, J, N rows 2, 6, 10, 14
“Hot Spots” play high point tiles F, H, J, K, Q, V, W ,X, Y, Z also B, C, M, P TLS-TLS dark blue-dark blue
BEBOP 23 pts
HONED 21 pts
WELCH 29 pts
PRETZEL 44 pts DLS-DWS light blue-light red
columns C, D, L, M
rows 3, 4, 12, 13
2 DLS-DWS possible on same columns and rows DLS-DWS light blue-light red
YOWIE 46 pts
GRAPH 30 pts
EXCITE 51pts 2 DLS-DWS light blue-light red
NOURISH 30 pts
FREEDOM 36 pts
JOURNAL 46 pts TLS-DWS dark blue-light red
columns B, N
rows 2, 14
30+ points with F, H, V, W, Y
70+ points with with Q, Z TLS-DWS dark blue-light red
BEADY 38 pts
PORCH 40 pts
KLUTZ 56 pts DLS-TWS light blue-dark red
columns A, O rows 1, 15
and from TWS at H1, 8A, and to TWS at H15, 8O DLS-TWS light blue-dark red
MARKS 42 pts
BUSHEL 45 pts
HALF / AH 51 pts
QUERY 81 pts DWS-DWS light red-light red
Horizontally 5E to 5K 11E to 11K
Vertically E5 to K5 E11 to K11
4 x value of tiles! DWS-DWS light red-light red
Can occur as early as 2nd play of game
Be careful how you place your first word, even if it’s a bingo DWS-DWS light red-light red
Vertically
E5 to E11 QUEENLY 76 pts
K5 to K11 PETTING 40 pts
E & T are easy to play thru DWS-DWS light red-light red
Be alert to how an S can be added to your opening play to take advantage of DWS-DWS “Hot Spot” box DWS-DWS light red-light red
Horizontally
5E to 5K HOWLING 56 pts
11E to 11K PEASANT 96 pts TWS-TWS dark red-dark red
columns A , O
rows 1, 15
Worth 9 x value of tiles!
Typically 122-140 pts (includes 50 pt bingo bonus) TWS-TWS dark red-dark red
board is set up for TWS-TWS in 2 locations
A8-A15
O1-O8 TWS-TWS dark red-dark red
RELATION 132 pts
ADEQUATE 302 pts! Q is on DLS, then 9 x, + 50 pts for bingo MOVE TILES ON YOUR RACK
Common 2-Letter Combos for most letters B: BL, BR, MB, RB C: CH, CK, CL, CR, CT, NC, RC, SC D: DG, DL, DR, LD, ND, RD F: FL, FR, LF, RF G: GH, GL, GN, GR, DG, LG, NG, RG H: CH, GH, PH, SH, TH, WH K: KL, KN, CK, LK, NK, RK, SK L: LD, LF, LG, LK, LM, LP, LS, LT, LV, BL, CL, DL, FL, GL, KL, PL, RL, SL, TL, WL M: MB, MP, LM, RM, SM MOVE TILES ON YOUR RACK
N: NC, ND, NG, NK, NS, NT, GN, KN, RN, SN, WN P: PH, PL, PR, PT, LP, MP, RP, SP S: SC, SH, SK, SL, SM, SN, SP, ST, SW, LS, NS, PS, RS T: TH, TL, TR, TW, CT, FT, LT, NT, RT, ST V: LV, RV W: WH, WL, WN, WR, SW, TW Common 3-Letter Combos CHR, CKL, GHT, LCH, LTH, NCH, NDL, NGL, NKL, NTH, RCH, RDL, RGL, RST, RTH, SCH, SCR, SHR, SPL, SPR, STR, TCH, THR MOVE TILES ON YOUR RACK Common Prefixes ANTE-, ANTI-, AUTO-, BE-, BIO-, BY-, CO-, COM-, CON-, DE-, DIS-, DOWN-, DYS-, EM-, EN-, EPI-, EX-, FOR-, FORE-, IM-, IN-, INTER-, ISO, MEGA-, MID-, MIS-, MONO-, NEO-, NON-, OB-, OFF-, ON-, OUT-, OVER-, PAR-, PER-, POST-, PRE-, PRO-, RE-, SEMI-, SIDE-, SUB-, SUPER-, TELE-, TOP-, TRI-, UN-, UNDER-, UP- Common Suffixes -ABLE, -AGE, -AL, -ALLY, -ANCE, -ARY, -ASE, -DOM, -ENCE, -FUL, -IBLE, -IDE, -IER, -IES, -IEST, -IFY, -ILE, -INE, -ION, -IOUS, -ISE, -ISH, -ISM, -IST, -ITE, -ITIC, -ITY, -IVE, -IZE, -LESS, -LIKE, -LING, -LY, -NESS, -OR, -OSE, -OUS, -ROOM, -SHIP, -SIDE, -SION, -TION TILE ORDER OF USEFULNESS
?(Blank) S E X Z R A H N
C D M T I K L P O
Y J F B G W U V Q
This order shows that blanks are the most useful and the Q is the least useful. Plan your plays and trades accordingly. Hold on to most useful tiles to build bingos. Play off or trade the least useful tiles. RACK MANAGEMENT UNBALANCED RACK anagrams to: CAN EARN BAD LUCK RACK MANAGEMENT collective wisdom from millions of competitive games q Don’t duplicate any letter on rack, except E & S q Keep ~ # vowels/cons in leave; ideal rack- 4c/3v q Hold as few high-point tiles as possible in leave q Learn and use vowel dumps to improve rack q Consider exchange if bingo unlikely in 3-4 turns BINGOS q 50 extra pts- use all 7 tiles to make 7+ letter words q Key to high scores- experts play 2-3 per game q Look for common beginnings- AB, AD, AIR, ANTI,
BE, BI, COM, CON, DE, DIS, EM, EN, EX, FORE,
HAND, HEAD, IM, IN, ISO, MID, MIS, NON, OUT,
OVER, POST, PRE, RE, SEA, SUB, TRI, UN, UP BINGOS
Look for common endings- ABLE, AGE, AL, ANCE, ANE,
ANT, ARY, ATE, DOM, EAU, ED, EE, ENCE, ENT, ER, EST,
FISH, FORM, FUL, GHT, GRAM, HOOD, IA, IAL, IBLE, IC,
ICAL, IER, IES, IEST, IFY, ILE, ILY, INE, ING, ION, ISE,
ISH, ISM, IST, ITE, ITY, IUM, IVE, IZE, LAND, LESS, LET,
LIKE, LOGY, LY, MAN, MEN, MENT, NESS, OID, OSE,
OUGH, OUS, OUT, SHIP, SES, SIS, SOME, TURE, WARD,
WEED, WISE, WOOD, WORM BINGOS q Study high-probability bingo stems q Mnemonics to remember letters to add to stem q Club website Bingos page- excellent resource q ASC Co-Director Bill Snoddy’s Bingo Slide Shows q Bingo Heaven–thematic bingos compiled by Jacob Cohen Offense STRATEGY q Balance your rack; ideal = 4 consonants / 3 vowels q Letters in C-A-N-I-S-T-E-R are most bingo-friendly q Consider your “leave” as well as your play q Premium square combos for big scores q Parallel plays for maximum scores q Use S and blank preciously; they are most versatile q Find your best play, then find a better one q Find alternate place to play in case you get blocked q Set up words with hooks for future plays q High probability bingo stems and mnemonics q Open up bingo lanes especially when behind q Consider playing phoneys q End game considerations PHONEYS AND WHEN TO PLAY THEM q Not uncommon in club and tournament play q Ethical? comparable to bluffing in poker q When you have little to lose- way behind in game q When you want to test opponent’s word knowledge q When opponent just lost a challenge- gun shy q When you have many good plays- risk higher score q When you want to improve your leave q When you want higher point spread- tournaments q Caution- player may challenge own phoney if you, mistakenly, add an S to the phoney to make a new word OPEN BOARD many scoring options
S front hook QUIRE & play vertical word thru TWS
play from TWS H1-4
if you have IN, hook to G row 13, build bingo
high pt tile at 14J-N ex: JIBED 62 pts
DWS-DWS thru E 5G
15 L-O, FLEX 54 pts CLOSED BOARD few scoring options
any rows/columns open for large scores?
bingo lane column I if have S for BRINGS
lane H1-8 for an ING bingo, opens rows 1-5
TIME or TIMED at F7 for 26-28 pts
Ahead?- keep it closed Behind?- open it up BOARD SUMMARY far ahead? (70+ pts)- close down board, make plays even for fewer pts if you can block opponent
far behind? (70+ pts)- keep board open to bingo, and high plays with J, Q, X, Z you and opponent about even? (within about 30 pts) consider openings you give opponent versus your rack leave
keep board open if you have bingo-friendly tiles
keep board more closed if you have poor letters STRATEGY Defense q Avoid placing vowels next to premium squares q Answer opponent’s big play with equal scoring q “Shut down” board when ahead q Block plays with C and V (no 2-letter words with them) q Shut down bingo lanes q Avoid opening up “Hot Spots” q Consider + & - of challenging a phoney q High probability bingo stems and mnemonics- helps you recognize rack and its bingoes or not q Consider when to exchange tiles q Consider tracking which tiles have been played q Watch opponent carefully for behavioral tipoffs q End game considerations Club Play and Tournaments q Fun with words q Friendly players at all levels q Mental challenge q Get better with practice q Thrill of competition q Cross-section of America at club & tourneys WHAT TO EXPECT AT ASHEVILLE SCRABBLE CLUB q Equipment provided: boards, tiles, racks, clocks, score sheets q Clocks give = time for both players; quickly becomes automatic q We help you with competitive play so you’ll keep playing with us q Cheat Sheet with 2s, 3s, short J, Q, X, Z words, vowel dumps q Always free challenges vs. players rated 300+ points higher q Zyzzyva Word Judge used to decide if a word is acceptable q Knowing word’s definition unnecessary; but, helpful for some q No dues first 6 months; $20 year thereafter, or $2 per meeting ASHEVILLE SCRABBLE CLUB WEBSITE ashevillescrabble.com
Weekly newsletter with high-probability bingos, themed bingos, quizzes, results, stats Subscribe Review Collective wisdom from millions of competitive games: q 2s, 3s, & 4s = 75% of plays in competitive Scrabble q “Hot spots” = maximum scoring; look for them q Instead of rack to board, think board to rack; fit words q Play off clunky tiles; keep bingo-friendly tiles-CANISTER q Balance your rack (ideally 4 consonants, 3 vowels) q Consider your leave as well as your play q Blank and S most versatile; use preciously q Avoid placing vowels adjacent to premium squares q Look for words with front or back hooks = bingo lanes q Shut down board when ahead; open up when behind