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Scrabble For Beginners Draft-1

Draft of essay for Scrabble 101

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Nikko San Quimio
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354 views

Scrabble For Beginners Draft-1

Draft of essay for Scrabble 101

Uploaded by

Nikko San Quimio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“Scrabble for Beginners”

Are you tired of playing outdoor games and you want to try something out of the ordinary? How
about playing outdoor games? How about playing indoor games like Scrabble? Experienced scrabble
players describe this as “a game in which enjoyment improves concurrently with ability. Wide open
boards with many possibilities lead to higher scores and a more interesting experience for both players”
(as cited in Scrabble players’ Handbook, 2012, p. 11). Also, it is a game wherein not only your
vocabulary skills are put into test but also your critical thinking. Nowadays, outdoor games are too main
stream but little do they know about indoor games. So as a beginner, how can an inexperienced gamer
play these games? Here’s how:

First, you should have the following equipments before starting the game: scrabble board, letter
tiles, 1-2 pairs of racks and an official dictionary. Put the board on any place that you and your opponent
prefer. Then flip back all the tiles beside the board and each player will pick a tile. “The player, whose tile
is closest to the beginning of the alphabet, with a blank preceding an A, starts the game. In the event of a
tie, each player draws again” (as cited in World English-Language Scrabble® Players’ Association
(WESPA) Version 2.0: Game Rules). Then both players will pick their additional 6 tiles. Players must
only have a total of 7 tiles on their rack while playing. After the sequence of turns and number of tiles are
settled, the first player will put his chosen tiles from his rack on the center of the board which is usually
denoted with a star or a crown in a box. Players can position their words vertically, horizontally but never
diagonally.

Second is the gameplay. Prior to the rules of vertical and horizontal words, the words that are
between them should also be valid according to the rules. Some players often put a vertical turn beside
another turn and is barricaded by a pair of horizontal turns but judging the valid words between the two
vertical turns, there might be words that are invalid so be wary of them. There are also exceptions in
making turns. These are the words that are “proper nouns, abbreviations, prefixes, suffixes, and words
that usually need apostrophe or hyphen” (Scrabble crossword game, 1989, p. 1). Timer is applicable yet
optional if both players agreed to this and it is also required in some competitions. Passing is also allowed
but you will also lose an opportunity so think first before putting your plans into action. There are times
when a word is unfamiliar and a player wanted to confirm this by taunting the other player with
challenging. It is verifying whether a word exists or not. Once the word is proven wrong, the doubled face
value will be added to you and the challenger is deducted and vice versa. If you ever put all your 7 tiles in
one turn, it is automatically totaled to 50 points plus the initial score of turn and is called Bingo.

Last is the tallying of the scores. One beginner might be confused on how to put scores for the
whole game. You can put it in any piece of paper unless if there’s an official paper to put them on. The
points are determined by their face values that are indicated in each tile. They range from one, two, three,
four and ten points. All you need is to total all the values but has exceptions to the bonus tiles because
these tiles only amount to only 1 point. The scores are also greatly increased when it is on the bonus
panels. These panels are colored and may either double or triple your initial score. Holden (2012) believes
that “for every potential play, the letters left behind on the rack are just as important as the score” (p. 11).
Once the game is almost soon to be over and is indicated by the number of tiles left, that’s the time that
you should consider to put all the tiles on the board in order for you not to have that Rack leave. Rack
leave are the tiles that are left on your rack when the game is over and no other words can ever be put in
the game. These are usually subtracted to your overall score unless if you already eradicated these tiles on
your rack. Most players had this issue especially when dealing with the limitations of JQXZ tiles.
According to Holden (2012), “the high scoring tiles JQXZ are usually more of a hindrance than a
help, and holding onto them is the road to ruin. The tiles JQXZ appear once in the tile distribution and
they are the ultimate double-edged swords in scrabble. They can occasionally score well due to their high
face value and can often be placed on a double or triple score for over 40 points with relative ease, but
their appearance on the rack also usually ruins one’s attempt to turn a promising rack leave into a bonus
play” (p. 12).

See? Scrabble is just as good as every board game that there is in the world. Not only you enjoy
playing it with your close friends and family but also, your vocabulary skills will be enhanced as well.
These procedures might sound tedious but following it ensures you to have a good experience playing it.
Enjoy!
References

Berofsky, E., Fisher, A., Gallen , P., Koenig , D., Lipe, C., Martin, E., McMahon, K., Okulicz, E.,

Simmons, A., Smitheram, B., Thevenot, G., Weibin, T. (2012). Scrabble player’s handbook.

Holden, S. (Ed). How to play good Scrabble (pp. 11-12). England: SLC 4UB.

Bradley, M. (Ed). (1989). Scrabble: crossword game. In Game Rules (p. 1). Massachusetts: Springfields.

Spear, J. W. & Sons Limited (Ed). (2010). World English-Language Scrabble® Players’ Association

(WESPA): Game Rules Version 2.0 (pp. 8-9). United States.

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