The I’s Have It.
It feels like more than ’9′
When I first began to play competitive scrabble in earnest, a good friend and mentor advised me to love the I’s. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me then. But, I truly get it now. Most of the time it feels like there are so many more than 9 in the bag. There is an ‘i’ conspiracy, you know. They hang together. They usually appear two or three at a time. That’s why it is so important to know all those small words like ‘hili’ and ‘piki’ and ‘inia’. Many times the difference between winning and losing comes down to how you manage your i’s.
If you ever have the opportunity, walk behind a novice player at a club and observe their rack. Frequently you’ll find a collection of i’s. Especially at the end of a game there will be racks with 2 or 3 of the demons making the rack unplayable. Part of the answer is rack balance. I devote an entire lesson to that subject in my online class, Scrabble 101.
My contribution here, is to try to help you past the ‘i’ barrier, by turning it into a game. I am therefore sponsoring a contest, beginning tomorrow and lasting through Mother’s Day, May 10. I call the contest: ’MOTHER MAY I’. See all the details http://web.mac.com/jftsoi/CONTEST/Mother_May_I_Contest.html
This is your opportunity to dedicate the next 10 days to the letter ‘I’ and come away with a greater sense of control and achievement. If you appreciate the help of word lists dedicated to the letter ‘I’, you can refer to some of my lists at http://www.just4thespellofit.com and go to Word Lists.
There are some nice prizes that will be awarded to winners. ’I’ have a feeling that you’ll enjoy this.