Tournament Coordinator Minds His ‘Ps’ And ‘Qs’

By Nancy K. Crevier

He knows that “jinn,” “djinn,” and “djin” are all acceptable spellings. He knows “ki” and “ka” are real words and “jo” is a term of endearment. Sandy Hook resident Rodney Amable has been playing Scrabble since he was a high school student in Cape Coast in Ghana two decades ago. After he married and moved to the United States three years ago, he joined a Scrabble group that met weekly at the C.H. Booth Library, and entered a few area tournaments, as well.

But the Scrabble Tournament scheduled at the Booth Library Saturday, February 17, from 9 am to 3:45 pm, is the first tournament that Mr Amable has ever coordinated. With the support of the C.H. Booth Library staff, he is looking forward to a good turnout for the kick-off event that celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Booth Library.

Tournament play differs a bit from recreational play, Mr Amable explained in a recent interview. “There are specific rules in tournament Scrabble,” he said. “You can’t make up rules, like substituting the blank tile with a letter tile, or such, like you can at home, for instance.”

Tournament play is timed and consists of 25 minutes for each player. Each game goes on until all of the tiles are used or each player has three “passes” and the game ends. Any time at all over those 25 minutes means docked points on the score.

The number of rounds played will depend on the number of participants, said Mr Amable, but will most likely be six rounds. “Tournament groups will be set by skill level. People who have played tournaments will have Scrabble Tournament Association ratings, and will be grouped accordingly. With no rating, players will be placed randomly,” he explained.

The tournament is open to all levels of players and any lovers of the word game that was developed in Newtown are welcome to register. “Players must be able to read, write, and spell words, so usually we do not see players younger than 12 years of age,” said Mr Amable, “but really there are no age limits. People should not be intimidated. It’s nice to play with people who may be a little better. You learn from them.”

Learning is one aspect of the Scrabble tournament that appeals to Mr Amable, who is currently studying at the University of Bridgeport for his education degree in English and who is presently student teaching at Newtown High School. “[At a tournament] you meet different people and there is a suspense about if you are going to do well or not. Sometimes someone puts down a word you’ve never seen and you learn something new. A really good player will win your respect,” he said.

Mr Amable and other tournament organizers will track scores on charts during the day, he said, and a laptop computer set up with the dictionary from the official Scrabble Tournament website will be on site for contestants to check challenged word spellings. “We will be using US spellings, as opposed to British spelling,” he said and added with a laugh, “That is probably only a problem for me.”

Watch And Learn

Mr Amable had suggestions for players who want to brush up on their spelling skills before the February event. Practice games, of course, are beneficial, using a Scrabble dictionary to check word spellings, but there are other ways to broaden the vocabulary.

“Go online and watch the Scrabble tournaments. Memorize new words you see there and find new ‘hook’ words,” he suggested. “Hook” words, he explained, are those words that can join vertical and horizontal lines of words together for extra points when playing Scrabble.

Learning some of the unusual words that use high scoring tiles, such as the “Q” “Z” “X” or “J,” can be useful, as well, said this experienced Scrabbler. “A good word is ‘qanat’, and so is ‘qwerty,’ the top line of letters on typewriters. There’s ‘qat,’ ‘jo,’ ‘qaid,’ ‘qi,’ and ‘suq,’” he said, naming some of the smaller words that can be very useful in the game. He advised coming up with a mnemonic to recall proper spellings of difficult words.

Other serious Scrabble players specialize in specific areas, Mr Amable said. “They might know all of the ‘w’ or ‘j’ or ‘v’ words, or all of the ‘q’ words that are not followed by a ‘u.’ Other people will do things like memorize currency names from other countries, like the euro, dollar, pound, cedi and so on. These are all allowable words in tournament play,” he explained.

Even during tournament play, Mr Amable said there are opportunities to learn new words. “If you see a neighboring player play a word you don’t know, check it later to find out if it’s a ‘phony’ word, or not,” he said. Clever Scrabblers, said Mr Amable, will actually put down fake words in the hopes that the opponent will not challenge the word.

Phony words can pay off, too, he said. Among the many prizes to be offered at the C.H. Booth Library tournament will be one for the best phony word that is not challenged that day.

Winners and losers alike will be rewarded at the C.H. Booth Scrabble Tournament. A prize will be awarded for the highest scoring word of the day, and the highest losing score will receive a prize. Tournament organizers have selected several Scrabble related prizes to award on February 17, said Mr Amable, adding fun to the day of skill and challenge.

Top tournament winners will be awarded cash prizes, with the amounts dependent upon the number of registered players.

Scrabble Tournament registration forms can be picked up at the C.H. Booth Library and must be returned no later than February 9. The entry fee of $20 includes lunch.

Several copies of Deluxe Scrabble are available at the library for tournament play, but participants are encouraged to bring their own games and timers, if possible.

Because registration is limited to 80 players, Mr Amable recommends that players run, not walk, to the library to sign up as soon as possible.

“Some players will be very serious, but we hope to see all manner of people there,” Mr Amable said. “Scrabble has a way of bringing people together.”