…with Gary Moss

If you are not paying attention to where you are playing your word, if you dare to underestimate your opponent’s ability, if you come to the table unprepared for competition . . . . . . you will ‘bear-ly’ last a minute.

I am not at all suggesting that you stay away from the competitive scrabble scene ‘until you are ready’. When people judge their own readiness to compete, they judge themselves harshly.

Whenever we begin a new activity we need to expect a learning curve, to get up to speed. Just because you have been winning at scrabble among your family and friends, don’t be naive; competitive club and tournament scrabble is a whole different animal.

THE GOOD NEWS IS that anyone can become a good-to-great competitive scrabble mavin with a little-to-a-lot of study and focus. Your biggest challenge will be to have thick enough skin to withstand the initial shock that for right now you are a small fish in the sea. The grizzly bear will initially eat you up. If you become a regular player and work at improving, I suggest that you get a long belt. You will soon learn the trick of winning and plant a notch on your belt for every mavin whom you defeat and leave in the dust, sobbing.

If you love competition, learning, and playing with words . . . . you’ll love this form of the game.

One great tool that I have created for novice competitive scrabble players is The Bookmark Series. Each laminated bookmark contains a stem and some of the words that will cross your path frequently. To score big and win often, you MUST know these words and the system that helps you identify them on your rack. CLICK HERE