Daily Puzzle : 25 September 2014

Today Scrabble Talk is going to discuss one particular moment in a game. The game can be from real one or online with friends or computer.

So when playing against computer on Scrabble app, we got this rack of QVECXEZ. A bit awkward combination but still playable for high points, now take a look of the board condition.

The board is still very open, with many 'hot spots' are still available. The obvious one is the Triple Letter box next to I from mOINEAU. You can play EX/EON/XI for an easy 53 pts but it's very tempting to play somewhere else as you already held the Q for QI/QI/IN (64 pts).

A more speculative one, there's a Double Letter box on the triple lane above the A from MARRIERS and wait to put the Z there and hit the Triple Word box.

One thing to look is the leave here, QVC combination is not a pretty one.

What will be your move and why?

Here are a few thoughts from @alexieishere : 

.@scrabbletalk instead of the obvious play EX/EON/XI for 53, I choose CEZVE/EMO for 41, get rid of awkward tile and high chance of drawing I
— Alexander Gozali (@alexieishere) September 25, 2014

.@scrabbletalk just realized that EXEC/TE/WEX/ODE for 45 is safer, but QVZ is really awkward, still think CEZVE is better though
— Alexander Gozali (@alexieishere) September 25, 2014

We opted to play safe and fishing for the I, EXEC/TE/WEX/ODE for 45pts. Successfully to draw I in the next turn, so QI/QI/IN was obvious. Had a dreadful EVHYVZL after playing QI, but lucky we could make (B)EVVY.

Here is the final board :

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How to Organize Scrabble Tournament

Have you ever thought to organize a Scrabble tournament by your own or with your club but you don't know how or what to do? Or maybe you don't know about the rules, resources, format and where to find all of these.

Well here, Scrabble Talk is going to give you some useful tips that you can apply in organizing a tournament. The tips here are based on the writer experience in joining and organizing tournaments for years.
Here are some tips (and also tricks) to organize a Scrabble tournament.

BEFORE TOURNAMENT

Check tournament/academic calendar
First, you need to check and synchronize national calendar and academic calendar (if any). This action is to prevent clashing with another event/tournament. There are some tournaments that have already been established, like Asian English Olympics in mid February, E.COM in September and else. Set the date a long way before.

Form a committee
Actually in a Scrabble tournament, you don't need too much core committee members. Project officer, tournament, registration and support are enough for the core team. You can cover each other's works as well. Find a team that you can cooperate and work with well, be effective. During tournament, you might need more people to assist the committee and the participants, just ask for help.
In the end, it's all up to you what kind of team and how big is the team that you want to form :).

Tournament format
Nowadays, most competitions use one-on-one tournament format. There's no elimination and all players play the same amount of rounds. You need to be aware of these things if you want your tournament to be rated (Rating explanation below). Usually, you can make two or three-day-long tournament and it can fit 12-20 rounds. To attract more participants, you can divide the tournament into two or more divisions. The divisions are usually based on ratings (1200 pts mark). One of the three-day tournament with divisions example is Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2014.

Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2014 Format (via indonesianscrabble.org)

Apply for rating
Rating is a point to measure player's skill in Scrabble. Tournaments in Indonesia can be rated by Indonesian Scrabble Federation (ISF). There are some criteria for a tournament in order to be rated, the number of games, the number of participants and tournament format (see above). If you have follow the format, submit your rating application form to ISF.
It's better to submit your application way before your tournament starts, the latest time to submit is one month before the tournament starts.
Note : You will be advised not to publish your tournament as a rated tournament by ISF before you get the approval.

Publication
Do a good publication long before the tournament starts. You don't want your tournament lacks of participants right? If your tournament is accepted to be rated, your tournament info will be posted on ISF website so Scrabble players from all around Indonesia will know. Post your tournament info also on ISC Facebook group, most Indonesian Scrabble players are there.
Make sure you include all important info, like is it rated or not, total rounds that are going to be played, is there any division and is it open for public or not. Make it clear and not confusing.
Also be responsive to inquires about your tournament.

Funding
You need some money to fund your tournament. Find a subsidy from your institution or sponsors. Make a financial planning from best to the worst one. This will help you to deal with various cases.

DURING TOURNAMENT

Venue
Find a hall or a big room to be used as a venue. One spacious room is better than some small rooms since it'll be easier for you to navigate in bigger room. Prepare the room setting with director tables at the front and playing tables for two or four players each. Give some space between the tables to make you and players moving around easily.

Tabulation
You need to tabulate all the scores from each round. Pairings from each round use the result from the previous round.
There's a tournament software called AuPair to tabulate the scores and do pairings. AuPair program will generate .TOU file that consists of tournament scores. You need a laptop/computer to do the tabulation.

AuPair

Pairings
Pairings is a match-up for players in each round. There are usually two types of pairings that used in tournament,  Australian draw and King of The Hill.
Australian draw is a pairing which two players can't meet each other more than once in a period of time which has been set (no repeat). This pairing is also known as Swiss Pairing.
Meanwhile, King of The Hill (KOTH) means two players can meet each other repeatedly without any condition. King of The Hill is usually used in latter rounds of a tournament.

Australian Draw example

There's also a special case where the top player can't be caught anymore in the remaining number of rounds so the top player will be Gibsonized (Gibson rule). Gibson rule means the top player won't face players that still competing for a place in prize pool. He/she will take a player that can't make it to prize pool in remaining rounds. This will preserve a fairer competition for players in contention for prize pool.

Boards, tiles, timer, word judge
Make sure you have enough amount of board set and timer. Do spare two or three in case of additional participants or unexpected broken timer/board.
For tiles, make sure each set has a complete 100 tiles with correct distribution.
You can use apps in smartphone instead of Scrabble/chess timer. Use Zyzzyva as the word judge in laptop.
See the Resource page to find more useful tools.

Scrabble timer (pic credit : SamTimer.com)

Zyzzyva for iOS

Zarf timer for iOS

Score sheet, result slip
Players need score sheet to track their and opponents score so do prepare it for the players. Result slip is optional but highly suggested to have, the use is to record the final result, other important data and as an agreement between two players where they have to sign on it.
Again, see the Resource page to find the sheet. You can make your own result slip format that contains winner & loser names, winner & loser scores, winner & loser signs and high word (optional). Write down the round (and division if any) on the result slip to help you process the results.

AFTER TOURNAMENT

Tournament report
After the tournament is finished, publicize the result and make a report document of tournament if your tournament is rated by ISF.

.TOU file
You need to save the .TOU file of the full tournament result and submit the file to ISF to be processed. The file is very important to calculate tournament rating and to publish the result on ISF website. Do create a backup of it.

Rules : WESPA Rules V2

We hope with this post, it can help you to organize more Scrabble tournament in Indonesia.
If you have any question, please comment below.

Top Ten

After competing in a tournament last week, I wondered how the performance from the top ten rated players in Indonesia is. There are many ups and downs (particularly me) in the top ten. After almost three years since the first release, the top ten has stretched its bounds. Currently the maximum point is almost reaching 1950 points and the minimum point is ranging from 1400 to 1450.

The first ever top ten in Indonesia looks like this (Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2011) :
1. Albert Martono (1612)
2. Hyendi Gumilang (1549)
3. Fadlan Satria (1522)
4. Robby Swandanu (1488)
5. Christian Oktavius (1468)
6. Hendy Yohanes (1418)
7. Adelina Harry Santi (1372)
8. Eko Tama Putra (1369)
9. Vincentius Salim (1343)
10. Jimmy (1313)

After Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2012, we added a new condition where the players have to reach a minimum 50 rated games to be included in top ten rated players.

Top ten rated players in 2012 :
1. Christian Oktavius (1759)
2. Fadlan Satria (1667)
3. Albert Martono (1624)
4. Hyendi Gumilang (1615)
5. Julius Wilson (1598)
6. Jimmy (1461)
7. Eko Tama Putra (1446)
8. Adelina Harry Santi (1400)
9. Steven Surya (1389)
10. Hendy Yohanes (1367)

Top ten rated players in 2013 :
1. Christian Oktavius (1788)
2. Fadlan Satria (1736)
3. Julius Wilson (1669)
4. Albert Martono (1606)
5. Robby Swandanu (1574)
6. Hyendi Gumilang (1556)
7. Jimmy (1459)
8. Eko Tama Putra (1448)
9. Hartanto Wibisono (1440)
10. Adelina Harry Santi (1400)

Top ten rated players in 2014 (so far) :
1. Christian Oktavius (1946)
2. Fadlan Satria (1725)
3. Julius Wilson (1723)
4. Albert Martono (1655)
5. Robby Swandanu (1612)
6. Hyendi Gumilang (1611)
7. Jimmy (1509)
8. Alexander Gozali (1452)
9. Eko Tama Putra (1448)
10. Ario Ananda (1435)

There are as many as 19 players that have ever reached the top ten. The latest is Ario Ananda, who leapfrogged Hartanto Wibisono to the tenth place.
Here are the 19 players :
Albert Martono, Hyendi Gumilang, Fadlan Satria, Robby Swandanu, Christian Oktavius, Hendy Yohanes, Adelina Harry Santi, Eko Tama Putra, Vincentius Salim, Jimmy, Julius Wilson, Haris Prihartono, Fangky Adetia,  Harryadi Hermanto, Steven Surya, Hartanto Wibisono, Alexander Gozali, Rizko Alfitrian and Ario Ananda.

3 - The number of players that ever placed first (Albert, Christian, Hyendi).

5 - The number of players that have reached 1700 rating points mark (Christian, Hyendi, Fadlan, Albert, Julius).

221 - Currently the margin between the first place, Christian and the second place, Fadlan. A record high.

478 - Christian's rating has improved 478 points. The highest in top ten.

1060 - Both Hartanto and Ario started from the same rating points and made it to the top ten.

ESo National Scrabble Competition 2014 (Part 1)

Hi all! Finally I went to Lampung for the first time in almost two years to join this competition held by English Society of Lampung University. ESo National Srabble Competition (ENSC) 2014 was held on July 5th-6th, 2014. 24 participants from Jakarta,Tangerang, Palembang and Lampung were there to compete in 15-round tournament. So here is my tournament report :).

Round 1 against Septian Moufti. My opening game was a one-sided game as I took command during the whole game. Septian was caught making invalid move 6 times as I could stretch the lead. CORONAS and NODDERS were my bingos. I won 569-194. Result after round 1 : 1-0 +375.

Round 2 against Julius Wilson. We were in the top 2 after the first round. Julius started strongly with two straight bingos, WINDERs and INFAMOUs. I managed to cut his lead with ZEIN and LIONETS but his ADJOINED later did the blow. I got no E after bingoing LIONETS in my fifth turn. I lost the game by 378-515. Result after round 2 : 1-1 +238.

Round 3 against Ginanjar Agung. Got some tricky tile combinations here. First, IIORTT? and then AISTUV?, I didn't know InTROIT and I found VAcUIST but he blocked my spot. Ginanjar was the first to get a bingo with sPINNER but illegally created AMENEs*, again I didn't know AMENE doesn't take S. Later, I replied with HAGRIDEs, which he challenged. Had to exchange twice to get rid off dreadful tile combinations. I won 457-326. Result after round 3 : 2-1 +369.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4 against Rastra Teguh. It was a tight match as we kept exchanging the lead during the game. I played FIRMA* and escaped the challenge. His ReADILY was directly replied by my rEJONES to keep my 40-point lead. Shortly, he made another bingo ASTONING through the I of my FIRMA*. His ZOA for 41 pts stretched his lead until I reduced it with AZALEA for 48 pts. Then we reached a tense ending where he was leading 397-370. My final rack was GHOORST and his was CFIINOU, I played AGO for 11 pts leaving HORST (missed ORTHOS/EDS). Rastra then shockingly played KUFI for 13 pts instead of FOCI or FUCI /ETIC. I played with SHORT/KUFIS for 28 pts and won the game by additional points from unplayed tiles. Final score 421-410. Later, Rastra said that he knew neither FOCI nor FUCI. Result after round 4 : 3-1 +380.
Round 5 against Muhammad Ihsan. Another close match. I got not so great tiles in this game and the board condition was also against me. He played a bingo first with ANATASe and took the lead but he then made a crucial mistake by playing JAB/AP*. I capitalized it to catch him by playing LOURIES. Right after the bingo, I got AEILMRT on my rack and I had seen two spots for another bingo through O and N but Ihsan amazingly blocked the spots at once with BORTZ. In the end of the game, he again made a huge blunder by playing NEC(K)LERs* having already taken the lead and only need to score to keep the lead. I managed to pip him 380-377 and it was back-to-back 'gifted' win. Result after round 5 : 4-1 +383.
Round 6 against Christian Oktavius. This match was inevitable. I started the game somehow in an outstanding fashion. SMARTEN (74), KEX (51), RICH (39), DELETION (61) and ZA (65) were my first five moves. I made VETeRANS to extend my rare lead over him. I even missed YEELINS and just realized it after I pressed the clock to finish my move, doh! I added another bingo, ALINERs and blocked Christian's chance to play PRESONG. I won comfortably by 548-340. Result after round 6 : 5-1 +591.

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Pairings for round 7

Round 7 against Alexander Gozali. Started steadily but it was Alex who got the bingo first (SPORTED). He then made FRIA* and was challenged off immediately. I capitalized to make a bingo STATIVE and took the lead. He then cut the margin with ALIENERS but I regained the margin by playing another bingo sHATTER shortly. I won 487-383. Result after round 7 : 6-1 +695.
Round 8 against Rizko Alfitrian. Last game for day 1. We exchanged bingo in the opening moves, MAROONeD by him and AZOTISED by me. Just two turns later, I got STORIES, which he countered with EXED. QI (44), another bingo CADgIEST (88) and UNCLE (38) strengthened my lead, although he had a lifeline after making TOOLERS. Steady scoring took me to reach 500-point mark and won the game 500-403. Result after round 8 : 7-1 +792.

Round 7

Round 8

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Second BSO : Decisive Move

Hi all! In this post I'm going to breakdown one or several moves per game at The Second BSO that are crucial or pivotal in the game.
Here are my selections :
Round 2 against Steven Surya, won 480-415
After turning the game around by playing DIOPTRES for 91 pts, I decided to play a bit more cautious since the game was reaching the end and I need to secure the win.

With this board condition and only had less than 40-point lead, I played KOPS down the triple word line to prevent a bingo by Steven which would win him. I was right, he held VOIDING on his rack and about to play VOIDINGS. Quackle suggests to play PLONK using the L from SCROLL, I did consider it but wasn't sure. PLONK also would open another floater (N) for bingo although the chance was lesser.

Round 5 against Amelia Ekawaty, won 434-379

Trailing for most part of the game. Had a lifeline by playing QAT (45 pts) and successfully challenged off TROWErS* and took advantage to play BIRK (34 pts). I was having a slight lead at that time.

The one who can get a bingo first at this stage will probably win the game. Amelia played WROTE right after her unsuccessful play, leaving S? and looked to get the bingo first. I took a gamble by playing LO and hoping to find a bingo next turn and I did. With Amelia was still fishing, played only one letter A, YUGA/AMI, I already had GREISEN on my rack. I chose to play GREISEN at 10A, could score better with RESE(W)ING at B8 or GREISEN/TIS/ENE/aN at 14A. I decided to play at 10A because the play blocked the easiest spot for bingo also the floaters made by WROTE. RESEWING would open another floaters. I left row 14 open because it had to make 3 parallel words in minimum to make a bingo and column N, the bingo should start with either I or U, or must start with SI or SU to do parallel move with WEX. All I and U have been played, only possible to do it with blank, made it more unlikely there.

Round 7 against Julius Wilson, won 447-408
We both know the game could go either way. Yes, it was neck and neck until Julius opened a 50-point gap with SEROSAE (84). I decided to play KAT to open another spot for bingo, having missed one in the previous move. That play was intentional from me to call his attention to that spot, since I already had two blanks on my rack, hunting for triple-triple across the V of VADE. He instantly played PIVOT/KATI and bagged 38 points.

My plan worked. Played one of the easiest triple-triple, STRIVeRs for 131 pts and went back to the lead by 50 points. That was enough to hold Julius off until the game end.

Round 15 against Christian Oktavius, won 461-458

This was the only loss that Christian conceded during the whole tournament and he conceded it in a dramatic fashion.

This picture above shows the endgame situation, I led 429-405 at that time and Christian to play. He got EGOP on his rack after playing ZOA (36), setting up himself to play OP/ZO/WOP on the Triple Word. That was his obvious chance to overturn the game. My rack (JMRT) wasn't too good to block it, actually I could do it by playing (WO)T but the score was too low and I couldn't go out in only two moves. The J wasn't too flexible with that board condition so I had to get rid of it first, also I had to maximize my last moves or I'd be caught up. After screening the board, I spotted the maximum play for the J and could go out in two moves. I played JET/JO/TE for 21 pts and it brought me to 450 pts. Then, without any doubt Christian played OP for 53 pts and was very hopeful to win with 458 pts. I went out by playing R(I)M for 5 pts, I still lose by 3 pts (455-458) but I got additional points from his unplayed tiles (6pts - EG) and won 461-458! 

Final board : 

The Second BNEC Scrabble Open : Full Results

Report From The Second BNEC Scrabble Open

The Second BNEC Scrabble Open is the first big tournament in this year national Scrabble calendar. From January 10th to 12th, 2014, we had 20 rounds of Scrabble game at BINUS University. No division separation in this tournament so it's an open one.
Here is my report (my opponents in the bracket):

Round 1 (Ivan Tri Hernando)
Started with AHPRST? on my rack and bingoed HARPiST. Later I got SNOOZER through the TW for 109 pts and sLANTED. I won comfortably 550-148.
After round 1 : #1 1-0, +402

Round 2 (Steven Surya)
Started with another bingo - AFEARED. Steven holds but then accepts it. SQUAREs (88) put me ahead but Steven's ZA (64), NAILSEt (69), JO (52) made me trailing. I hit back with DIOPTRES (91) and correctly block his VOIDINGS with KOPS using the S from DIOPTRES, could play PLONK for a better score and still block his bingo but I wasn't sure enough. I won 480-415.
After round 2 : #2 2-0, +467

Round 3 (Jonathan Kevin)
Again another bonus start as I played ROSEOLA in my first move. Jonathan did a great job to play ATTITuDE from a rack of ADITTT?. HABANERO (76) through the N from his TRANQ and JArGONS (108) are some of my favorite play in this tournament. Very pleased to play them both. I win 536-350.
After round 3 : #1 3-0, +653

Round 4 (Jimmy)
We both got one bingo apiece, EARRiNG (77) for me and EARSHOT (101) for Jimmy. The board, in the end became very closed. We both couldn't play out. The worst thing, my score was cut by 10 points for overtime and resulting I lost by 4 points! 378-382.
After round 4 : #3 3-1, +649

Round 5 (Amelia Ekawaty)
Started well with a double-double FACTION (48) but then she replied with ZAP (67). My JAAP (52) took me close but again she replied with INaNEST (72) straightaway. Luckily, I challenged off her phoney, TROWErS* and got myself a bingo, GREISEN (70) to fightback and win 434-379.
After round 5 : #2 4-1, +704

Round 6 (Christian Oktavius)
Against the current leader. It's one-sided match I can say. He got TARANDS (86), FILIATe (77), PINNATE (77) and LORISES (89) for bingos meanwhile only one for me, ENFORcE (73). Couldn't do much. Lost 372-564.
After round 6 : #4 4-2, +512

Round 7 (Julius Wilson)
Last game for the first day. I was the first to got the bingo with GIRASOLE (72) but after some steady moves, Julius took the lead with SEROSAE (84). But his lead didn't stand long as I got triple-triple STRIVeRs for 131 pts and I won 447-408.
After round 7 : #3 5-2, +551

Round 8 (Jimmy)
Day 2, Australian Draw with reset so I'm paired with Jimmy in this round. I got ReCITALS (77) then he replied with SOILIER (74) several moves later. Near the end of the game, I missed FRANCIZE from ACINRZ? but could play the Z with ZA (42) and played CItRANGE (83) right after it. A 500-316 win for me.
After round 8 : #2 6-2, +735

Round 9 (Christian Oktavius)
Again this game is also one-sided. He got five bingos to none. CONTRAST (70), REgALIA (70), WREAKING (67), RETAiLS (78) and ISOBARE (80) won him 533-331.
After round 9 : #4 6-3, +533

Round 10 (Hyendi Gumilang)
We had a slow start, 168-119 after 8 turns. But the latter half of the game was a free-scoring half for me, LAITIES (67), JUNTO (35), POXY (48), MEALiER (64), COLDS (37), ZAS (66) and DITS (28) made me reached 500 mark. I won 513-229.
After round 10 : #2 7-3, +817

Round 11 (Jeffry)
Got the easiest bingo ASTERIA (76) then Jeffry pulled one back with DONAtES (77). I regained the lead shortly after that with SPORTeD (73) then set up myself for Triple Word play with SKY which I hooked with R to make ZORI (53). I won exactly by a hundred points (446-346).
After round 11 : #2 8-3, +917

Round 12 (Julius Wilson)
Found myself behind after conceding a bingo EVIrATED (74) but still could equal his score after several moves. Played RONNElS (64) to go in front but his HAJI (43) made a tense finale. Julius was forced to think hard with his final rack DINRLVT, he threw D and R to gain 20 pts. But then he made VOIL* for 21 pts, it was his only chance to win. I challenged t off and played out to get his remaining tiles and ensured another win, 403-378. I only had less than 10 seconds on the clock when I played out.
After round 12 : #2 9-3, +942

Round 13 (Michael Diptana)

Close game until the midway. Had ELECTION earlier but was blocked. He then got a slight lead thanks to ZITE (54). Then he played AKIRA*, which I've never heard before but I let it go to play pSEUDOS/AKIRAS* (74). Michael himself thought that AKIRA was good. Had BDEIRS? tile combination but missed CaRBIDES (wasn't sure), REBUIlDS (the easiest, didn't see it) and ImBURSED. I decided to play DEBIT to open the triple lane. He blocked directly with PROUD. Got EGIRSU? right after and tried PREUSInG* through the Triple Word but it was challenged off. Luckily, he played LOUP and opened a spot for me to make a 7-letter bingo, REUSInG/LOUPS. Should take my time more before playing PREUSInG*, I missed PIRoGUES and PERSUInG. I won 420-328.

After round 13 : #2 10-3 +1034

Round 14 (Daniel Wijono)

Last game for the second day. Had BIORSST on my rack and already seen a floating N to make RIBSTONS but completely blocked, decided to throw away BORTS leaving IS and guess what, I drew ATEN? to complete SATINE? rack. I splashed out NIdATES for 83+5 pts. Two turns later, I put down another bingo, this time it's dIGONAL for 71+5 pts.  Again, two turns after I played the second bingo, I got an almost-bingo rack AEENORT and superbly spotted RENO(V)ATE(d) for 63 pts. It was more special because it's a nine-letter bingo from separated floaters. Daniel did catch up with LANCERS (89) instantly but it was me who had the final word. I won 513-346.

After round 14 : #2 11-3 +1201

Round 15 (Christian Oktavius)

Third day also the last day! King of The Hill all day la! I faced the one who is still unbeaten so far, Christian Oktavius. He started with HOOVE and confidently I played MOUTHIEr through the H of HOOVE. Christian directly stopped the clock and requested a challenge. The result was good so 74+5 pts for me. EVIRATED (65) gave me a quite good lead over him. After exchanging tiles, Christian directly back in the game with SCALENI (76). I tried to stretch my lead with WATER (40) but he kept on tight by playing RAX (35). His RAX was also blocked my bingo (AABLRU?) tABULAR/tA/AL/BE/UN/LI right above his SCALENI. No place for other bingo I guess. AABLRU? forms FABULAR, LABARUM, PABULAR, SUBALAR and TABULAR. Only found the last two. Christian again went close with QUAY (38). Then I recorded another nine-letter bingo, (DE)RAILINg for 72 pts, could play (DE)lIRIANT at the same spot also. I made a sloppy move as I tried to block the G from DERAILING on the triple word line, CLING for only 7 points was countered by NYS/IN/NY/CLINGS for 46 pts. Got WAXING (38) to block some spots but again was countered by PISSED for 48 pts. At the end of the game, Christian who was trailing by 60 points, played ZOA/WO/AA (36) leaving EGOP and setting up a killer move which almost successful for next turn. Right beside Z was the triple word square and he was still holding the O - the last one. Me myself ran out of vowels with JMRT left on the rack. I decided not to block it and went for JET (21). Christian then obviously played OP/ZO/WOP for a thumping 53 pts and took the lead 458-450. I played out with RIM (5) and got the remaining tiles for 6 points. That was enough to condemn the first defeat in the tournament for Christian. I won 461-458.

After round 15 : #2 12-3 +1204

Round 16 (Christian Oktavius)

Another game with Christian. His REMANIE (77) and DAILIeS (73) put him in front by 80 pts. I went almost level with him through STANGeD (82). He threw away his only vowel to play QIS (49) to secure the lead. A close end game involving Z happened again here, this time it was me who got the Z. Already found my best move for 42 pts but took an awful decision to choose the wrong letter. Instead of playing TOZE, I played OOZE. The first O opened up the triple word square for Christian to take. With AGILNPTV unseen, I chose to leave GOT rather than GOO on the rack. I clearly forgot the P could score him much if he played it on the triple word square. Later I drew G, couldn't finish the game in one move and he played the P exactly at the place where I was scared of. Should I play TOZE, I wouldn't let him score bigger and could go out in one move with GOGO or GOOG, and could possibly win the game. Sloppy. I lost 419-432.

After round 16 : #2 12-4 +1191

Round 17 (Christian Oktavius)

It's now or never for me as if Christian win this round, he will win the tournament. Not a good sign at the beginning, he started with SIEnITE (64). I did reply with PEATIER (72) but he got bUILDERS (62) and ACUITIES (72) to had a strong lead. I couldn't do much after that, his QADI (52) and WOOS (47) cancelled out my FROZE (55) and CENT (42). My rack didn't get any better and had to let go the first place to Christian. I lost 378-486.

After round 17 : #2 12-5 +1083

Round 18 (Jimmy)

With Christian had already secured the pole position, the battle for second place emerged. I, at the second place, was paired with Jimmy, third place. I started with INDEX (42) then OORAlIS (61). Jimmy kept up with SENDABLE (72+5). Two consecutive bingos, TaNGLERS (74) and CLEANING (61) made me led by 100 points. Jimmy tried his luck with BERAVING* but I challenged it off. I also tried my luck to play STROOMED* but it was invalid and challenged off. I didn't know DOOMSTER which was valid to play. Thanks to my strong opening moves, I won the game 463-367.

After round 18 : #2 13-5 +1179

Round 19 (Jimmy)

Had to dig in to get a bingo after throwing away EE and got the same letters. Played ANEROID (65) but  soon turned down by Jimmy's INERTIAS (62). Tried so hard to take the lead but it was Jimmy who got another bingo LIONIsE (67). I had to make a bingo to win the game, after he played HUIC (39), I saw no more unseen vowels. So I embraced myself to play OB to open a way for seven-letter bingo with a leave rack ADIN?, I drew GY. He couldn't block my setup and had to dump away his Z. Took my time for a while before playing DrAYING, it was challenged and it was good so 81+5 pts for me to make a comeback win 424-370. Could play YEADING, YARDING and GWYNIAD also.

After round 19 : #2 14-5 +1233

Round 20 (Hyendi Gumilang)

I almost secured the second place, 1 VP ahead and had more superior margin than Hyendi. But still had to finish this final round. Got NOTATING (63) just after my second move. Power tile trio, JQZ helped me to equal his ROARING (68) and TOEIEsT (64) with JIVER (30), QUEP (58) and ZO (64). We both got no bingo afterwards, I was steadier with the points and cemented the second place on my own with a 469-362 win.

After round 20 : #2 15-5 +1340

Bingos
1. HARPIST (80)    SNOOZER (109)    SLANTED (65)
2. AFEARED (86)    SQUARES (88)     DIOPTRES (91)
3. ROSEOLA (74)    HABANERO (76)   JARGONS (108)
4. EARRING (77)
5. GREISEN (70)
6. ENFORCE (73)
7. GIRASOLE (72)    STRIVERS (131)
8. RECITALS (77)    CITRANGE (83)
9.
10. LAITIES (67)     MEALIER (64)
11. ASTERIA (76)    SPORTED (73)
12. RONNELS (64)
13. PSEUDOS (74)   REUSING (83)
14. NIDATES (88)    DIGONAL (76)     RENOVATED (63)
15. MOUTHIER (79)  EVIRATED (65)   DERAILING (72)
16. STANGED (82)
17. PEATIER (72)
18. OORALIS (61)    TANGLERS (74)   CLEANING (61)
19. ANEROID (65)    DRAYING (86)
20. NOTATING (63)

Result : Live Scrabble - The Second BNEC Scrabble Open
Photo Album

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.