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What are the rules for tournament play?
I'm the best player in my family. Am I ready for tournament play?
I play on-line (or against my computer) and win a lot of games. Am I ready for tournament play?
What dictionary do you use?
What kind of game clock do you use?
Why do I need to keep score for my opponent?
What other differences will I notice?
Can I challenge words? Will I lose my turn if I do?
Must I be a member of the National Scrabble Association (NSA)?
May I join the NSA at the tournament?
Is this tournament a prerequisite for other tournaments?
What do you mean by rating?
Who will I be playing? How will you decide who I play?
What is the "Portland Swiss" format?
What are the rules for tournament play?
The official tournament rules are available at the NSA website.
We have also created a one-page summary of the rules that will help introduce you to the mechanics of tournament play. (coming soon)
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I'm the best player in my family. Am I ready for tournament play?
Maybe. Most living room players who are new to tournament-style Scrabble have two big adjustments to make. First is getting familiar with the dictionary used for tournament play. Second is getting in the habit of using a game clock. While we do have a division where novices can play, and you are welcome to join us, tournament play can be pretty intense. You will probably have more fun at your first tournament if you can practice playing a few tournament-style games first. Most NSA Scrabble clubs play tournament-style Scrabble and will provide a good introduction as well as an outlet for your competitive instincts. A list of clubs is on the NSA website.
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I play on-line (or against my computer) and win a lot of games. Am I ready for tournament play?
Maybe. Most virtual players who are new to tournament-style Scrabble have two big adjustments to make. First is getting in the habit of using a game clock. Second is getting used to counting and recording your own and your opponent's score. While we do have a division where novices can play, and you are welcome to join us, tournament play can be pretty intense. You will probably have more fun at your first tournament if you can practice playing a few tournament-style games first. Most NSA Scrabble clubs play tournament-style Scrabble and will provide a good introduction as well as an outlet for your competitive instincts. A list of clubs is on the NSA website.
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What dictionary do you use?
The official dictionary for NSA tournaments is the Official Word List, second edition, or OWL2. While the paperback version of this dictionary is only available for purchase by NSA members, many word lists are available on the web. All tournament players study words to some extent. At a minimum, tournament players know all of the two letter words, and most, if not all, of the three letter words, in addition to seven and eight letter words that can be formed from the most common combinations of letters. We recommend Mike Wolfberg's website and WHAT? program as a great starting point.
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What kind of game clock do you use?
Each player in a tournament game gets 25 minutes to play the entire game, regardless of how many turns they take. Many players use SamTimers , a particular brand of Scrabble clock. After making a play and announcing your score, you hit the timer button, which starts your opponent's clock. Your clock will stop counting down until your opponent makes his play, announces his score and hits his timer button. Play proceeds in this manner until the game is over. If you run out of time, play continues, but ten points will be deducted from your score for each minute (or portion of a minute) that you run overtime.
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Why do I need to keep score for my opponent?
Each player in a tournament is responsible for keeping score for the entire game - their plays as well as their opponent's plays. This ensures that both players know the status of the game at all times.
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What other differences will I notice?
Games at tournaments are played with professional Scrabble tiles, which are typically molded plastic. These tiles are smooth on the letter side, and inset on the bottom, so that it is impossible to tell what letter is on the tile by touch, and so that it is easy to distinguish the top of the tile from the bottom. Tiles are placed in and drawn from a bag to ensure players can't see the letters being drawn. When drawing tiles, show your empty palm to your opponent before putting it into the bag, and be sure to hold the tile bag above eye level or at arm's length away from your body.
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Can I challenge a word? Will I lose my turn if I do?
If you decide to challenge a word, say "challenge," and stop the clock. Once you do this, you may not change your mind. We use computers to adjudicate challenges. If you play an invalid word, you must remove it from the board and lose that turn. If your opponent challenges a valid word you have played, you replenish your tiles and take another turn. If your opponent plays a word and you want to decide whether to challenge, you may ask them to "hold" while you think about it. When you say, "hold", your opponent must wait one minute to draw new tiles. You may hold as many times as you need to during a game.
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Must I be a member of the National Scrabble Association (NSA)?
Anyone may play in one tournament without being a member of the NSA.
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May I join the NSA at the tournament?
Yes. If you wish to join the NSA, you may sign up at the tournament. The director will ask for your name, address, phone number and email address. The membership fee is $20.00. If you prefer, you may join the NSA prior to the tournament by signing up on the NSA website.
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Is this tournament a prerequisite for other tournaments?
While there are a few NSA-sanctioned tournaments that are limited to rated players, most tournaments are not, so, no, this tournament is not a prerequisite for other tournaments. Once you play in your first tournament, you will establish a rating, which will determine the division in which you will play future tournaments.
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What do you mean by rating?
Your Scrabble rating will be computed based on your performance in an NSA-sanctioned tournament such as this one. It will consider the ratings of your opponents, how many times you would be expected to win, and how many games you actually won. Ratings bottom out at 500 and go up from there. Players are considered expert at ratings of 1600 and higher. If you want more details about how ratings are calculated, here is an excellent source: John Chew explains ratings
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Who will I be playing? How will you decide who I play?
Players are divided into divisions based on skill. Newcomers play in Division D. The players in Division D will be rated no higher than 899. While many of the players may be relative newcomers to tournament play, others have a lot of experience playing Scrabble. We expect that all of them will make you feel welcome.
In general, the first three games will be paired using a formula that ensures that each player plays another from the top, middle and bottom of the division. After that, players will be paired based on the number of wins they have accumulated. In the final round, players will be matched against a player with a record most similar to their own.
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What is the "Portland Swiss" format?
Portland Swiss describes the method that is used to determine pairings in our tournament. (See above.)
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For more information:
Kath Mullholand
277 Bayside Road, Greenland, NH 03840
603-834-0676(cell)
kathnh@comcast.net
Web site comments & corrections: Kath Mullholand
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