Become a whizz at Scrabble

NOWHERE IS Scrabble taken more seriously than in Africa, where many countries now recognise the game as an official sport. We spoke to Kenya’s Jared Omolo, a professional player (and CDC epidemiologist) who earns his title with deep preparation and tested techniques.

WORD POWER / As you might expect, pro Scrabble players live and die by their voluminous vocabulary. ‘We call it “Word Power”, and it’s definitely the most critical element in Scrabble strategy,’ says Jared. But not all words are weighed equally.

Any Scrabbler with pro-level aspirations must memorise every one of the 127 internationally legal two-letter words, and the 1 347 three-letter words. These are undoubtedly vital because ‘often you’re playing words parallel to each other’, instead of crosswise, says Jared. So it pays to know that a word such as ‘ABODE’ can sit right on top of ‘AIMED’ and form five perfectly legal two-letter words in the game. Yes, ‘AA’ and ‘DE’ are indeed legal words.

Other words worth mastering are small ones that can easily extend (such as ‘PACE’ to ‘SPACE’ or ‘PACES’), words loaded with the most abundant letters in the Scrabble bag, and words that can be tacked on to stand-alone stems. ‘For example, you’ll hear studying players say things like, “Yeah I’m working on the ‘outs’ right now: ‘outhouse’, ‘outwork’, ‘outgunned’,” and so on,’ says Jared.

‘And I can’t emphasise enough the importance of knowing seven

and eight-letter words that consist of high-probability letters,’ he says. ‘Like the six in “RETAIN”.’ In Scrabble, if you clear your whole rack of seven letters in one turn, you get a huge 50-point bonus. So plan for it. If Jared draws ‘RETAIN’, and a ‘C’, he’s ready with ‘NACRITE’ or ‘CREATIN’. Draw a ‘D’ or ‘F’? ‘TRAINED’ or ‘FAINTER’.

Of course, in Scrabble, ‘knowing’ a word doesn’t mean you have to know the definition, only that it’s a legal option. Jared couldn’t define ‘NACRITE’ (it’s a clay mineral), but he gleefully points to Nigel Richards, the current Englishlanguage Scrabble world champion and the reigning French Scrabble champ, who’s won twice despite not speaking French.

BOARD VISION /

Let’s say you’ve memorised a few thousand high-value words. Now you’ve got to work on what Jared calls Board Vision, the ability to ‘recall and spot potential words, using both the letters on your rack and those on the board, all while maximising the premium squares, such as the triple-word- and the doubleletter bonus.’

And Board Vision doesn’t stop with your own letters. ‘You have to spot potential set-ups from your opponent, and play defensively when needed,’ he says. Players dream of glorious triple-triples, massive-value words that span across two separate Triple Word Score premium squares. Anyone with excellent Board Vision will keep their opponent away from these devastating chances at all costs.

Jared says your Board Vision naturally improves as you play, but you can help it along with Scrabble puzzles, or by reviewing master games, analysing why the greats played what they played to win the game.

LEXICAL FLEXIBILITY /

‘Beginning players don’t realise this, but what you leave on your rack is sometimes even more important than the word you just played,’ he says. For example, you might cripple yourself for multiple subsequent turns by leaving behind three vowels, only to nab up four more.

All pros keep a running tally of the letters still left in the bag. Based on what’s left, they balance playing their best words with leaving themselves letters that are still likely to combine nicely next round. Some combinations you know to avoid altogether. ‘For instance, the combination of

“W”, “V”, and “U” strikes fear into players because there are so few seven- and eight-letter English words that use them,’ Jared says.

His advice? ‘Generally speaking, you want to play off duplicate letters, leave a rough balance of vowels and consonants, and stick with tiles that you know combine nicely – such as “RES” or “RET”.’

Scrabble’s endgame also has a strategy all on its own. ‘When you get down to 10 tiles left in the bag, you can usually work out what your opponent has, and start to lock up the board and make set-ups only you’ll be able to use,’ he says. ‘With strategy and mental resilience,

I’ve found you can pull ahead of opponents, even if they’ve got better Word Power than you.’

To really excel in Scrabble, for each turn, you must manage a delicate dance of lexical flexibility using all of your skills as well as your awareness, ‘where you are constantly balancing the score you’d get from potential moves with what they would leave behind on your rack – and how the letters would combine with what you know is left in the bag – all while making sure to block when you need to, and not create a comfortable scoring opportunity for your opponent.’

‘Your options can feel infinite,’ says Jared. ‘That’s the beauty of the game.’

/ BY WILLIAM HERKEWITZ /