…with Gary Moss

Archive for July, 2009

Without a solid foundation buildings will crumble sooner than later. Without a solid, basic understanding of the dynamics of the game of scrabble, people are merely spelling words.

That’s okay, if that’s all you want to do. But if you enjoy learning and you like word games, there is a huge difference between ‘scrabble’ and ‘SCRABBLE’. Just ask John and Cathy Reynolds of El Paso, TX or Peggy Neilson of Aliso Viejo, California.

These folks and many others like you have enjoyed the game at home for years. They googled ‘scrabble’ and found local scrabble clubs and were brave enough to put their scrabble egos on the line and test the waters of competition. What they discovered was exactly what I discovered when I took the same first step many years ago.

People were playing on the most beautiful custom scrabble boards. I never imagined such things existed. The room was filled with scrabble enthusiasts. I thought that I was the only person who had a ‘scrabble obsession’. People played letter combinations on the boards that I didn’t recognize to be ‘real’ words. They used timers to speed up the game. It was a whole different world of scrabble. They were intrigued, just as I was.

If you want to share the experience of the competitive world of scrabble, you will be warmly received at my clubs or others across the US and around the world. Seek out a group. Go there with a great attitude. Become a student of the game. Be willing to see things differently and learned words that you have never encountered before.

Don’t be one of those people that say, “We did it another way.” Learn the club way, by the rules.

Did you know that the average person only know 5% of the words in the dictionary. That means that they don’t know 95%. No wonder they don’t recognize so many of those words being played. When we play at home, we usually play words that are familiar. When we play at club we play the new words that we learned, reading the dictionary at home.

Which of these are ‘real words’ from the OWL2? ‘mbira’ ‘aa’ ‘dozenths’ ‘cwm’

They are all in the dictionary. ‘aa’ is not an abbreviation, it is a form of lava.

For a great foundation, take my online class, SCRABBLE 101.

Still waiting for that 7th letter to make your bingo?

Just your luck, when you finally get it, there won’t be anywhere to play it.

Playing scrabble well requires a lot more than merely hoping, wishing, and praying.

1. Understand how the game works.
2. Learn the rules.
3. Accept that you only know a small fraction of the words in the dictionary.
4. Begin to build your vocabulary.
5. Develop a plan for success.
6. Practice what you learn.
7. Avoid bad advice from novices.
8. Seek good advice from teachers who know.
9. Set personal goals and be true to them.
10. Proceed with an ‘I CAN’ attitude.

That with a little ‘hope’ and my help will certainly move you up in the ranks.

Consider SCRABBLE 101 (An online eclass)

What was it that they used to say in the LAYS potato chip commercial ? “Bet you can’t eat just one!” And they were right.

Are you an ice cream lover? If so, you know that you should never go to the freezer with a spoon and attempt to enjoy just a single spoonful of ice cream from the carton. The next thing you’ll know is that you’re sitting on the floor in front of the freezer, having eaten the entire pint.

I know. I’ve been there. I’ve done that.

Addictions are not just about food. How about: watching Law & Order, House, or Seinfeld; wearing white socks or a single glove; football, basketball, or your game of choice; being a couch potato, or not; writing blogs or tweeting.

Addictions may be harmful, it all depends. I think we’d all agree that substances like drugs and tobacco can have devastating effects on one’s health. Excess food will do its damage too. Giving too much attention to other activities can distract us from earning a living, and other responsibilities that we’ve committed to handle, like relationships.

When we have the yearning to do something in large doses, we have to decide and control our addictive nature to balance within our personal life style. When we are out of balance it shows up in the form of problems and challenges.

With that being said, the best of the best have found ways to fit their addictions into their lives. The work-a-holic frequently earns the most money and builds the most dynamic business. The musician is an extension of his/her instrument. Scrabble players walk the earth observing objects like ‘seat’ and anagramming them in their heads (east, eats, teas, ates, etas, sate, seta).

To be a better scrabble player you have to be at last a little addicted. That addiction comes from having fun with words, being curious about words, learning many words that you do not currently know, understanding that most people you meet know less than 10% of the words in the dictionary and having the desire to know more than they know.

If you have such a desire, a shortcut to learning words quickly is by using a tried and true method used by many scrabble aficionados. Learn the stems, available on Bookmarks, click here.

Just be careful.

Keeping track of the letters that have already been played on the board and those that are still unseen is called tracking. It is legal to track tiles. In fact, the scoresheets provided at sanctioned tournaments provide a tracking section. Many players have reinvented, personalized, layouts to suit their preferences. The scoresheet pictured here is on an 8.5″ x 11″ page. The tracking portion arranges the letters in alphabetical order, except that the 11 power tiles are at the bottom. The 2 squares represent the two blanks.

At various times in a game, especially in a close end-game, it becomes extremely important to recognize which tiles are unseen. This information should influence where you play, to prevent your opponents from achieving premium scores with their remaining tiles.

Tracking is simple, but it is not easy. I suggest that beginners start off by tracking the power tiles at the bottom. Later, track the vowels, eventually track all the letters.

If you cannot track with 100% accuracy, you might as well not waste any time tracking the tiles. I strongly encourage that you practice tracking, to develop the skill. ( Place all but a handful of unseen tiles on your board. They do not even have to form real words. Use your preferred tracking sheet. Start a time clock. Track all the letters on the board by exing them out on your tracking sheet. Stop the time clock. Then circle the letters that are not exed out. Those tiles should be in your bag. Have a look. How did you do? Now look at the time used on the clock. How much time did it require?)

When you are able to track with 100% accuracy in under two and a half minutes, you are ready to track during competitive play.

I create personalized booklets of score sheets for sale. I will personalize the cover for you and use card stock for the front and back covers. Inside the booklet you’ll find 70 scoresheets, printed on 35 pages, back-to-back. The booklet is bound with a plastic comb.

I encourage player to date and save their score books. Just like you look back at photos of past events, your score books will provide the same nostalgic pleasures. When I win a special game, especially when I beat some stronger player for the first time, I have them sign the scoresheet and date it. I have a treasured ‘Chuck Armstrong’ framed on my wall.

To learn more about obtaining scorebooks, CLICK HERE

I am one of the richest men on Earth.

If you check out my bank account and other holdings you might call me the biggest liar on Earth. But that’s okay. I’ve been on this ‘E’ ride, we call life, for more than 66 years; and I’ve learned a few things. The first thing I learned is that being told something is never as valuable as learning it for yourself. I had a lot of advice from mentors and teachers, but I didn’t always follow their instruction. ( I suppose that you were a goody-two-shoes and always did everything that you were told. )

I had to do it my way; and I suppose that you did the same. I burned my hand on the stove, I cut my finger on the knife, I experienced a fender-bender, and I had shouting matches with my parents when I didn’t like their rules.

I always felt the best when I was in compliance and wasn’t looking over my shoulder, afraid of being caught, doing those things that were off limits. There were a lot of days when I felt like a king and enjoyed each moment.

I had my other struggles over the years. But looking back, many of the struggling years were enjoyable too, and didn’t weigh me down at the time. Day by day I’ve been lucky to enjoy the greater part of my life.

The last time I remember being really ‘stuck’ was in 1995. I was living in Michigan; my dear cousin Stu was dying of AIDS, living in New York. We talked regularly; I was doing the complaining. Stu told me to abandon my sadness and fear and to go live my life. Thirty days later, my car was packed, all my other possessions were given to family, friends, and charities. On the first Michigan snowfall in November I began a drive westward and began enjoying life again. Every day has been special in its own way.

I’ve found my calling. If you saw how I lived my life you’d think I owned a major piece of Hasbro. But I don’t. I just love playing scrabble and producing scrabble events. I have learned that when you are doing the things that you love to do, life is a joy and there is no amount of money that will substitute.

Besides doing my scrabble things, I attempt to teacher others about the life lessons that I’ve learned. But I know that in most cases I am just spinning my wheels. None of us can hear the the things that we are not ready to hear. That won’t keep me from trying to spread Gary’s Slant On Things. It is part of what makes me so wealthy.

Rachel Knapp, at left, is one of the elite to play in the A Division at today’s 1st Sunday Scrabble Tournament in Laguna Woods, California.

The 7 Game, modified round robin competition began at 9AM and concluded at 4:30 PM.

This month’s event featured the South Carolina phnom, Eliza Gallagher, and the 5 time Club #350 Champion, David Pearl, among others. Cathy and John Reynolds, from El Paso, Texas are vacationing in southern California this week, specifically to compete in the 1st Sunday classic.

Results: 2 Divisions of 6 players each.
Division A
1st 5W +203 Rachel Knapp $90
2nd 4W +237 David Pearl $50
3rd 4W +145 Eliza Gallagher
4th 3W -54 Nicholas Seistrup
5th 3W -254 Gary Moss
6th 2W -386 Randy Urist
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Division B
1st 6W +581 Jamie Covell $90
2nd 5W +349 Fern Trausch $50
3rd 5W +310 Donna Dwaileebe
4th 2W -175 Beth Byrne
5th 2W -504 Cathy Reynolds
6th 1W -565 John Reynolds

Highest Game ’583′ by Eliza Gallagher $15

Highest Play ’104 pints for panicked’ by David Pearl $15
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Ca$h Winners pictured left to right are: Eliza Gallagher, Rachel Knapp, David Pearl, Jamie Covell, and Fern Trausch. Congratulations to all!

Registration is already open for the 1st Sunday, August 2. CLICK HERE for details. Or call Gary at (949) 510-1673.

The 4th of July, to me, is a lot like another Thanksgiving. If it wasn’t for the 4th we could still be beholding to The Queen and still be paying a gigantic tax on Tea. But wait a minute. . . when I step out the front door each morning and head for Starbucks, I pay a TAX on my meal; I fill up my car at the pump and pay TAX on the fuel; I head to the post office and pay a TAX to mail my packages; and when I go to the market I pay a TAX on tea. I go to work and have TAX deducted from my earnings; and it goes on all day, TAX, TAX, TAX, for everything that I do. I have a great idea. Let’s dress up like Indians (native Americans) and throw everything into the Long Beach Harbor.

I don’t want to sound like some ungrateful whiner, living in this great, free, democracy we live in. There are many things for which I’m Thankful, especially when I reflect on special days like today:

Benjamin Franklin and his mother who never taught him to come in out of the rain. Betsy Ross and the person who left the scraps of red, white, and blue fabric in her bin. The Slaves who built the economy in the South. George Washington Carver who hated eating peanuts but found so many other uses for them. Dolly Madison, who knew how to throw one hell of a party and frock herself with bling. Abraham Lincoln and that gene that created him color-blind. Whistler’s mother who could never whistle, but hummed incessantly as she painted. Colonel Harlan Sanders for his secret recipe, shhh. The Mohawk Nation for the mohawk haircut. Edison and Bell and Ford.

With a heritage filled with so many everyday heros and heroines it was no wonder at all when the greatest of them all came on the American scene: Alfred Mosher Butts, the father of scrabble. It is in his honor that we celebrate this great American holiday by playing in scrabble tournaments this weekend from Albany, New York to Reno, Nevada to Laguna Woods, California.

We’ve come a long way, from tea to bling to bingos. Only in America!

There will be a lot of fireworks taking place this weekend. As a matter of fact, the fireworks began with two local displays last night. One was at The Hollywood Bowl where there was a classic open-air concert by the LA Philharmonic and fireworks. The other was at CLUB #350 at BORDERS where I contributed with two separate plays of more than 100 points each: ‘overwore’ for 101 on a TWS and ‘spinster’ for 149 (a T/T). But others played well too: Nancy Johnson had a 517 game and it was Peggy Neilsen’s coming out party (first time playing at a scrabble club).

Kim Jong-IL has been promising us more fireworks too. I hope that he thinks better and confines his rockets to his own backyard. Doesn’t he know that he could have much more fun playing scrabble. . . and it is much cheaper too.

Scrabble fireworks will continue all weekend. There are huge regional tournament happening right now, in Reno, Nevada and Albany, New York. And as for me, I will be directing my monthly 1st SUNDAY TOURNAMENT, in Laguna Woods, California. One of the things I love about running a local event in southern California is that it is a vacation destination. So, I frequently have players from other communities. This Sunday I will have players from Texas and South Carolina.

What happens at the 1st Sunday Tournament doesn’t stay at the 1st Sunday Tournament. A full accounting of the results of my 1st Sunday Tournament will be posted on Sunday night at http://www.just4thespellofit.com

My daughter, Susan Moss, will marry Joe Rogers tomorrow, July 4th. That will create some fireworks, I’m certain. (Congratulations you two.)

And for all the rest of you, have a fun and safe holiday. Stay healthy; don’t become IL.

It is very possible for the average guy or gal to become a HIGH ACHIEVER. It all begins with ATTITUDE, followed by doing whatever it takes and following a few secret steps.

Actually, the steps aren’t all that secret. But to the person who believes that they ‘ CAN’T DO IT ‘, the steps are the deepest secret in the universe.

Lookie-Loos walk up to watch the players at my clubs at BORDERS and ARBYs. Some observers look and their jaws drop. They pull me aside and ask me if those are real words on the board. They tell me that they play scrabble, at home, all the time but never play words like those on our board. I invite them to join us. I tell them that we learn many of those words from each other, just by playing regularly.

Most walk away and get hit by the streetcar on the 405 Freeway. (We never see or hear from them again.)

What are the secrets of being a High Achiever at scrabble, or anything else?

1) You have to be willing to take a risk of failing in order to achieve. Many low achievers are so fearful of the hurt that accompanies failure that they have decided NEVER to try again. Nothing great every happened on the first try. Great things occur in a process, a development, some trial and error. Read some biographies of people whom you admire. Notice that they had some setbacks in life but kept taking another step.

2) Find mentors. New players at scrabble club come up to me and ask me to pair them with an easy opponent so they might win a game. That might be good for the ego, but it is not in the spirit of achievement. Play the toughest players. Ask the experts for advice. Be willing to lose in order to learn how to win.

3) Think creatively. Have you ever met someone who wants to continually tell you the way that they do things at his/her house. “We always do it this way.” Lose that person as a close friend. Be willing to discover your own new ways of doing things.

The average person only knows 5% of the words in the dictionary. No wonder that they don’t know the words being played on the board. Scrabble players are curious about the other 95% of the words in the dictionary. When we learn as little as an additional 3% of the dictionary, we appear to be geniuses to the average guy/gal on the street.

High Achievers devote an extra measure of time doing their passion.

When will you begin your quest?

Who Do You Admire? There are a lot of people who shine in their field who inspire the multitudes. ‘I want to be like Mike’; ‘I want to be like Amelia’; ‘I want to be like Martin’; ‘I want to be like Abe’.

While kids are growing up their heros are usually closer to home. Moms, dads, and teachers provide inspiration to many children. When we reach our teens, before our brains are fully formed, we often emulate our peers. (Sometimes that is unwise and gets us into a bit of a jam.)

Later in life when we choose our life’s work and leisure we often stand in awe of others too. For me is was Nate Fine, Sherwin Wine, Bill McGrane, and Jack Boland. When I stumbled upon competitive scrabble my heros were Chuck Armstrong, Rodney Nivison, Paul Epstein, and Jean Carol. They are inspiration personified.

I was a scrabble newbie when I first met Chuck. His scrabble reputation was larger than life. He was one of the few National Scrabble Champions. When I watched him play, there were usually 5, 6, or more words that were Greek to me. If I were a golfer, I’d never have the opportunity to play with Arnold Palmer. If I were a chess player, I’d never have the honor of playing with Bobby Fisher. But there I was at the Livonia, Michigan scrabble club, every Tuesday evening, having the opportunity to sometimes play with Chuck Armstrong. Over the course of 7 years I had many games with Chuck. I was humbled time and again. Then on one evening, in the 6th year, as we played, I got all the good stuff, and I was playing like a champ. The tiles were down to a precious few in the bag. I had a small lead in the score. Then I played ‘pacified’, beginning on the second space from the top, through a ‘c’ for a TWS on the left side of the board ( 104 points ), raising my lead to 137 points. I grinned from ear to ear as I drew the remaining tiles from the tile bag. Chuck had five minutes remaining on his clock. I sat back confidently as the seconds ticked away. With one minute remaining on his clock he began laying down his letters. He began with an ‘o’ over ‘pacified’ on the TWS and continued across the top playing ‘obviate’. I screamed ‘CHALLENGE’. But to no avail. The play was good. He earned 140 points plus the points from my rack and snatched victory from me again. Yet, I was able to admire Chuck’s brilliance.

A few weeks later, on March 14, 1995, I finally achieved a win over Chuck, 442 to 418. I asked Chuck to sign the scorecard and I photographed the board. That commemorative still hangs proudly on the wall in my home.

I give thanks to Chuck and the others who have provided me the challenges and the inspiration. I want to be like them all.