Mini Tourney December 2013

This is the last rated tourney of 2013 in Indonesia! Sadly, I wasn't eligible to join due to Mini Tourney's rule which whoever wins the previous Mini Tourney will not play in the next one edition of Mini Tourney. So I did the tab instead. This tourney was held on December 15th, 2013 at BINUS University.

Round 1
I was late to come and just joined in the midway of the first round. Master-bound Amelia Ekawaty crushed her opponent with 397 points margin and took the pole position in Open division. Jimmy led the way in Master thanks 461-345 win over Ario Ananda.

Round 2
Julius Wilson - with his LEGO rack - went top with a comfortable win over Andre Jonathan 522-316. Second-placed Hartanto Wibisono stayed where he started with a narrow win over previous leader Jimmy 424-364. In Open, Amelia continued her strong start with a 448-277 win over Yadi Sanjaya. Jeffry and Daniel Wijono completed the huge-margin top three.

Julius with LEGO rack

Round 3
Julius got another big win, this time he beat Hartanto with 550-256. This made him still on top with perfect points and followed by Alexander Gozali. Hyendi Gumilang rose to third place after a big win over Steven Surya 463-246. Ario Ananda also got a big win, he took down Jonathan Kevin by 505-244.
In Open, we got new leaders. Daniel Wijono climbed to first with 509-264 and followed by Jeffry, who beat Amelia narrowly 409-394.

Jeffry (left) with Daniel Wijono

Round 4
Both division got the leaders and runner-ups play each other. Jeffry and Daniel Wijono in Open, Julius Wilson and Alexander Gozali in Master. Jeffry edged out Daniel to take the lead and Julius retained the top spot with a win over Alexander. Julius and Jeffry are the only player unbeaten in each division.

Round 5
Moving on to the last round with Australian Draw pairing. In Master, Julius bagged another win, this time against Ario Ananda 493-386, with a triple-triple eNARGITE for 131 pts. Alexander and Hyendi kept the pressure on by beating Hartanto and Jimmy respectively. In Open, Jeffry did just enough to keep him invisible after round 5. Daniel produced a thrilling match with Amelia which he won 477-466.

Julius' eNARGITE (131 pts)

Round 6
King of The Hill now. Jeffry secured the first place in Open division with his sixth consecutive win in the tournament. Below him, there were 5 players with 4 wins who were vying to complete the top three. Meanwhile in Master, Julius did the same, he won the decisive game with Alexander and somehow Alexander still in the second place despite having the same points (4) with Hartanto. Hartanto himself just won a superb match with Hyendi 516-481.
With these results, Jeffry and Julius are both gibsonized (this was the first time to do a gibsonization in one-day-tournament)

Round 7
With both Jeffry and Julius had already secured the first place in each division, they are now aiming to do a clean sweep. But Nadia and Jimmy had other idea, the winners fell on their hands.
In Open, Amelia did a revenge to Daniel to cement the second place and also knocked Daniel out of top three. Michael Diptana claimed the third place in Open division.
In Master, Alexander made a statement  to finish second with a big win over Hartanto and added more misery to Hartanto who finished fourth. Ario jumped to third place after 4 wins out of last 5 games.

After the final game, I had a quick game with Hartanto. Unexpectedly I got 4 bingos in my first 5 moves. REEDITS (74), ENQUIRY (115), sKELETON (82) and LEGATES (76). I added one later, COaITAS (83) but illegally hooked ADUNC with S. Luckily he didn't challenge it. The game ended 621-287 to me, I hope it was in a tournament not a free game :p

That's the end of Indonesian Scrabble tournaments in 2013! We hope we'll have more tournaments in 2014.
Until the next tournament, bye!

Result : http://livescrabble.com/minidec13

Photo album : https://www.facebook.com/albert.martono/media_set?set=a.10201013289396698.1073741834.1301100412&type=3

The Second BNEC Scrabble Open

Continuing the success of the inaugural BNEC Scrabble Open in 2012, on January 2014, Bina Nusantara English Club (BNEC) will hold The Second BNEC Scrabble Open.

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
Date : 10th-12th January 2014
Venue : M2C-D, Syahdan Campus, BINUS University
Rules : WESPA Rules v2
Dictionary : CSW12
Format : Australian Draw & King of the Hill
Time : 25 minutes/player
Penalty : 5 points per word challenged
Number of games : 20 games
Rated by ISF

This edition of BSO has interesting side achievements, including Highest Rating Change, Highest Rating Gain, Top 3 Team Unity.

Make sure you don't miss one the biggest and top tournament in Indonesia!

For more info, visit the website http://bso.mybnec.org/

The 2014 Asian English Olympics

One of the biggest English competition in Indonesia is back. On February 18th-22nd,2014, The 2014 Asian English Olympics, organized by Bina Nusantara English Club (BNEC), will challenge all students (High School and Varsity) across Asia to show their English skill. Taking the theme "Apex In Youth", The 2014 AEO serves 6 competitions, they are Debate, News Casting, Scrabble, Speech, Story Telling and Short Movie Making.

For Scrabble competition itself, here are the details :
System : Tournament (Australian Draw & King of the Hill)
Total rounds : 25 rounds
Final : best of 5
Word Authority : CSW12
Penalty : 5 points per word which actually allowable

Max caps : 70 Person(s)
Registration fee : IDR 375.000 (Varsity) and IDR 350.000 (High School)

Website : http://aeo.mybnec.org
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/AEO-Asian-English-Olympics/241282805910388
Twitter : https://twitter.com/the2014AEO

Ratings : What is Rating and How to Calculate

When you play in competitive Scrabble, you'll know more about ratings and maybe get your own. Rating is a measurement of the performance of a player. If a player has a high rating, he/she is probably a good player. Usually a player who plays in national-scaled tournaments will get national rating and a player who plays in international tournaments will get his/her own international rating from WESPA. Of course the tournaments must be rated to get the ratings. National rating and international rating of one player are not exactly the same.

Some tournaments apply division or section system. This system is divided by ratings. Players with higher rating play in higher division, while players with lower or no rating play in lower/open division. This brings extra competitiveness into the tournaments.

Player's rating under 50 rated games is still considered as provisional rating means that his/her rating is still unstable and not valid enough. WESPA's new rating formula decreases the minimum games to 30 games. After a player passes the minimum games mark, his/her rating will be stabler and truly depict his/her performance. Some players may be overrated or underrated, this could happen in tournaments depends on the opponents they face, also the number of rated players in tournaments.

If a player who has higher rating playing in a tournament which is joined mostly by players with average rating, he/she could probably  lose some of his/her rating points if he/she don't play well. Even a player could lose his/her rating although this player finishes top.This also applies to players who have lower rating. Low-rated player could easily get rating points from players with higher rating, should this low-rated player win against players with higher rating.

Here is a link from Scrabble Australia on how rating changes :
http://scrabble.org.au/ratings/system.htm

Example : You are rated 1453. You win 5 out of 7 games against opponents whose average rating is 1393.
1. You are 60 points higher on average.
2. Your probability of winning a game is on average = 50 + 1/12 of 60 = 55%
3. You would be expected to win 55% of the 7 games, ie 3.85 games.
4. You actually won 5 games, which is +1.15 games better than expected.
5. A multiplier of 20 usually applies. Your rating gain is 1.15 x 20 = 23 points.

To wrap things up, rating isn't everything but only as a measurement. It's also not completely valid if you only play one or two tournaments. Losing some isn't the end of the world and gaining some isn't the end of the road :)

ISF Ratings : http://indonesianscrabble.org/ratings/ranking
WESPA Ratings : http://www.wespa.org/aardvark/cgi-bin/rating.cgi

Mini Tourney October 2013

It's another edition of ISF monthly tourney. On Sunday, October 27th, 2013 at BINUS University the tourney happened. Players compete in two sections, Master and Open with 10 and 22 respectively for number of players. And here's my report for Mini Tourney October 2013.

Round 1
against Hendy Yohanes. Hendy was the front runner in the opening moves with his nicely played TIPTOED (66 pts) and SIZER (53 pts). But soon I caught up thanks to SuRLOIN for 78 pts. In the closing moves, Hendy had a glorious chance to snatch a win, he was holding SATINE? on his rack. I blocked the obvious spot for bingo with SPADE, leaving only one spot for bingo with a floating C must be at the back. Lucky for me, Hendy couldn't find any. There are four bingos actually, AMNESTIC, ENTASTIC, ASTHENIC and SEMANTIC. I won the game 411-343. In Open section, Intan Kumala Putri and Tiara Kumala Putri met and resulted a draw game. Twin.

Round 2
against Jonathan Kevin. I started with DORKIES* which sounds good but it got challenged. Jonathan was the first who got the bingo with FOLIAGE. But his FOLIAGE opened the triple line and I immediately took the spot for MOILERS/FOLIAGES and scored 97 pts (including 5 pts for unsuccessful challenge). The scores were still even before my AZO (52 pts) and DIFS (47 pts) gave some pressure to Jonathan. Soon after, NEONATAL (75 pts) gave me the edge. Jonathan fought back with ASSERTED (75 pts) and JANE (57 pts). I got another bingo, READERs (79 pts) to keep me out of reach. Jonathan cut the margin with ENTIRELy (74 pts). Final score 523-438 for me.

Round 3
against Alexander Gozali. He had the chance to take control in the opening move only if he didn't miss RELOGE?. Next turn, we both exchanged bingos dESTROY from him and INSURANT from me. He then played TRAINEES for 68 pts. BRACkET (84 pts) and KEVIL (48 pts) helped me to stay in the lead. He READIES (82 pts) himself for a dramatic comeback but the final JOY (46 pts) was still with me. I beat him 464-408. Meanwhile in Open section, Hartadi Andika Jaya scored a whooping 712 points, his personal best to go top.

Round 4
against Hartanto Wibisono. I missed two crucial bingos, WALDOES and SUPREMO which could ease me past Hartanto. As the result, I didn't get any bingo in this game and Hartanto got 4, IODATES, SLANTIER, 2-blank DERATioN and INTONER. Despite conceding so much bingo in one game and not having any bingo, I still managed to reach 400-point mark almost 450. I lost the game 443-453. Hartanto is the only one left unbeaten, as well as Hartadi in Open.

Round 5
against Muhammad Rizqy. This game was a bit amateur stuff. No bingo on the board but I got eXCEL for 73 pts. Later, I missed UNWROTE. I was a bit lacked of concentration there and he blocked my spot for TOLERATE. Very relieved to win the game. 366-308.

Round 6
against Hartanto Wibisono. Going into King of The Hill rounds. Started with an awful rack, AEIOUO? and could only dump EUOI for 10 points. Then, a quick turnaround for me as I got OBITuAL (75 pts). Two turns later, another bingo for me. aLIENEE for 63 pts. After I drew tiles to restore my rack, I got ZXMGOSE. With the help of the floating E from aLIENEE, I played ZEXES through the triple word score and scored 93 pts. Tiles left on the rack even said OMG! Hartanto instantly replied with URINOSE (70 pts). I won comfortably by 465-338 and levelled on VP with Hartanto and just one short of margin from him.
Open section had to stop at round 6 since they were half-game late and we got time limitation for room usage.

Round 7
against Hartanto Wibisono. Decisive game. I went ahead first thanks to VIATORS in the fourth turn. Hartanto then tried to close down with JAWAN (46 pts). He was still trailing by 6 points. Exactly after that move, I got ADEIINX on my rack. I spent maybe around 5 minutes to decide which play is the best. AXED for 43 pts was my choice but then Hartanto leapfrogged me with QUAIR (51 pts). Next, I had to deal with 3 Is in this IIIONZ? combination. Thankfully, there's a place for ZITI (42 pts), Hartanto replied with EQUAL for the same points. FEtAtION (85 pts) gave me a breather as I lead 387-304. I added another bingo, PENSTER (84 pts) to wrap a strong win 512-339.

Final Result for Open (top 10) - 6 games
1. Hartadi Andika Jaya 6 +915
2. Jeffry 4 +648
3. Emerentia Nadia 4 +520
4. Julio Tri Pangestu 4 +348
5. Delima Andriyani 4 +183
6. Rayhan Farandy 4 +103
7. Maulidah Khaerani 4 -81
8. Satria Alza Perdana 3 +372
9. Riyan Budhianto 3 +94
10. A. M. Tri Sakti 3 +21

Final Result for Master (top 10) - 7 games
1. Albert Martono 6 +552
2. Hartanto Wibisono 5 +207
3. Alexander Gozali 4 +381
4. Amelia Ekawaty 4 +284
5. Andre Jonathan 4 +99
6. Hendy Yohanes 4 -305
7. Jonathan Kevin 3 -269
8. Muhammad Rizqy 2 -27
9. Daniel Wijono 2 -178
10. Michael Diptana 1 -744

Full result (Open) : http://indonesianscrabble.org/tournaments/2013/021MIN

Full result (Master) : http://indonesianscrabble.org/tournaments/2013/022MIN

Photo album : https://www.facebook.com/albert.martono/media_set?set=a.10200715638595614.1073741833.1301100412&type=3

Round 2 - against Jonathan Kevin

Round 1 - against Hendy Yohanes

Round 3 - against Alexander Gozali

Round 4 - against Hartanto Wibisono

Round 5 - against Muhammad Rizqy

Round 6 - against Hartanto WIbisono

Round 7 - against Hartanto Wibisono

Pesta Pulau Pinang Scrabble Championship 2012

Let's look back to December 2012, when the inaugural Pesta Pulau Pinang Scrabble Championship replaced the legendary Causeway Scrabble Challenge as the end of year international major tournament in Malaysia. Taking place at the beautiful city of Penang, many top players across the world came to join the tournament. The tournament is held from 13th to 16th of December 2012 With almost 100 participants in two sections, Masters and Intermediate, based on WESPA ratings. Masters will play 33 rounds, while Intermediate will play three less. I joined the Intermediate section at that time. Julius Wilson, Steven Surya and Christian Oktavius all from Indonesia also joined the Intermediate section.

Day 1 (Thursday)
I started the tournament against Tanasak Supphaphibun from Thailand. It was an unpleasant welcome for me, he played TAILARD in the opening move and I challenged it (forgot about that word) and it's good. Meh. This round wasn't my round, I lost 380-494 and placed 40th. Not a start that I expected but straight after round 1, I had an unforgettable sequence. Here it is. In the second round I won comfortably from Alvin Teh (MYS) by 517-274 and it takes me to 18th place after round 2. Round 3, a low-scoring game with Chek Wu Kong (MYS) but I still won 379-299 and go up to 15th. Contrary to round 3, round 4 against Mahboob Khan (SAU) was quite a free-scoring game, I beat him 517 to 412 and reach the top ten.  After lunch, I met Cheong Yi Hua (MYS), I hadn't won any game against her previously and yes, finally I got the first win over her, 415-356. Next round, I beat Sinatarn Pattana (THA) in a competitive game (448-427) with ANErGIES (68 pts) as the winning move and placed at the top 5. Julius Wilson (IDN) for my next opponent in round 7, I took control of the game and won 490-350 as I finish the first day with 6 VP, +530 points margin and place third behind Sittichok Boonsiri (THA) and Choo Zi Wei (MYS) with the same VP.

Day 2 (Friday)
The draw was reset and you could meet the same person you've met at the previous day. Round 8, I met Tanasak Supphaphibun (THA) again in the opening match of the day. Unlike the first day, this time it was my round. I beat him by 511-388 to go second just behind Choo Zi Wei (MYS) who won against Sittichok Boonsiri (THA). Next, I played Sittichok Boonsiri (THA). At the end of the game, it looked like a win already for him until my ENCLOSE on an unpredictable and tight spot saved me and gave me the win which took me to the summit. I lead with 8 VP (one more than the second place) after 9 rounds. Round 10, I met Choo Zi Wei (MYS) and got another comfortable win with 472-338. I've collected 9 VP so far. Somphong Phosai (THA) would be my next opponent in round 11. I managed to secure my tenth consecutive win in the tournament, the game ended 408-331 in my favor. Just one game to go before lunch and I faced Sinatarn Pattana (THA). A tight game which I still could extend my winning sequence to 11 wins. Oh, the final score of the game was 380-360. Leading with 2 VPs ahead seems so perfect to have a good lunch :p

And there you go! That's my unforgettable winning sequence. 11 wins in a row in international tournament, absolutely grateful!

11 consecutive wins

After lunch, I was hit by back-to-back defeats from Tawan Paepholsiri (THA) (377-411) and Lim Sha Lyn (MYS) (415-436) and lost my 2 points lead but still leading. Played a bit careless against Sha Lyn and I had to surrender the lead. Pity me. But I got back to winning ways with another two wins from Yeap Gim Sai (SGP) (390-364) and Steven Surya (IDN) (417-392). I close the second day at the top with 13 VP.

Day 3 (Saturday)
For the third time in a row, I faced Tanasak Supphaphibun (THA) in the opening match! I started brightly with FLOREAT (76 pts) and FILETING (83 pts). I kept the lead until the end to win 494-464. Round 18, I won another game from Tawan Paepholsiri (THA) by 409-379 and now leading 2 VPs clear with 15 VP. But again I couldn't stretch the lead. Yannakit Sirisup beat me by 484-309. It was my worst game in the tournament. Moving to round 20, another Thai player to be played with. This time, it was Somphong Phosai. I beat him again to stay firm at the top (384-306). 10 rounds to play. Round 21, Lim Sha Lyn (MYS) as my opponent. OUTLEAPs for 140 pts from a floating P made me in control. I won 523-414 and back to 2 VPs clear. My lead was quickly cut down again by Paul Richards (AUS), he beat me by 408-376 in round 22. I met Christian Oktavius (IDN) in the last round of the day. If only I played carefully, I would win the game. I played AGRISES and the A opened a spot for his INSUrANt for 118 pts. Could play GASSIER for a far more safe place. The third day is over, I still in the lead with 17 VP.

Day 4 (Sunday)
Final day. I would play Thai opponents all day! The pairing systems were Prince of the Hill before lunch and King of the Hill after lunch. It wasn't a good start for me as I lost to Yannakit Sirisup (THA) for 415-425. I also missed RADIOMEN for double-double. Yannakit takes the lead. Round 25, Tawan Paepholsiri was my opponent in that round. I stayed close to the new leader by beating Tawan 452-398. Next, I met Yannakit again and succeeded to take the lead back by beating him 439-357. Moving to round 27, last game before lunch. I managed to find a breather when I beat Sinatarn Pattana (THA) (384-367).
After lunch, 3 more games to play. Because of KOTH pairing, I was paired with Yannakit again in round 28. This was a heartbreaking game because I lost only by 3 points, I unsuccessfully challenged him twice and not aware enough to block his last big move. 460-463. Round 29, again I lost to Yannakit and blew away my chance to become the champion. I lost by 396-414 and dropped to third place. And finally, the last round. Round 30! Battling against Sinatarn Pattana to claim the second place (should I win) or at least to defend the third place spot. The second option suits me the best as I wasn't having a great game there. No bingo and had to keep the margin low. I lost 352-373 but Sinatarn couldn't overtake me since my margin is still higher.
I finish the tournament third with 20 VP and +996 points margin.

It was VERY close to win the tournament but some silly mistakes and carelessness cost me. But third place is more than I expected though. We had an amazing tournament at Penang :D

My bingos throughout the tournament :
1. REACtED (76)
2. NOTItIa (77), AROINTS (64)
3.
4. EASEFUL (78), IMPORTS (77)
5. OLDSTeR (68), POINTIeR (65)
6. TYRONES (96), ANErGIES (68)
7. NETHERS* (89), FOISTERS (66), sItULAE (76)
8. HEAPIESt (91), GROUPINg (70), AROINTED (85)
9. SItTING (74), ENCLOSE (77)
10. GOMERILS (68), AIRLINE (66), PAESANO (104)
11. DILUTES (67)
12. PRELUDE (101)
13. RAPIDeST (62), LIGATURE (63)
14. READIES (75), LIsTENS (80)
15. ARENITE (70), SLAINTE (74)
16. OUTREDS (78)
17. FLOREAT (76), FILETING (83), NOTICES (81)
18. SALTERN (79)
19.
20. BEDOUIN (78)
21. OUTLEAPs (140), cOENURI (76)
22. NEROLIS (68), SADDENS (87)
23. ENGRAVE (78), AGRISES (66)
24. CIlIATE (63), KOTARES (78)
25. OUTLIED (68), TINNERS (71)
26. GENItURE (66), REMINDS (76)
27. DENARII (68)
28. REENLIST (82)
29.
30.

PPPSC 2012 Full Result

Steven holds STEVEN? combination

Intermediate 3rd - Albert Martono

Intermediate 6th - Christian Oktavius

This man wins yet again

*winner images taken from http://penster.com.my

Zyzzyva Tutorial

Zyzzyva. Maybe this word is a little bit weird for common people's ears but not for Scrabble players'. It's actually a tropical weevil, a type of insect. In Scrabble, the name is taken as a word study app created by Michael W. Thelen. This app has been widely known and used by Scrabble players around the world. Zyzzyva helps Scrabble players to increase their word source and anagramming skill.
For you who haven't got Zyzzyva on your laptop, download it here http://zyzzyva.net/download.shtml
And here's a tutorial how to use it and how to maximize the features for your word study. First, after you've finished installing the app, build the lexicon database. Pick CSW12 as the default one, other lexicons are optional.

This is the Welcome page when you open the app :

You can check and edit your lexicons on Menu > Edit >Preferences > General

Click Edit... to edit your lexicon preferences.

As I've mentioned earlier, you are suggested to set your default lexicon to CSW12. You don't need to load all lexicon, just the ones you need. Then go to Menu > Edit > Preferences > Word Tables.

On Word Tables, you can edit how the words will be displayed on search tab. Also the lexicon symbols might help you to identify word availability in different lexicons.Once you've done with your preferences, you need to get familiar with Zyzzyva's features and menu.

Quiz - to test your word knowledge in form of quiz based on specifications.

Search - the most used feature in Zyzzyva. You can search words based on preferred criteria.

Cardbox - the scheduled mode of Quiz. It will help you to study and memorize more words with its intensity.

Definition - you can check the word availability and its definition.

Word Judge - this feature is used commonly in tournaments to check the availability of the challenged words. 

SEARCH

Legend of the column :

?                      : Acts as a blank. If you search with '?' or '.', ? column will show you the letters that can be added to make a word.

Prob-2            : Probability of the word. The calculation of how often you will get this word (this only applies to Scrabble game).

<                      : Front hook of a word

Word              : The list of the words

>                      : Back hook of a word

Definition       : The definition of a word

*for front hook and back hook column, if you see some letters there, for example the word EATINGS. On the front hook column appears “bh!s”, what does it mean? (ignore the non-alphabetic character, it has been explained on Preferences – Word Tables section).

“bhs” means the string of letters that can be added in front of EATINGS.

B -> BEATINGS

H -> HEATINGS

S -> SEATINGS

This also applies to the back hook.

WORD JUDGE

Click the Word Judge icon to start judging word(s). Firstly, you'll see a pop-up box to select the lexicon to be used for judging.

To continue, click OK and you'll enter the full screen Word Judge mode. It looks like this.

Type how many words would you challenge, then enter the words. Separate the words with SPACE or ENTER. Press TAB to see whether the play is acceptable or not. Even if only one word that's illegal, the play will still be unacceptable.

QUIZ & CARDBOX

You can train your word knowledge with these two features. To start the Quiz, click its icon then select your specifications so it can match your preferences. The quiz will come out one by one in jumbled letters. Find and type all the anagrams. You can find how many words you have answered correctly per total anagram per question at the bottom left corner. Click Analyze Quiz... to see how many words you've missed and answered incorrectly during the session.

Moving to Cardbox, it's actually the same with Quiz but added with scheduling. It's very helpful if you want to intensively study words everyday. When you able to answer one question correctly, that question will be moved to higher number of cardbox (you start from cardbox 0). The higher the number of cardbox is, the longer time period the question will appear.

To start using Cardbox, click Quiz icon then New Quiz window will appear. Change Quiz Method to Cardbox and you can select to Use only words matching search specification. Click OK when you're ready to start.

The Cardbox question's display is the same with the Quiz. Only with additional Cardbox placement and the next scheduled to appear in your question.

 Cardbox helps you to recall words you've studied before plus adding new ones.

Notes : Probability is the calculation of how likely a word (combination of letters) will you get in Scrabble games from 100 tiles. The greater number of tiles for a letter from 100 tiles will probably make the probability points of a word become lower.
Example : OTARINE -> O (8 tiles), T (6 tiles), A(9), R(6), I(9), N(6), E(12). These letters are the most common letters, thus when forming OTARINE, OTARINE has the lowest probability points.
The higher points of probability are, the less possibility you can get the word / letter combination.

The Real Open Board

Asian English Olympic 2013

18-21 February 2013

Round 22 :Julius Wilson vs Christian O.B

This is the multiple records holder game in Indonesian tourney, most bingo played by both opponent (8) and highest combined score, which just 1 points short to 1100 points, also highest average score (688/11 resulting over 60 average points per turn)

At the last day for preliminary round (which consist of 25 games), with 21 rounds completed, Julius got 18 VP’s, and only got 3 losses, which was 2 VP ahead of Christian O.B and Fadlan Satria. The condition seemed perfect for Julius Wilson to extend his lead and make him guaranteed to play in final round with just 4 rounds to go. But then interesting thing happened…

Julius was confident with his opening play, EMAILED, with rack DELIME?, stated his blank as A, for 74 points, while O.B didn’t have a tile to counter it effectively with BIINQVY. Still, considered lucky to play NIQAB using Julius’s blank for 30 points

The next move, Julius seems had a vowel-heavy rack, dumped HOA for 16 points, fortunately O.B tile wasn’t improved yet and only reply with TIVY for 18 points, and made score 90-48 for Julius after 2^nd move. Then the real action begin, right after this

With the rack still full of vowels, Julius managed to spot the only bingo, DOUANIER, using D already in board for 61 points. But it left his R in triple-triple line for 167 points FRAGILER, gave O.B almost 100 points more than his best bingo before, FRAGILE/REMAILED for only 73 points. The next move, Julius keep getting more vowels than it should be, MOOVE for 24 points, while O.B got nice spot to load his K for 38 points.  175-253 after 4^th move

A rack full of vowels forced Julius to exchange, yet OB once again managed for bingo UNSCALED for 78 plus 5 points challenge penalty. Julius managed to keep himself one bingo behind by ENTRAIN/REMAILED for 71, but as soon as he thought he only need one bingo to level the score, he got smacked with STATICE/STIVY to to triple word for 91 points, score was 246-427 after 6^th move. It was very very unusual condition to be almost 200 points behind while you managed to score over 40 points average per turn. Plus, 6 bingoes are played after 6^th moves…

As the game continue, things are getting worse for Julius, his IF and MOZO for 28 and 30 was no match for SPAZ for 40, then JOGS for 56. With the gap expanded to well over 200 points, Julius secured the last blanks, but also got clunky medium-tile combination P and W. His move, PAW for 29, seems good move, made him reach 333 points and dumped 2 medium tiles for bingo next turn, tragically, for him, it made O.B breaking 600 points barrier with HALTERE for 81 (which was homeless if he didn’t play PAW). With just 4 tiles left in bag, Julius said… “OMG, this is the highest combined game”, then he played his 4^th bingo DATURINE for 64 points (he could do better if he was sure about MOOVED), made combined score reaching over 1000 points with 397-604…

The endgame may not be as great as other game, but the last 7 tile, which OB got, seems not great, yet it has secret ability to extend his winning spread. This was the board position when sack was empty

As you can see, OB was quite lucky that Julius cannot use his entire tile in one move; the BRUW was just not worked. The final task to OB was how to divide this “not so great” combination into 2 high scoring moves, and block Julius main spot. Such a lucky coincidence that DUNGY, or GUNDY in A1 answer all the question above, it was 41 points move, leave unstoppable OX that can be played for at least 30 points in various spots in board. After more than 3 minutes, Julius shook his head, and play BUR only for 14 points, and pressed his clock to made his final score 411, while OB finish the game with OX/TIX for 35 points, to make his score just 12 points below 700 after added with unplayed letter (W). Julius then ended the game by saying “This is the openest board I’ve ever seen”, and was quite happy eventhough he know he was losing almost 300 points. Julius still lead the standing with 3 rounds to go, and all of us laughed hard because it was a very rare situation when the leader got pulverized closed to 300 points, isn’t it?? This is the picture taken right after the game ended

Partial annotated about this game can be found here http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=13686#0

Thanks for reading

Created by Christian Oktavius

A Postponed Bingo

Asian English Olympic 2013

18-21 February 2013

Round 4 between Fadlan Satria and Christian O.B

This game was in same competition with “the real open board”. The difference is this game was made in first day of the competition, and was a great example that sometimes, you need to think twice even you obviously got a bingo…

Fadlan started with low-scoring but high turnover tile move TAUNT for 12, and replied with YOUNG for 21 points. Nothing much special in 3 next moves, until O.B decided to “high turnover” move, LABOUR with tile LABOUR+I (no bingo available) for 23 points. At this point, the game just “started”, with score 77-91 for Fadlan after 4^th move

Fadlan made a phoney bingo ADEPTERS*, for 62, which escaped from challenge. He could play a legal bingo, scoring 105 points to triple ADEPTEST/ZOOS. No one know the true meaning of ADEPT, which only adjective. The high turnover leaving only I to getting good tile was unsuccessful from OB, instead of getting blank and other goodie, he ended up holding DEIIOOR, and only replied with OORIE for 18, which become crucial word later

Fadlan also got some dreck issue after several move ahead, KUTU for 18, blocked the bingo spotted by O.B DENARII, but quickly realized that he can also play bingo, even larger score, DEAIRING in triple for 83, and regain the lead with 193-222, but Fadlan has another bingo right after that, INSHORE for 77. OB tried to keep his score level to Fadlan by HEFT for 42 points, which replied by CABA for 33. Then the most interesting part begin.

Knowing that score 303-264 for Fadlan, or 39 points behind with 14 letters left in sack, and EGLNRSW, OB decided to gambling to maximize his bingo chance (knowing 2 blanks still unseen) by setting bingo spot which easily used with 7-letters word ended with S, AWL for 14, gave Fadlan chance to play his 3^rd bingo, LINTIES, for 70+5 points, and lead by exactly 100 points, leave only 5 tiles in the sack.

OB obviously got a bingo, with tile GONERS?, but with 100 points behind, an immediate counter with bingo will most likely not enough to make a turn-point, knowing he had to take all 5 remained tiles after bingo. With the remained tile, which tracked correctly ACDDEILOQRVW, he had to think some serious strategy to win the game.

And what happened next:

OB postponing his bingo, ERG/OORIER, for 10+5, leave ONES? enable double crossing TWL with ERGO, resulting close to 100 points bingo (still, this strategy require luck since there are still 1 O unseen, Fadlan could have got it, but cannot find any better strategy to get some serious fight back). Fadlan know exactly what happened here, and start to panic even 85 points ahead, knowing he didn’t have the right tile to block that spot effectively with ACDDLVQ. Fadlan still decided to block, even know it was ineffective and destroy his rack balance, DEAD for 9, which allowed OB to regain the lead with DOWNIEST for 101+5 (yup, over 100) points bingo. Fadlan decided to challenge since he know his QAID for 27 wasn’t enough to give him victory, as OB take the last letter in sack R for UR (4 pts) and got enormous 20 points additional by Fadlan unplayed tiles CLOVED. Final score 423-414.

Could Fadlan win the game?? Definitely. The key is “you don’t always have to block”. Fadlan let himself slacked by ineffective block with DEAD, leave DLCVQ, ignored his best move QAID for 27 points. Even QAID let O.B to higher bingo (SNOWIER) for 107, the combined score of his last 2 moves was able to keep him  10-20 points ahead (QAID for 27, then 20-ish move), that make about 50 points in 2 move, compared to 36 points he got with DEAD and QAID for try to block that deadly bingo spot, he also get a chance to use his C and V in his last move, minimize the additional points for OB, as the last letter he get, R only give him 4 points

The final picture:

Partially annotated about this game can be found here http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=13681#0

Thanks for reading

Created by Christian Oktavius

Scrabble Dos and Don'ts

Maybe many of you haven't known this in playing Scrabble and maybe this video could help you to put away uncertainties about it. This video also contains some useful and important knowledge/information in a tournament.

Enjoy the video!

This video is published courtesy of Scrabble Association, Singapore. Originally uploaded by Yong Jian Rong.

The Legendary X

Zig Zag English Scrabble Tournament 2012
10-11 May 2012
Round 8 : Me vs Steven Surya

Right at the midpoint of the tournament, I faced Steven Surya. It always be a tricky game to play against him. And yes, this time maybe it's the trickiest one. I'll give a story about the whole game here :D

Steven started with AEIOUS? on his rack. That combination only forms one bingo and he didn't miss it, SEqUOIA for 64 pts. I got not too good rack at that time, so I could only play MEND for 22 pts.
Instead of extending his lead, Steven got challenged by me for a quite silly mistake. Then, I exchanged my tiles.

With the same rack like the previous turn, Steven could only play POI for 9 pts and the O opened triple letter score spot for my TAW/PA/OW (31 pts). But, he countered with FEW/TE/PAW with 5 points bigger than mine.

Next I played MAP to throw away all the medium tiles in the search for bingo since I already kept one blank. Steven then played QADI. Current score 133-79 for Steven.

I placed down a bingo to do a lead takeover, LAITIeS/TEL/PAWA for 79 pts. But soon Steven restored the lead with FORGE (47 pts). I played EINE/RE/GI/EN on the triple word spot to lead again by 1 point. Steven then took the other triple word spot he opened before with VEINS/IFS for 30 pts.

Still trying to chase Steven, I played NYE/TELE for 17 pts but still 3 points shy of 200. Luckily, Steven also couldn't score big with only played OU for 9 pts. I got myself into the lead again with SEZ (36 pts). 229-219 for me.

Steven used the Z I've played before to make CAZ and below the C was triple word score square and I quickly noticed that both H haven't been played yet. So to minimize the chance of Steven to use that triple word score square, I played AR for only 2 pts! I was right, right after I played AR, he threw away his H to open the board a bit. Instantly, I closed the board again with COURT. Steven still in the lead with 246-245.

Next he played VAU and it looked to be impossible for another bingo. My turn, INORB for 22 pts. Then, we started to score low. DIT (18 pts) for Steven, BARE (17 pts) for me, DE (13 pts) for Steven, HARE (14 pts) for me. The current score was 298-292 for me.

With a tight board, Steven still managed to use the bonus square wisely, he played YO/NY/YO for 25 pts. With probably the last high scoring spot, I took it for KAT to score 25 pts too. And that move left us both with seven tiles on each rack and no tiles remaining in the bag.

With this condition, Steven should win the game (Steven to play) :

I had J and X still on my rack and only with one vowel!
It would be a thrilling endgame.
Steven first played HUNG for 10 pts. It took him to lead by 4 pts (327-323) with LERS left on his rack. I think he could do much better to kill the game as soon as possible. That allowed me to played JO/ONY for 23 pts with GLLTX left on my rack. 346-327 for me.
Then Steven threw away his R for FORGER/RE to score 12 pts. I was still leading 346-339. I played GUMP (9 pts) leaving LLTX on the rack. Steven played COURTS/TINS for 12 pts.

My rack : LLTX
Steven's rack : EL
The score : 355-351 for me.

I was leading but Steven had the edge because of my X. All of the Ls were unplayable. My turn now and I played IT for 2 pts and still kept the X. Steven used the spot I created from IT to play TE/TE and to go level with my score. It seemed to be a win for Steven, but quickly I spotted the last place to play the X. I extended ONY into ONYX and scored 14 pts. Then, we had to pass because we couldn't make another move. Final score 369-356 and it was a win for me! Phew!

After the game, I revealed why I kept the X until the end. It was all because the triple word score square beside my X if I played it earlier. If Steven had A/E/O then he would easily score 27 pts with only one letter and surely would win the game. I waited until his E came out. It was a gamble but I had to try to win, and it worked! When Steven was about to play the last E, his best move was to pass. Yes, right. Pass!

This was surely an unforgettable endgame!

Full game : http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=11121#0
This game wasn't fully annotated, several racks may not consist the right tile combination.

Scrabble Tournaments

This time, I'm gonna discuss about the relation between Scrabble and tournaments. Why the most common realization of Scrabble is tournament? From my point of view, it's because of the nature of Scrabble itself. You race with your opponent to score the most points, it is what Scrabble is all about. The game is designed to be a competitive play, although we can play it casually but you can't put away the competitive component. Then what is tournament? According to Merriam-Webster :

tour·na·ment

noun\ˈtu̇r-nə-mənt also ˈtər- orˈtȯr-\

: a sports competition or series of contests that involves many players or teams and that usually continues for at least several days

: a contest of skill and courage between soldiers or knights in the Middle Ages

Or you can say it as competition or championship or tourney too. They have the same meaning. Like I've said before, tournament is the most common realization of Scrabble. We when hear about Scrabble event announcement, it's almost likely in form of tournament. Am I right? We do tournaments basically to give players a platform to develop, to socialize and to fulfill players' need.

As a player who has joined lots of tournaments, I can tell you I'm very benefited from joining tournaments. Some benefits are my skill has been increased quite much since I first played a Scrabble game (although I still keep learning), I got many friends both from Indonesia and overseas, and also life values. Top prizes are the other thing. I never get bored to join any tournaments and always crave for more because it's simply enjoyable.
From the past three years, only less than 30 players have been actively joining tournaments nationally (based on ISF ratings of minimum games played). The other 200 only joined one or two tournaments then they disappeared. I don't know why but it's becoming a trend. I don't exactly know whether this condition also occurs in cities across Indonesia. Jakarta sees this problem but slowly develops more and more because of more frequent activities. I hope there will be lots of returning players also lots of new comers.

Nowadays, players' mindset and motivation have been an issue in joining Scrabble tournaments. Of course without the right mindset and motivation, you won't continue to join another tournament.
These are some wrong mindsets and motivations and excuses :

• "Top players are joining, I won't join the tournament!" - Simple, if you want to be the best, learn from the best! The stronger the opponent is, the stronger also you'll be. Top players started from the bottom also, had their hard times. Face it and you'll reach further!
• "I won't be able to win the tournament" - That's why it called tournament. There are always winning side and losing side. You can't win every tournament you join, that's normal. Train hard so you can have bigger opportunities and self-confidence.
• Prize money - If you are searching for money, go find some job not by joining Scrabble tournament.
• "Too much expenses or cost" - Start saving some money from now! Or find local institution to help you with funding, or conduct a fundraising tournament but you can always join local or small tournaments. There's always a way to solve the problem.
• "I'm having a bad record in this tournament, let's go somewhere else on the second day or third day" - Mostly happens to High School students. Oh c'mon! You have paid the registration fee and it's going to be wasted. By keep joining until the end, at least you can enjoy the fun and disregard the result. 
• "I have no time!" - Classic excuse. Most tournaments are conducted on weekend. There has to be a space. You can also manage your time better.
• "I've been vacuum for quite a long time" - Another classic. One of the way to refresh your memory is to join a tournament. Even I think it's the most effective way.

Scrabble tournament is a platform for you to develop your Scrabble skill, don't be afraid to take the chance.
Moving on to the organizer. Well, there's no a big problem for the organizer so far from my point of view. If you find it hard to get participants, prove it first why your tournament will be awaited and expected. Smaller tournament might help you to bring the participants to your main tournament.  Give a good impression to the participants so they want to return to your tournament. Make it prestigious but also reachable for all.
Do a good branding and people will help you 'promote' your tournament.

 I really hope many players will be active in not one, not two but many tournaments. Have the right motivation and give your thoughts if you have any about any tournament so the particular one can improve. Also look forward for more Scrabble event and activity across Indonesia.
Good luck! :D

Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2011

Yes, it was our first Nationals in Indonesia. Held at BINUS University from 16th to 18th of December 2011. The national rating system was officially established there. 3 days, 20 rounds to play and 46 players took part.
Now, we're entering the tournament. The first draw was out and guess who, I played Hyendi Gumilang in the first round!. What a tough way to start the tournament!
Round 1 : I got sATIATE only in the second move and got challenged for AGAVEs, which was good. Hyendi played ATHEISE for 95 pts but directly I replied with JEST for 68 pts. Later on, I managed to make another bingo ROsELLA for 70 pts. I won the game 470-387.
Round 2 : I was drawn to my fellow BNECer, Harryadi Hermanto. I made TRAPPInG for 64 pts. He played RESTORED, I replied with ADENINeS from the floating D subsequently. It was a quite comfortable game for me. Won 456-323.
Round 3 : Against Fernando. Defeated him with some margin. 512-282. I climbed into fourth with 3 wins. 5 players still kept 100% record.
Round 4 : Masagus Imran was my opponent for this round. During the game, he was caught up by too many non scoring moves. I took the advantage and I won another game by 489-268.

Round 5 : Going into the fifth round, there were only 3 players who still unbeaten, Fadlan Satria, Hendy Yohanes and me luckily. I played Fadlan since we both had greater margin than Hendy. It was a very tight game. I managed to make PIGLETs, ARSHINE and oESTRIN that killed the game off. Interestingly, I received 20 pts bonus from challenges. Finally, I beat Fadlan with 481-441 and went top.
Round 6 : Before this round started, I was the only undefeated player and faced an uphill task against Christian Oktavius. DEVIAnT and SCANdAL in the first and third move gave me a quite comfortable lead. MEISTER for 83 pts kept Christian hope alive. REENLIST for 77 pts in my last move undoubtedly secured a win for me with Christian had to get more than 140 pts to leapfrog me, no spot for triple-triple. He replied with ARSONITE anyway for the exact score of my last bingo. Final score : 500-453 for me. Phew! And that was the end of Day 1.
Round 7 : The draw was reset for Day 2. I met Fadlan for the second time in the tournament. Fadlan was leading with his TIReDER (63 pts) until I constantly played high-scoring moves, including ORALIST (69 pts), AXLED (63 pts), BAYES (47 pts), FOOTIeS (74 pts). I extended my winning streak to 7 wins thanks to a 463-343 win.
Round 8 : I was leading with 7 VP and Hendy Yohanes was right behind me with 6 VP, the other top 5 had 5 VP. So I played Hendy and a win would take me 2 VP clear at the top. But Hendy had another idea, he managed to stop my streak by winning 407-349. His SDAINES for 81 pts gave him the win.

Round 9 : I met Hyendi again this time. His ISOEtES (72 pts), TERNATEs (68 pts), TRAVELER (66 pts), QAID (48 pts) were too much for me. I could only get FETIALS for 88 pts. I lost 369 to 470 and in a losing streak. Hendy took over the first spot after defeated Fadlan.
Round 10 : I met Adelina Harry in this round. We had slow start until the middle of the game. There was a funny moment during this round, I played GORHEN and Adel directly took a challenge. When we were walking to a laptop to check, there was another GORHEN word had been challenged. So the same word was challenged twice at the same time from different tables. What a coincidence. Back to the game, I had MAESTrI to secure the win. A 396-306 win. Hendy was beaten by Hyendi so I climbed back to the top with 8 VP, leading Hyendi and Hendy by margins.
Round 11 : Robby Swandanu was my opponent here. Started so bad that I could only score 24 pts in the first five moves.But HAILERS (81 pts) followed by JATO (54 pts) got me back on track. After another two moves for rack balancing, SNaRLED (73 pts) gave me some leading margins. In two ending moves, LIONETS (71 pts) and ANIMAtE (80) helped me to win comfortably by 458 to 329.
Round 12 : This time against Vincentius Salim. Again, it wasn't so good game, started slow and no bingo on the board until the tenth move. I played DAUTeRS* (85 pts) to move further from reach, luckily it didn't get challenged. Vincent got a bingo, RELINKS (92 pts) to cut the difference. I challenged the word and it was good. Thankfully, I still won the game. 375-317.

Round 13 : The last round for Day 2 and yes, I got the same opponent to close the day like Day 1, Christian Oktavius. I started with KAoLINE for 80 pts. Christian made ENJAILS* (87 pts) in his second move. Don't know why I didn't challenge it. Instantly, I replied with vIBRATED (80 pts). Christian closed the gap with STEWIER (85 pts). It was very tight until the last turn. ZOL (36 pts) won the game for me. 438-427. Fadlan made EUTAXIAS for a smashing 244 pts in the other game.
Round 14 : Day 3 which was the final day. King of The Hill all day. I met Hyendi again for the third time. A bit careless not to challenge a double-double LURKIEST* for 94 pts and I was punished. I once almost took the lead with ANISOLES (68 pts) but Hyendi kept the lead with TOXinES (78 pts). Hyendi won 453-410.
Result after round 14 (top 5) :
1. Albert Martono 11 +957
2. Hyendi Gumilang 11 +690
3. Fadlan Satria 10 + 1285
4. Christian Oktavius 9 +1668
5. Robby Swandanu 9 +1107

Round 15 : Still got the same opponent with the previous round. Couldn't do much in this round. Two bingos, uMBONES (83 pts) and PANTERS (78 pts), were enough for Hyendi to see a win. 345-406.
Result after round 15 (top 5) :
1. Hyendi Gumilang 12 +751
2. Fadlan Satria 11 +1314
3. Albert Martono 11 +896
4. Robby Swandanu 10 +1171
5. Hendy Yohanes 10 + 410

Round 16 : Not a great start for Day 3 and it became worse when I met Robby in this round. His SOLARIA (66 pts) in the opening move made him easier to control the game. Then he consecutively made OZONATES (104 pts), GRATINEE (68 pts), HAUnTERS (70 pts) and UNSEX (64 pts). I could only reply with AtROPINS (80 pts), sandwiched between his stunning moves.It resulted my biggest loss in the tournament for 220 pts. Robby won 559-339 and I was on three losing streak.
Result after round 16 (top 5) :
1. Fadlan Satria 12 +1456
2. Hyendi Gumilang 12 +609
3. Robby Swandanu 11 +1391
4. Albert Martono 11 +676
5. Hendy Yohanes 11 +572

Round 17 : I should come back to winning way to win the tournament. Time to prove it against Robby yet again. I started quite well with cUSTARD (72 pts) and ORTHIANS* (66 pts). Robby left it unchallenged, he thought it was okay. TRAHISON was the good one. Later, we exchanged bingos, ONErIER (72 pst) for him and RESIDUES (63 pts) for me. Finally, I stopped the losing streak and won by 432 to 373.
Result after round 17 (top 5) :
1. Hyendi Gumilang 13 +741
2. Fadlan Satria 12 +1324
3. Albert Martono 12 +735
4. Hendy Yohanes 12 +628
5. Robby Swandanu 11 +1332

Round 18 : Met Hendy Yohanes and we had a quite fair game. He got lOONIES (69 pts) and I got GRADeRS (75 pts) and CIGARETS (82 pts). But I got the better result from Hendy. It was a 434-371 win for me.
Result after round 18 (top 5) :
1. Fadlan Satria 13 + 1344
2. Albert Martono 13 +798
3. Hyendi Gumilang 13 +721
4. Robby Swandanu 12 +1446
5. Hendy Yohanes 12 +565

Round 19 : With three players got the same VP at the top, the champion should be decided until the last round. In this round I met Fadlan. Very tight game. I played VEDALiA and it got challenged for total (90 pts). He fought back with FEEDING (67 pts) but I soon defended my lead with BRIStLES (70 pts). Then Fadlan almost pipped me right at the end with STEADING (83 pts) and ORDINES (81 pts), only my JIVE (33 pts) cancelled it out. I beat the leader 448-429.
Result after round 19 (top 5) :
1. Albert Martono 14 +817
2. Robby Swandanu 13 +1598
3. Fadlan Satria 13 +1325
4. Hyendi Gumilang 13 +569
5. Christian Oktavius 12 +1816

Round 20 : I was one VP clear at the top but I should win to protect the lead because Robby and Fadlan margins were greater than mine. I was facing Robby for the final time in this tournament. He started the game with OUTHARM* and I braved myself to take a challenge since I had to win the game. Good for me, it wasn't good! I took the opening with DAUBY (30 pts). He blasted PARISON for 89 pts. At this time, he led 155 to 99. Shortly, I got a good fortune, started with STATICS and got challenge bonus (86 pts). I took the lead at that move with 242-226. Next turn, FOLIAGE (74 pts) to increase my lead (316-247). The third bingo came as soon as I hoped it. LATRONS for 65 pts made me led 381-265. Three straight bingos and it wasn't over yet. VEX (49 pts) helped to extend the lead. 430-296. Robby managed to cut the margin with EARLIEs (62 pts). 441-370. With that bingo, Robby got all remaining tiles from the bag and got the last blank. Therefore, I blocked the obvious triple word line at bottom center for bingo with ID for 18 pts. 459-370. I pushed him to go for a nine-letter bingo but it was never easy. He couldn't make it and I was relieved. Final score 484 for me and 410 for Robby.
Final result after round 20 (top 10) :
1. Albert Martono 15 +888
2. Hyendi Gumilang 14 +678
3. Christian Oktavius 13 +1880
4. Robby Swandanu 13 +1527
5. Fadlan Satria 13 +1216
6. Vincentius Salim 13 +135
7. Eko Tama Putra 12 +731
8. Hendy Yohanes 12 +552
9. Adelina Harry Santi 12 +421
10. Luthfi Rafif 12 +345

I became the first ever National champion, very grateful for that! :D

Full result : http://indonesianscrabble.org/tournaments/2011/001ISC

Here's a post-tournament photo :

Scrabble for Beginners

New to Scrabble? Interested but don't know where to start? Well, this post might help you to know more about Scrabble. Scrabble is a board game with crossword fashion in 15x15 grids. 2-4 players can play together in one game. You form words from your tiles to score points. Whoever scores the most is the winner. That's a short brief about the game.

Scrabble is everybody's game, no age restrictions or else. It's also one of the fun way to learn English. Scrabble doesn't require good English and spelling skill, the only important thing is your desire to play Scrabble! :p 

You'll get some benefits if you play Scrabble : 

• Increase your vocabulary. There's no doubt about this since you play with words. But there's a phenomena that you only knowing the word without the meaning while you go further in Scrabble. That's normal, because the main point you play Scrabble isn't just to add your vocabularies.
• Increase your creativity. Yup, every time you play, the game will not be exactly the same.
• Mathematics. You do add and multiply the scores of your words in a game and you have to be quick.
• Strategy and tactic. Like creativity, your strategy and tactic also will be sharpened because you always have to face different situation in each game.
• Friends! Of course you'll have lots of new friends by joining Scrabble community.

Scrabble doesn't stop at casual play, the next step is tournament. Tournament is a platform to know who far you've been developing in Scrabble, to learn more, to meet new friends. Tournaments are usually held across the world.

Here are some tips to start playing Scrabble and also to start joining tournaments :

• Get yourself or your group a Scrabble board. At least you have one in your group so you can play together.

• A paper to write down your scores.
• Points below are more to Scrabble tournament. If you want to be more competitive, start playing one-by-one in one game. Most tournaments now are applying single player system (one-by-one / two players in one game).
• Get a scoresheet. Scoresheet is different with ordinary papers. It helps you to track your score and your opponent score. It also provides tile tracking. In single player system, you have to keep both your score and opponent score since there's no helper to keep your score. I'll provide more information and resources about scoresheet later, in the meantime you can ask your nearest Scrabble club to you.
• Get a Scrabble timer. You can use chess timer as the other option. Also you can download Zarf for iOS user and other Scrabble timer apps for smartphone or tablet.
• Word study. Internationally, Scrabble tournaments use CSW (Collins Scrabble Words) as the lexicon (dictionary/word source). The latest and official lexicon is CSW12. You can study CSW from Zyzzyva, an app to study Scrabble words. Download it here. 
  
• Join Scrabble community or club near to you, it'll massively help you to develop in Scrabble!

I'm looking forward to see lots of new faces in Indonesian Scrabble! :D

Take a visit to Indonesian Scrabble Federation website.

Join and interact more on our Indonesian Scrabble Facebook group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/318426386016/

Good luck! B-)