First Quarter 2007

Index

  1. Mary's Minutiae

  2. First Quarter Highlights

  3. East of Bedford

  4. A Voice from the Past

  5. Word of the Month

  6. Quote of the Month

  7. Upcoming Tournaments

  8. Tournament Trail Report

  9.  Texas' Top Twenty

  10.  Novice Nook

  Mary's Minutiae, Club 248

By Mary Rhoades

Coming up!!! May 26-28 2007 we'll host our Mid-Cities/Irving. This is a big change--we are moving to Memorial Day weekend, and to the Westin Hotel in Irving. The Westin is a full-service hotel with great sleeping rooms, and our sleeping room rate is only $79 as opposed to their regular rates of $289 for that weekend! Instead of an Early Bird and a 2-day Main Event, we will have a full 18-game three-day tournament.

Find the flyer at cross-tables.com -- and make plans to come! 

Our club has raised enough money to almost pay for the entire cost of the playing space for the Mid-Cities tournament! Kudos to us! 

Preparation and entries for the Players Championship 2007 are coming along very nicely.  Check out the PC07 information at the tournament web page: PC07.org .

If you haven't checked out the crosstables.com web site, take a look at it. It's full of information about upcoming tournaments, players, NSA leaders, milestones, etc. Take a look around. If you're a tournament player you'll find yourself!

Is it May already? Wow! I'm off to Buffalo, NY to play in Ember Nelson's tournament!

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First Quarter Highlights

January

High game: Mike Early's 552 point game.
High turn: SEDUCING by Karen DaCosta for 167 points.

February

High game: Sammy Dick-Onuoha's 560 point game.
High turn: OUTJINXED by Sammy for 266 points.

March

High game: Carla Cree's 558 point game.
High turn: DIAGNOSE by Carla for 166 points.

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East of Bedford (otherwise known as Dallas)

Bryan Pepper, Director, Club 436

Monthly Fully-Rated Tournaments Continue!

Yes, you read right!........here are the details.

WHEN? The next tournaments will be on the following Saturdays, June 16, July 21 and August 18. Entries will be accepted from 10:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., with play beginning as soon as possible thereafter.
Six games will be played with a lunch break after game 2. 

WHERE? Golden Corral at the NW corner of Colony Main (Josey) and Hwy 121 in The Colony (Mapsco 554W).  The restaurant is actually 3/10 of a mile to the west of the intersection. There’s a Wal-Mart right behind it for another landmark.

HOW MUCH? Entry fee is $25.00.  Approximately $12.00 will go to the buffet, included in the entry fee, leaving $13.00 per entrant going to the prize fund.

Due to the room constraints, I think we might have to limit the entries to the first 40.

YES, a buffet will be included in the entry fee. Right now, I’m factoring $12 with a drink/tax/tip into the entry fee.  That includes nibbling all day long....... :- )

The Golden Corral is letting us have the space FREE OF CHARGE.  I do not have a contract with the GC, so we’re open to move if we find it doesn’t meet our needs.  Lighting is not an issue.
Music might be, but we’ll play it by ear (no pun intended). 

Divisions will be grouped by as near-like rating as possible.  I’ll make every effort to keep the divisional gaps to no more than 400 points (i.e.: 1500 – 1100, sorry), but that is subject to attendance.

As an added incentive, I’m offering Gran Prix points.  Based on your results, you’ll receive points (say, 10 for 1st place).  The more events you play, the more GP points you accumulate.  After the last tournament (in November), I’ll have prizes for three players (with breaks at 1500 and 1100) for they that have the most GP points.

Farther East (otherwise known as North Dallas)

 

Mike Willis, Director, Club 319

Many, many, years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I put out a monthly newsletter. Oddly enough, it was entitled The Dallas Scrabble Newsletter.  Time passed, generations came and went, and Mary Rhoades started her club in the Mid-Cities.  Together, we generated The Metroplex Scrabble Newsletter, which Mary, bless her soul, continues to this very day.  The hours were long and hard, the wind blew cold, and I grew tired and weary.  The deadlines were speeding by like mile markers and I chose to hike off into the hills to recompose myself.  I wandered those hills for years, but was never quite ready to try writing again.  Save for an occasional burst on [c-g-p], I was not ready to recommit myself to a newsletter.  However, after taking a few months off from directing last year, I found again the enjoyment I had for supporting our beloved game of Scrabble.  I have since been attempting to get my personal affairs in enough order to adequately focus on writing once again~~just last week a couple bid on my Lake Highlands home that has so heavily taxed my time and energy the past few years.
 
Our club's current meeting location is the Whataburger restaurant just south of Campbell on Coit Road.
 
We play three sanctioned games of Scrabble each Thursday night at Whataburger located at Coit & Campbell, except for very high-order holidays. Some folks actually come on Thanksgiving night if they know they can get a few games in.  Many choose to play extra games, both before and after club. We charge $2 a session and give round prizes, such as a box of light bulbs for the highest B word played for the BulBs. Throughout the years, I have done a number of things with the extra money, including paying 50 cents for each win at the end of the year. Currently, I am amassing the funds necessary to purchase short-sleeved black cotton Oxford button-collar shirts, embroidered with the regular players' names and "Dallas Destroyers" in white stitching.  Once a month, one of our many experts, all consistently highly rated in the nation, will speak to the group on a particular game development dynamic.  The Crees spoke on the benefits of the development and employment of flash study cards.  Darrell Day spoke on pre-end game posturing and the strategies which accompany games 60-80 percent played.  Paul Holser and I spoke on tile tracking and why it is an absolute must.  In a couple of weeks, we will have the May presentation.
 
The history of club sites for Dallas Club 319 over the years is almost movie-worthy.  It is amazing that Hollywood has not paid for the story rights.  Needless to say, we have had sites burn, or fold, and any number of other oddities which might render our site unusable has happened.  Thankfully, we have had a good relationship with just about every one of our sites, despite their poor misfortunes.  Hopefully, Whataburger is not shutting its doors soon, despite the fact that our Forest Lane McDonald’s burned down and was not rebuilt. We help them check the wiring each month and we pray for no more natural (or otherwise) disasters.

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A Voice From the Past

To Challenge or Not to Challenge by Stu Goldman (originally printed in the 1981 Scrabble® News)

This Hamletic (Don't play that!) questions presents quite a problem for the Scrabble® crossword game player facing (a) an unfamiliar word just played and (b) an opponent trying to look innocent--or is he truly innocent?

The propriety of deliberately playing phony words is a matter of personal opinion. My belief is that the phony in a Scrabble® game is much akin to the bluff in poker or the trap in bridge laid by the play of a misleading card.

Whether you intentionally play phonies or not, your opponent can--and probably will (unless you wish to compete only with OWL (originally OSPD) purists). Even then, you must evaluate each word played because it may have been misplayed, misspelled or misremembered by your opponent!

Who Is Your Opponent?

People who play regularly at clubs and tournaments can be expected to know many unusual words. If you do not, you are at a disadvantage and your opponent knows it.

Failure to use the reasoning detailed below can lead to a dilemma. If you have lost two or three challenges early in the game, every strange word your opponent plays will bother you. You cannot afford to fall further behind, yet the points are being racked up by the opponent, who knows you cannot afford to challenge. Even if you do, and win, your opponent can return to using perfectly good words--but you won't feel any better.

What Are the Alternatives?

The proper thing to decide in considering a challenge is not whether the word is good, but whether another play for about the same points could have been made from it. Your opponent if probably trying to draw a challenge, and you will lose.

You should anagram all strange-sounding bonus plays, with the same and other possible hangers. If you find one, don't challenge unless you know from experience or study of your dictionary that the word is no good. With lesser plays, try to find other places--or anagrams in the same place--where the same tiles could be used. Finally, for scoring-rack improvement plays containing three or four vowels, do not challenge unless you know for sure.

Does the Play Help You?

Any play that increases your advantage either in points or board layout should be allowed to stand. Thus, if a bingo spot is opened for you, do not challenge. The same is true for words unknown to you that give you any big play. Remember point tradeoff. If opponent made 30 points but you can make 40 more than otherwise possible, do not challenge.

Also watch words that take one letter to make a word you know. Your opponent may be trying to make a spot while drawing a challenge so the spot will not be blocked. For example, if RANCE is played so that the line in front of the R is good for a crosswise play, remember that PRANCE and TRANCE are both valid. No experienced player would normally give an opponent such an opportunity if the word were not good. If you have the T or P, use it. If not, block, hopefully for more points than the opponent made.

But what if the letters in the word cannot be played elsewhere, do not help you, or do not make a hook for a familiar word? Then, make your decision on points for your opponent or denied to you. If that is fewer than 30, don't bother.

How's Your Endgame?

Close endgames provide special situations for challenging. An experienced player will play a strange word hoping to draw a challenge that allows a going-out play, or a phony, hoping you will feel you cannot afford to challenge it. Either way, you should not challenge unless you are 100% sure the word is not good.

If opponent's word is a going-out play, however, challenge even the slightest quirk you see if it gives you a loss. PANTER, for example, is not listed in the OWL, yet your opponent may know that the only way to play ER to win is to get one by you.

One last point. A word that uses a very odd arrangement of letters (FREMD, NGWEE, SLOJD) should not be challenged. No player would risk getting challenged on, say, PREMD, MGWEE or FLOJD (all phonies), yet many will try to get you to challenge an "impossible" but valid word. Better still, actively search the OWL for such words. Then it will be you who will be arousing the losing challenge!

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Word of the Month

PLATYPUS -es or pi (noun) An aquatic mammal 

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Quote of the Month

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action..."

                                                                                         Shakespeare        

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Upcoming Tournaments*

*May 26-28 Mid-Cities in Irving - Contact Mary Rhoades mrhoadestx@comcast.net
*July 14-15 Portland, TX - Contact Jennifer Miller  j.evans.1970@gmail.com
August 3-8 Players Championship 2007, Dayton OH - Contact Chris Cree cree@earthlink.net
September 1-3 Bayou Bash,  Houston TX - Contact Judy Newhouse jnhouse@aol.com

*Flyers available

How can I be sure tournament details are correct?

  1. See flyers created and distributed by tournament organizers.

  2. Check listings with flyers  on cross-tables.com

  3. Check online flyers on organizers' personal web pages.

  4. See listings on the NSA web site.

  5. See listings in the NSA newsletter.

Contact directors directly for the most up-to-date information. I refer potential players to my online flyer.

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Tournament Trail Report (Metroplex players who placed in top halves of their divisions)

January - Texas State Scrabble® Championship Early Bird

Division 1
1 - Darrell Day
3 - Mike Willis

Division 2
1 - Mike Early
2. Sammy Dick-Onuoha

Division 3
1 - Mike Chitwood

Divison 5
1 - Joy Nees

Divison 6
1 - Phyllis Owen

January - Texas State Scrabble® Championship Main Event

Division 1
1 - Chris Cree, once again Texas State Scrabble® Champion!    
2 - Mike Willis
5 - Kristina Simon
6 - Darrell Day
7 - Sammy Dick-Onuoha
8 - Carla Cree

Division 3
2 - Pat Sanchez
19 - Phyllis Owen
20 - Joy Nees

February - Dallas One-Day

1 - Carla Cree
2 - Mike Early
3 - Pat Sanchez
4 - Karen DaCosta
5 - Mike Chitwood

March - The DO! Dallas Open

3 - Darrell Day
8 - Mike Early
9 - Chris Cree
18 - Mike Willis
20 - Sammy Dick-Onuoha
28 - Paul Holser

March - Dallas One-Day

Division 1
1 - Mike Early
3 - Chris Cree

Division 2
1 - Carla Cree
3 - Mike Chitwood

Division 3
2 - Phyllis Owen
3 - Dave Rubin
4 - Karen DaCosta
5 - Pat Oppenlander

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Texas' Top Twenty
(and, indeed, ratings of all Texas players!)

Check it out at http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/ratings/state/tx.html

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  Novice Nook

by Mike Early

The Tiles of our Game--Consonants

     The vowels plus the one and two point consonants can combine to form GRAD OUTLINES,which is a mnemonic for the most valuable letters for bingoing. Generally speaking, the more points a letter is worth, the less likely you can make a bingo with them.

Each of the one and two point consonants have special places and strengths within a word.

1. D---very good in 'fixes' such as DE-, DI-. DIS- and -ED. A strong beginning and ending letter.

2. G---a rather place-sensitive letter. Half of the bingos containing a G also have I and N in them. In fact -ING is just about the ONLY 'fix' where the 'fix' bingoes( such as TEARING) outnumber the nonfix* bingoes (such as ALIGNER). Hence -ING bingoes are very good ones to know, particularly those which have -ING but not at the end of the word. G also figures in the suffix -AGE and is  a pretty good starter letter, but very poor in the 2nd position of a bingo.

3. L--- a pretty good starting letter and stronger than a lot of letters at the end of words. Of course, it's found in -AL, -IAL, and -LIKE words. Not as good as NRST but not too bad a bingo former, either.

4. N--- a strong letter for forming bingoes, but like any ather consonant, not good in multiples. It's not a strong starter, but it is a pretty good ender, and it's also good in quite a few other spots in words. Figures in -ANE, -INE, and, of course -ING.

5. S---the best of the consonants, but even then not good in multiples. If you have two eses, the rule is if your next best play that uses one S is more than six points less than your best play that spends both eses, then spend both. S is for scoring. If you can, try to use it for plays that score 30 points or more, though towards the end of a game, use it if you can to just win. Of course, it ends many bingoes and is strong everyplace in a bingo except the 2nd position. It's also in -ES, -IES, -ISE, -ISM, and -ISM suffixes as well as DES-, DIS-, and MIS- prefixes among others.

The medium consonants, which are 3-5 points, are BCFHKMPVWY.

1. B is quite place sensitive. Nearly half of the bingoes containing B start with that letter. It is pretty good for intermediate plays and of course is in  the -ABLE and -IBLE suffixes.

2. C is quite strong in the first position in bingoes. It's also in quite a few bingoes. It's not too good for intermediate plays and one can be easily stuck with it. It is in -IC,-ANCE, and ENCE suffixes and CON- and COM- prefixes.

3. F is a lot like B above: very place sensitive, strong in the first position, and pretty good for intermediate plays. It is in OFF-, -FUL, and -FT fixes.

4. H is a fine intermediate play letter,  better than any other letter of four points or more for forming bingoes.

5. K is a bit of a problematic letter that  is decent as a starter and pretty good in the middle and towards the end of words. Pretty fair in intermediate plays, it's also in the -LIKE fix.

6. M is a very versatile letter for bingoes and for intermediate plays as well as the fixes it is used in mentioned previously. It's not a good ender, however.

7. P is a lot like M except that there aren't that many fixes for it except PRO- and PRE-.

8. V is a fairly flexible letter within a word(except at the end where it almost never appears) but there aren't all that many words that contain it. Not a very good letter for intermediate plays, it's also one you can easily be stuck with. Fixes: OVER-, and -IVE.

9. W is a pretty good intermediate letter, but not too great a bingo former. It's terrible towards the end of a word and rather strong in the first position.

10. Y is one of the best enders and one of the worst starters. A solid intermediate playmaker, it is not a great bingomaker and is typically found at the end of words ending in fixes such as -ITY, -LY, or -ILY. 

Finally the premiums: JQXZ.

1. J---the worst letter for eights and the second worst letter for sevens. It's a strong intermediate playmaker, as are all of the premiums, with possibilities for bingo points on TWS-DLS alleys, but it is the most place sensitive letter in the alphabet with about 70 percent of all words containing J starting with that letter. I believe that since there are so few words containing J, why not make your acquaintance with all of them?

    2. Q--- the most reviled letter in the alphabet with Scrabblers, makes the fewest words, is easy to get stuck with and is unwieldy unless you know the U-less Q words and the Q words in general. I would not keep a U-less or unplayable Q on my rack for more than four turns. Fortunately, unplayable Qs are not quite the problem they used to be, but now the danger might be in keeping a playable Q for too long and in the end finding you can't play it away. Q strategy is a subart of Scrabble in and of itself. Like J, it tends to be found at the front of a word and also like J, it's a good idea to know ANY word containing it. Also, Q can be very good with a vowel-heavy rack, provided you know your words.

    3. X---powerful for big-scoring intermediate plays of 50+points, but like the other premiums, not good for forming bingoes. It's not a bad idea to know a lot of X words, also, since there aren't that many, anyway.

    4. Z---the same can be said for Z that has been said for X, except that only ZA can make points similar to AX, EX, OX, XI, and XU.

Finally, watch out for deleterious doubles:BF, BP, BV, BW, CC, CF, CG, CV, CW, FH, FK, FM, FP, FV, FW,GK, GX, HH,HK,HV,KV, KW, MV, MW,PV, PW,UV, UW, VV, VW, WW, YY, and any premium combined with any letter of three or more points. Break doubles up like that at your earliest chance.

That should get you started in your thinking about consonants. Happy tiling!

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Newsletter Editor - Mary Rhoades
Main Mid-Cities Web Page - www.scrabbletx.org
mrhoadestx@gmail.com